Rating: Summary: Disney Yes....Quality No.... Review: Pocahontas is, in my opinion, quite possibly the worst offering ever from Disney studios *and yes, I am including the forgettable offerings of the '80's in this rating*. Highly stylized animation, a soundtrack with only one worthwhile song *Colors of the Wind* and I would say a bad plot but there really wasn't one there, all contribute to this. Even the voices of David Ogden Stiers *and he had 2 roles!* and Mel Gibson couldn't save this one. Children might like the animal sidekicks, but that is about all that will engage their interest.
Rating: Summary: Just around the river bend... Review: "What I love most about rivers is you can't step in the same river twice. The water's always changing, always flowing. But people I guess can't live like that, we all must pay a price. To be safe we lose our chance of ever knowing what's around the riverbend." What really stands out in Pocahontas, to me, is the music. Not so much fancy special effects and stuff, but the songs are beautiful. The lyrics and the music just flow. The colors are vibrant and rich, truly a great film. I know every word to every song. All my friends do, and we range from 15 to 24. Maybe we're just sad... oh well! "Is all my dreaming at an end? Or do you still wait for me, dreamgiver, just around the riverbend?"
Rating: Summary: Pocahontas Review: I really love this movie. First of all, nobody should be getting their pants in a bundle just because the movie does not exactly follow what "actually" happened in history. You have to remember that this movie was ultimately made for children and it does give them enough info to realize what is happening in the story. The animation is good, and the facial features are wonderful. But, I would have to say that my favorite thing about that movie is the music. The rest of the movie is great, but the music is magnificant. The song "Colors of the Wind" is one of the greatest songs. I also think that there is plenty of humor in the movie( most of it from grandmother willow). I would really recommend this movie to anyone.
Rating: Summary: Highly underrated Review: "Pocahontas" is the black sheep of Disney's second golden age, which began in 1989. That year saw the release of one Disney's biggest hits ever, "The Little Mermaid". Ever since, each film the company released would become even more successful than its predecessor, with "The Lion King" topping $300 million in domestic ticket sales and quickly becoming one of the highest grossing films in history. "Pocahontas" was doomed from the beginning. It was expected to continue the winning streak and earn even more money than the "The Lion King". Instead, it just went two steps backwards and matched the very respectable profits of 1991's "Beauty and the Beast" (It also began a decline in box-office sales which continued with Disney's next two features). But the folks at Disney wanted more. The public wanted more. No one was willing to accept the fact that Disney had its peak with "The Lion King", at least for now. The soundtrack also hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and produced a huge hit, "Colors Of The Wind". Oh, and it also won an Oscar. Yet no one seemed to be satisfied. There were all kind of complaints towards the movie. The main one being that it was historically inaccurate. Sorry, but when I sit down to watch a Disney movie, I don't look for historic accuracies, otherwise I would be watching the discovery channel instead. The stylized animation in the film was also bashed. Personally, I find it breathtaking at times, and disappointing at others. The picture is a little grainy at certain points, a thing which surprisingly repeats itself on the DVD. And secondly, the backgrounds sometimes look flat. However, some of the visuals in the film more than make up for it and the overall look of the film is just wonderful. The music is top-notch and is composed by Alan Menken (who else?) and Stephan Schwartz. "Pocahontas" is a fantastic film, don't judge it before you've seen it. It deserves a chance.
Rating: Summary: Painted with all the colors of the wind Review: This is a beautiful film, the music is good and well recorded, I have the LaserDisc, and will wait for the special edition on DVD, the LD is stunning and the next edition on DVD should be as well, Disney Movies, be they based on Fairy Tales, Myth/Ledgend, History, or Music (Fantasia) are all imaginative expanded versions of the original story, and meant to entertain, not to be held up as examples of the original book, however don't you think that a parent could use any of these films to get the younger ones to read the original storys?, have discussions about the differences, and if they matter in the long run?, and when it comes to Fairy Tales which version is better, and why?.
Rating: Summary: Forced Previews on DVD Version Review: The "Pocohantas" movie is OK, but my biggest beef with this product is that Disney is now using forced previews at the beginning of all their DVDs. These are over 5 minutes of dull Disney previews that you are FORCED to watch. You can't skip over them or fast forward through them, and you can't start the movie after them. If you want to watch the movie, you HAVE to watch the previews.This might not be such a big deal if you're only watching the movie once, but if you're like most families your kids will watch this movie over and over again. Then its really annoying. Disney should be ashamed for being so greedy that they have to put this defect in all their DVDs.
Rating: Summary: Little kids will like it Review: My two year old enjoys this movie and she could care less about history, political correctness, or the myriad of other issues a movie like this brings up when watched by adults. When it came out in theaters, some time ago, my now teens went to see it and came back with the report that it was filled with spiritism and new age undertones, thus scoring for them, less than stellar marks. Disney generally has great animation, and the visuals here are not bad at all and if that's enough, and you can stomach all the political messages hidden in the dialogue, then this movie is worth watching with the younger set. It certainly isn't entertaining enough, in my opinion, to watch over and over and hardly scores as high as many of the other Disney movies.
Rating: Summary: This is a Disney Movie, NOT a documentation. Review: For those of you who criticize Pocahontas because it does not protray her actual life correctly, you must remember that this movie was not supposed to be a documentation. Disney movies are aimed toward the kid audience and they have to be appealing to them. Pocahontas is a great movie, Disney did very well with it, and although the facts are not all necessarily correct, you should try and realize that they weren't supposed to be.
Rating: Summary: Unbearable Review: My wife used to rent this video for our son, until I made her promise never to bring it into the house again. Where to start with this movie? The history, or lack thereof? One could spend hours discussing Disney's shredding of history in this movie, and certainly, many previous reviewers have levelled ample criticism at Disney for the copious inaccuracies. Suffice it to say, I do not approve of the idea that we should somehow whitewash history to make it more appealing to modern-day sensibilities. What kind of message does that send to our children? I agree that little kids probably aren't ready for the reality of European conquest of the New World; in that case, tell them the historical truth when they are ready to handle it. Don't lie to them, and don't package those lies in some cutsey cartoon. Was the historical inaccuracy of this movie my real problem? Not particularly; I have come to expect such willful distortions from Disney in most of its "adaptations" of literature (Hunchback of Notre Dame), history & mythology (Hercules). It really is par for the course with The Mouse. My real problem comes from the fact that the movie is truly unbearable to listen to, thanks to the high-pitched caterwauling of Judy Kuhn (Irene Bedard having provided the speaking voice for the indian princess). Sorry dear, but screeching high & loud with a wobbly vibrato does not good singing make. It does make my head throb with pain, though. It didn't matter where I was in the house, I could hear Judy screaming at me, as though she were stalking me. This made for a particularly bad Disney soundtrack, which is indeed saying something. Now, we have 3-month-old daughter, and I am terrified at the prospect that Pocahontas will somehow sneak into our house again in the not too distant future. I am determined to make her life Pocahontas-free if at all possible.
Rating: Summary: New Version Coming Review: Just a quick note here - if you are thinking of purchasing a copy of Pocahontas now, just wait a little while. Sometime in 2004, Disney will be doing a "Special Edition", two disc DVD release that will be similar to thier recent reissue of Sleeping Beauty. With all of the features on that, people who buy this DVD recently will be disappointed if they didn't wait. Disney will be including all of the "Making of", pre-production art, and other features that make their new "Special Editions" great, to the new edition of Pocahontas. There are three other "Special Editions" due in 2004 - Mary Poppins, Lilo and Stitch, and one other I can't remember right now. Also, there's the "Platinum" edition of Aladdin in October 2004. Worth waiting for in my opinion. You have been warned. :-)
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