Rating: Summary: Excellent Movie Review: My 5 year old daughter and 2 year old twin boys are captivated by the movie. I put this movie on or the Barbie as Rapunzel on for some peace and quiet. I am impressed that my kids sit and watch the entire movie... quietly. The mouse king was scary for my daughter at first, but with many young kids, she still doesn't understand that most videos have a concept of good vs. evil and that good always wins at the end. It may not go along with the entire nutcracker story but remember, its for kids. I totally recommend this video.
Rating: Summary: trashing a classic Review: What a joke! Any resemblance of the E.T.A. Hoffman story/Tchaikovski ballet to this DVD is purely coincidental. The ballet musical numbers are chopped up and rearranged and much is left on the cutting room floor. The story goes off into really strange directions that have little to do with the original story - the Mouse King is not that central a character except here. I could see kids enjoying this but I could also see young kids being scared by it. But this is just more money in the pockets of people who own the Barbie copyrights, and if a holiday favorite gets trashed along the way, who cares as long as we turn a profit. Avoid this muddled mess and get a DVD of the real ballet.
Rating: Summary: It's not that scary Review: My four and seven year old girls loved this movie. It takes some license with the ballet but is a good intro to it. I'm shocked kids found the mouse king scary. Mine didn't at all. Goofy maybe.
Rating: Summary: Too scary for my children, regardless of what anyone says.. Review: Think twice before buying this, and then think again. No matter what anyone says, don't let them belittle you into thinking this is your average, innocent, run-of-the-mill children's movie. There are parts that ARE indeed frightening to some children. I fervently wish I'd come here and read the recommendations before buying this. When ONE mother says it scared her children, that's one thing, but when SEVERAL do so, it's time to reconsider.
Rating: Summary: Barbie in the Nutcracker Review: My daughter loves this movie. I ordered it & only 5 days later it was at my home. Thanks for the VERY QUICK DELIVERY.
Rating: Summary: Not Bad Review: I don't mean "not bad" in the colloquial sense (meaning "good") but not awful. It is kind of splitting hairs to find fault with this for not following The Nutcracker ballet's plot--the story was changed so much from Hoffman's tale when they made it into a ballet. But the fact is, despite the title, you can't use this movie to introduce your child to the ballet. Not one dance appears in its entirety, the music is utterly out of sequence, they added characters and deleted them with what seems a careless disregard for the story we have become familiar with. (Why did we need a bat with an English accent? Why a rock monster? Why kill off Clara's parents and change her brother's name?) It's a cute, albeit obvious, story, and the animation is good. If they had called it "Barbie's Sweetland Adventure" I would have given it three stars, but to call it "Barbie in the Nutcracker" is just false advertising.
Rating: Summary: Better Than Expected Pink Princess Dream Review: In spite or perhaps because of being a marketing vehicle for dolls, this movie turns out to be enjoyable - my sons are 3 and 5, and have watched it with rapt attention repeatedly (we borrowed it from the public library) - even tried dancing along in the dance scenes! I would imagine this film would be a big hit for any lover of Barbies and ballet, for girls between the ages of 3 and 7 or so. It's computer animated with the 3-D effect of Toy Story or Shrek, and the plot stays true to the essence of the original. I thought it would be excrutiating, and usually read a book during a kid-flick, but it wasn't, and I got sucked in. Apart from depicting Barbie as too ladylike to express anger, it didn't bother me.
Rating: Summary: Great entertainment - FUN! Review: My daughters (ages 5 and almost 3) just love this one. It's a regular pick in our house. It's great for aspiring little dancers or just Barbie lovers. I've watched it a couple of times with them and I've enjoyed it too.
Rating: Summary: Great movie for little girls Review: My daughter really likes this movie. She always wants to get dressed up in her "ballerina" clothes and fairy clothes and play and dance along. Many movies are to scary for her.. this one isn't... it has just enough suspence to make the ending exiting without disturbing her My husband hates it... it probably isnt good for family movie night.
Rating: Summary: I really, really wish I could hate this movie. Review: I mean, it's a blatant commercial in many ways--there are very few characters who appear in this film that don't have at least one toy based on them. But it's apparent the people that made this thing cared about what they were doing and so elevated it above a "how many toys can we sell?" showcase. The animation is solid and pleasant to look at (but don't get fooled into thinking it's Toy Story quality), the bad guys are suitably creepy and scary, and the dance sequences were done with motion-capture techniques that give them a real-life feel. There's a grand sense of adventure to the whole piece. The voice acting is good, but the only "name" in the mix is Tim Curry as the Mouse King. CBS aired a 1-hour version in which about 30 minutes of story was replaced with summaries. The full-length version is much better: the material that was cut to fit the time slot is every bit as good as what was shown. It may not be the perfect introduction to Tchaikovsky's classic, but the music reaches the little ones, make no mistake. Upon hearing an excerpt in a restaurant lobby, a 3-year-old exclaimed, "Mommy! The mouse is fighting!"
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