Rating: Summary: Don Bluth's only Best Movie. Review: One of my favorites since i was a kid! this is truely the only Don Bluth film worth watching, i mean Anastasia was good while Titan A.E. was medicore. It's a Exciting Fairy tale about a Widowed Mouse named " Mrs. Brisby" who's son is in danger and must find the Rats of NIMH to help her, it's got Action and suspense with tears.A Must own animated movie.
Rating: Summary: An Animated Legend. Review: I love animation, I truly believe it is an underrated, still yet to be truly explored medium of art. It has a long way to go, but this was a step in the right direction. I have a certain connection with this movie, as this was the first movie I ever saw in my entire life. Even so, I've never forgotten it, and is one of my most prized movies in my collection. Heck, I don't even have any gripe with telling people publically I love this movie. Its just so truly tragic that this movie was so far ahead of its time. Don't get me wrong, ET was a good movie, but releasing this masterpiece along side it was suicide. If only this movie had been given the breathing room it needed. Nimh really didn't get the fame it truly deserved, but as the other reviews here speak for me, this movie has still made its impact, testament to just how incredible this thing could have been. An adaptation of a classic novel Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, it must be looked at as a take on it. A few have critisized Secret as being so loosely based off the original book. Please, lighten up, its a different, and very welcome take on the original story. In all honesty, while it could have used a much more in depth flashback scene to the escape from Nimh like in the book, the movie had so much more personality than the book. Mrs Frisby(Brisby in the movie, changed due to legal stuff with the Frisby toy, go fig)may have been a tough character, but she had almost no personality. Mrs Brisby may not have been a bad girl, but she was strong inside, and just screamed with personality just layers deep. She shows emotion, fear even, but does something that few characters do, they find their courage, which for most of us in real life isn't often simply gift wrapped, its something that must be found and turned to for strength. This is what I mean, the characters in this are very well fleshed out. Justin is way more memorable than in the book for certain. He is a true hero, who has his own shortcomings but opts to defeat them with honesty and dignity. Nicodemus is a truly mystical figure who ofsets some of the movies greatest mysteries still debated today. The Villain, Jenner, makes you wonder about how greed, and desperation to survive can corrupt any mind. Even the children, who are often one dimentional in animation, make an impact. Martin is the very essense of the adventurous, tough minded yet stubborn, but at the same time really just a child on the inside persona that so many young boys often grip with. So much to say, why you ask? This is one of those movies that, while entertaining to children, only really starts shining when you watch it as a broad minded adult who can understand so many of the hidden concepts that carried over from the book, and were fleshed out with honest to god emotion in this movie. I emplor you, to check this movie out if you haven't. If you have, give it the recognition it so desperatly deserves, make a website about it, draw a picture of your favorite character, anything. No matter how old you are, there's a lot to learn from this movie. Its truly Don Bluth's greatest work, even beyond An American Tail. It really makes you understand how Don must have so much trouble trying to outdo this film. Its even more tragic that its future, which could have been open and optimistic, has been made rather bleak with the horrendous insult of a sequel MGM had the nerve to make. God, what wasted potential..but you never know, time goes on. I truly wish the legacy of NIMH, and its many followers the best of luck.
Rating: Summary: nostalgia for an AWESOME movie Review: When I was younger, I would visit my grandparents a lot, and they would always pop in a movie for me and my brothers and sisters to watch. They had several movies from which to choose, but this was the one movie I ALWAYS wanted to see! Not only does it have near-flawless animation and voice acting, but a superb storyline and cute, loveable characters (Justin was the first, last and only rat I ever had a crush on!). Add to that some memorable songs (Just TRY to sing anything else after you hear "Flying Dreams" during the end credits - you really can't!), and the talent of Don Bluth, and you get one AWESOME movie! Plus, later on I found out that Shannen Doherty - who played Prue on Charmed, my favorite show - played the voice of Teresa the mouse! I got even more excited about this movie than I was before. I wholeheartedly suggest this movie to anyone who enjoys watching animated movies of any kind! it is definitely worth it!
Rating: Summary: An enduring tale of love, courage and trust Review: Don Bluth's "The Secret Of NIMH," based upon the novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH," was released in 1982 and was quickly forgotten at the box office in favour of Steven Spielberg's E.T. (which was released around the same time). I picked this up for less than ten dollars on DVD and I haven't stopped playing it since. It has been at least fifteen years since I had last seen it, and I enjoy it more than ever. Bluth and close to two dozen Disney animators defected from Disney's studios in favour of having a chance to express and explore their artistic visions and creativity. One of their first animated films was "The Secret of NIMH." Other Bluth films include "Anastasia," and "An American Tail." But no other animated film captures the sense of magic and wonder like "The Secret of NIMH." Mrs. Brisby, a recently widowed field mouse, tries desperately to protect her invalid son Timothy from Moving Day, when the farmer's plough will destroy their underground home. She is led to a colony of superintelligent rats, ex-subjects of laboratory experiments at the National Institute of Mental Health. They are led by wise old Nicodemus, a friend of Mrs. Brisby's late husband Jonathan, also an escaped lab mouse from NIMH. The somewhat dark tale does feature light-hearted comedic relief in the form of Jeremy, a trouble-prone young crow voiced by Dom Deluise. The story sticks fairly close to the book version, although several new elements are added and some side plots are cut due to time restraints. The artwork is breathtaking; vibrant backgrounds, clever special effects, the play of light and shadow. The characters are real and you quickly become attached to them. No one breaks into song every five minutes, although there is a very beautiful lullaby on the soundtrack that Mrs. Brisby sings to Timothy. To me, this film is deeper, darker, and more imaginative than anything that Disney has produced. There are no fancy CGI effects, only the skilful work of animators that love what they do. The film carries a message of courage, love, and trust without being preachy or simple. There are plenty of tense, dark scenes, some of which might upset smaller children. But "Secret of NIMH" is a beautiful, intelligent movie that is so much more than a cartoon or a children's fable.
Rating: Summary: Wish I had seen it years ago. Review: Sometimes you can find the most interesting things without even thinking about it. For instance, just a couple of weeks back I was standing in a crowded shopping location mindlessly looking behind the DVDs to see what was behind them. I had nothing better to do so what could be the harm in that? As I was flipping through them, an old animated feature that happened to be on DVD cought my eye--'The Secret of Nimh'. I still had the image of the cover in my head as a young child and though I had never actually seen the film, I figured there could be no harm done in buying a DVD for less than ten dollars. When I got home and popped it in my player, just viewing the opening sequence, I knew I was in for a treat. The music matches the animation perfectly, the animation is gorgeous (some of the best I have ever seen), the backdrops and paintings are beautiful, the voice characterizations are fitting and entertaining, and the story is definitely a very original one. The only flaws are with the DVD itself, but I will not let that bog down the film's deserved five star rating. Having said that, I hope that MGM plans on improving upon 'the Secret of Nimh' DVD in the future to insure that future generations will view the film and feel the same way I did when I first saw it. I really missed out as a child.
Rating: Summary: Wonderful Movie Review: This is a truly good movie from back in the day before Disney became so commercialized (...) instead of concentrating on the art and story. This is in general, yes there have been some good releases since, but we are off topic. As a child I had always been fascinated with this movie. Great character development, beautiful artwork. Who would think you would ever love rats and think of them as wise and choragus? Anyway, just buy the movie if you haven't seen it, it can be as entertaining for adults as it will be for your children.
Rating: Summary: Favourite from the Beginning Review: Ever since I first saw it when I was three or four, I'd ask to see it constantly thereafter, renting it at least once a month from the video store. Wonderfully animated, and though slightly altered from the original book's tale, The Secret of NIMH is still, in my opinion, an animated classic that would delight any child or adult. Don Bluth did an excellent job in altering the story for the short period of time he had alotted for the film. Despite omissions here and there the movie is smoothly done, the story keeping one interested and entertained. You can tell the movie was created by hard work and dedication to artistic detail.
Rating: Summary: A dark, compelling fantasy Review: Weak DVD insults this underrated classic: The film is presented in a full-frame version, while its original aspect ratio was 1.85:1. While sharpness and detail are not too terrible, print flaws such as scratches, marks and minor speckles become a mild distraction at times. Too bad MGM didn't put in much work on this full-frame presentation, though thankfully this great film hasn't been too effected by age. Extras? Don't ask.....Either way, The Secret of NIMH is Don Bluth's finest hour, without a doubt. Rather dark and sinister for a children's film, The Secret of NIMH is an impressive technical achievement: the full-figure animation is dimensional and elegant, the perspectives imaginative, and the color design superb. Though not nearly credited with the respect it deserves, it's a truly classic animated film brought to life by excellent voice talents. Most effective being John Carradine as the Great Owl. The plot is based on the children's book from which it came: A field mouse, Mrs. Brisby, enlists the aid of a colony of superintelligent rats to move her family home away from the path of a farmer's plow. The whole film resonates a gloomy mythology that's absent from the animated works of Don Bluth's former employer, Disney.
Rating: Summary: Where's the movie?? Review: The 1 star rating isn't about the movie, it's a great movie; it's about the fact that it wasn't released in the original theatrical format. It still boggles me that studios still release films in full frame, don't they realize that it is CHEAPER to release it in widescreen?? No guy panning and scanning the entire film!
Rating: Summary: Best non-Disney mouse cartoon ever! Review: This is a classic cartoon, but without any princes and faraway kingdoms, but it's a futuristic Sword & Sorcery story with animals for the elder kids, and it looks like many things in this animated movie is made with computers, but it's all hand drawn, actually I live near by a little danish village that's called Nim! 'Secret Of NIMH' has everything, and it's both cute, funny and scary at the same time! (The mice's and rats really reminds of our selves in this new millenium) This is the perfect christmas present!
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