Rating: 
Summary: My thoughts on FernGully: The Last Rainforest
Review: "FernGully" is based on a book series of the same title, and after seeing this movie, I wouldn't read the books if you paid me.
The plot is a sugar-coated, yet occasionally grusome tale. Humans, with an enormous logging machine in tow, come to the rainforest and begin to decimate it. Meanwhile, apprentice fairy Christa discovers smoke in the distance and, out of her Little Mermaid-like curiousity with humans, follows it and discovers the humans. The people include Zak, a teenage city boy whos job is to mark trees that are to be chopped down with a hideous red X. Unfortunately, circumstances cause a monster to be unleased and Zak shunk to Keebler-size (about as big as the fairys). All ends well though, and FernGully is safe, at least until the inevitable sequel.
The acting stinks (with the exception of Robin Williams as Batty, an insane, lab-project fruit bat), the animation is flat and boring, the plot feels as though it was made up during the director's sleep, and the smog creature Hexxus is enough to give young children nightmares for the next decade. All in all, this Disney wannabe is best left to collect dust on some lonely shelf at Blockbuster Video.
Rating: 
Summary: Spectacular beyond words!!
Review: (...)Lovely animation, wonderful message, lovable characters....it has everything! It deals with the most important issue plaguing our planet to this day. It shows that living things deserve to be left alone, and that humans should stop interfearing (sp?). When I remembered this movie from years and years ago, I knew this had to be where my passion for animals and nature originated. This is a deeply moving and empathetic movie; the fairies can feel a tree's pain. It's seriously the best movie on the face of the earth to me. It's absolutely brilliant, spectacular, inspiring, powerful, uplifting, etc. I'm passing it on to my children and their children, without a doubt!Message to everyone: Speak out for things that can't speak for themselves. Go vegetarian, adopt needy animals from shelters.....any little bit helps. We have alternatives to meat and paper and pencils.....why don't we use them and save a couple trees and animals? We need to have more sympathy and respect for the suffering of innocent lives who never did anything to deserve what they go through. Long live tree-huggers! (...)
Rating: 
Summary: Almost a classic
Review: A few years ago, I visibly cringed when I saw that a direct-to-video sequel (called "The Magical Rescue" to boot...creative, no? ::shudder::) to this wonderful movie was made. You just don't make thoughtless little sequels to movies like this (although Disney's done it probably over half a dozen times)! Ferngully was one of my absolute favorite childhood movies ever, right up there with "Lion King," "Little Mermaid," and "Land Before Time."
It has a straightforward chief plot: save our home from certain destruction. The main characters are both obvious and complicated at the same time, as in, their personalities are simple but the ways they interact with each other are complex and well thought out on the writers' parts. As a character, Crysta the tree fairy is almost too perfect to be interesting, but her curiosity keeps you interested in her (she's absolutely adorable). I actually found her relationship with the explosively jealous Pips very entertaining. Zak is a bit of an early 90's American surfer-dude stereotype, but he has his good points! If you wouldn't watch this movie for anything else, watch it for Batty Koda, the resident victim of human experimentation (and, nobody else but Robin Williams could ever voice him). He has the best lines, and, I believe, is the most "human" of them all. Magi Lune, the movie's Gandalf, Rafiki, Whistler, etc, gives a more stable feeling to the plot (almost as much as Batty does), and probably one of the most lovable characters. Hexxus, the mythical evil beast unleashed by a chainsaw (also the personification of industry and pollution), reminds me a lot of "The Ancient Enemy" in Dean Koontz's "Phantoms," except with a dash of humor and a subtraction of obscenity. Zak's coworkers are, of course, the henchman stereotype: dirty, dull, and dumb.
The thing Ferngully has going for it is that all these characters are very personable and are somehow very, very human and real. It's not a one-dimensional film like so many of today's animated films are; it's sensitive to its characters and to the subject matter, all while keeping everything simple enough for an eight-year-old (how old I was in 1992) to understand. It's also witty and intelligent. HOWEVER, the big flaw in the film is why it's almost a classic, yet not quite one. Ferngully is very much a product of the early 90's pop culture. As there is fluffy pop music, this is a POP movie. Not even Disney gets this pop. From the soundtrack (which is catchy despite how dated all the songs are) to the characterizations, this IS pop environmentalism in the early 90's.
All in all, a great American movie for children (and for adults who just want to remember the good old days, before cartoons got so *stupid*). My 4th grade class loved it (the teachers used the opportunity and got several classes together so they could see Ferngully's important message), and my little cousins loved it too. Now, since I can't find the tape (AHHGH!), I am now off to buy the tape off Amazon ^_^
Rating:
Summary: Great Animated Film With A Good Message
Review: Any animated film featuring Robin Williams has to be good, and it is. This movie is filled with hilarious quotes and great animation. Good enviromental message as well. Also has music by Raffi (remember that guy?) and Elton John.
Rating:
Summary: How did this touch me?
Review: Fern Gully was the first film my parents ever took me to see at the movie theater. Freud said that childhood affects a person's character, and this movie really did a lot for me (living in a tropical island wich is full of rainforests, it did get me fairy searching). I have this movie when it came out on tape and I still watch it, last time being today. The characters are amazing, Crysta is so much like me and thank God, not a blonde as every animated movie heroine. Zak is totally cool cause he's not destroying the forest because he's evil, he's doing it because he doesn't care, mainly because of ignorance. Robin Williams is amazing as Batty Koda, as he is in any other role. His lines make me laugh and at the same time dig into your brain. The thing is, that when I saw this movie, I didn't know english, and yet I understood it. It really did shape my mind and character and it's made me the tree-loving, pollution-fighting, rainforest-saving, nature-nut I am proud to be today. So this movie, wether I have to buy on DVD when I have kids (I'm only 15 so that'll be a minimum of 10 years in the future) I want them to see that "all the magic of creation exists within a single, tiny seed".
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh...
Review: FernGully - The Last Rainforest, is a disturbing movie that gives me a bad feeling every time I watch it. When I was little it used to scare me, but now that I'm older, it just disgusts me. It's not cute, it's not funny, it's just strange. I honestly don't see how this movie was good enough to deserve a sequel. The whole story had this sort of darkness to it that doesn't give you that "happy feeling". I haven't watched this movie in ages, and I don't plan on watching it again. As a matter of fact, this odd movie can just collect dust, for all I care. I don't recommend it to anyone. It's a perfect example of poor work. There's only one song that is fun to dance to, and it still has that creepiness to it. And this is supposed to be a kids' movie. Parents won't like it, and neither will kids...I'm telling you. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: Important Lessons Sometimes Come in Small Packages
Review: I absolutely adore this movie. It presents a delightful mix of humor and poignant symbolism. Perhaps if more children watched movies like this they would grow into enviromentally conscious adults. The characters are as loveable as they are educational. If I could, I'd buy a copy of this movie for all the children I know.
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Summary: ~A teen's opinion~
Review: I am 13 years old, and watched this video in Life Science class. We watched this video because it has such a strong environmental message. Along with that, is is a cute animated video. I loved the hilarious Batty Koda (Robin Williams). Each character actually represents someone else in real life, and can be identified with. This video is a great way for younger kids to learn about taking care of the environment. It is a fun movie and shouldn't be missed.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite childhood movie - and it has a message!
Review: I first saw this movie in theaters when it came out, which would make me nine or ten at the time. I loved the movie then. The environmental message made sense to me, and it really got its point across even to a young kid, though I didn't understand consciously that Batty had be a subject of animal experimentation (now I'm an 18 year old animal rights activist, so maybe it registered on some level though). But a great message alone isn't enough to make a movie. It's got all the classic elements necessary for a kids movie. A great villian - Hexx is scary, unique, and voiced to perfection by Tim Curry, two strong protagonists for guys and girls in Zak and Crysta, a mythical past and setting, fun comic relief - Robin Willians is terrific as Batty, and plenty of great songs. It's different enough from your typical Disney movie to be great, but similar enough that kids will love it. Plus, it will be something they've never seen before and it will send many important messages (about taking care of the environment, believing in yourself, and how you can make a difference) that every kid should hear. I definatly believe this is the best children's movie ever made.
Rating:
Summary: TERRIFYING!!!
Review: I have not seen this movie for quite a long time, but I saw it when I was a child and it scare me so much I cried. I had nightmares for two months about the evil main character Hexxes. The thing that scared me most was that he was REAL and was not an inprobably monster that would exist, he was pollution. And I didn't want to go outside for days. In a way though, it changed the way I thought about nature and sent out a good message about nature. I have since had an EXTREMELY strong sense of compassion for nature and was inspired by the main character Krista. I even made my father buy a tree to plant in our back yard. Overall, I would not let little children see this movie, because it really does scare them!
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