Rating: 
Summary: Strongest moments are slapstick
Review: I recently watched this movie with my 3 and a half year old. The parts that were mutually enjoyable were the traditional slapstick animation moments. They are almost too exciting for someone so young, and I caught her covering her eyes once when an animated character was trying to outrun an avalanche. There are very few movies for little ones that don't feature explicit scenes of violence and death. In this movie there are some fight scenes, but no creature dies on screen. After seeing Atlantis,and the death toll extracted before the closing credits, this is a refreshing change.
I agree with reviews about the lack of smoothness in the animation of this film. This is especially evident with the Neanderthal characters. I did think that the various textures of snow, ice, mud and fur were well rendered. The story line plods along to a predictable conclusion. This is a family film that will be more enjoyable for the smallest viewers in your household than for the adults. But, adults have so many entertainment choices, that it's nice to a movie something that can be shared. Younger viewers will be able to follow what is going on without a lot of explanation from adults.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth Buying
Review: It's a desperate attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Shrek. My only advise would be to rent it. I don't think it's something most people would want to watch again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Good film, great visuals
Review: Chris Wedge's animated hit is drop-dead gorgeous on DVD -- full of artful, naturalistic compositions that vividly bring to life a land that time forgot. In their commentary, Wedge and co-director Carlos Saldanha speak in art-film terms of the importance they placed on "lighting" the animation. To meld the bold frozen landscape with the intimate characters, "We came up with a style that was kind of a 3-D equivalent to what Chuck Jones was doing in the 'Road Runner' cartoons," Wedge says. Scrat, the film's hapless saber-toothed squirrel, wasn't in the original script. The critter's big opening scene was added because Wedge felt a movie titled "Ice Age" had to open with tons of snow and ice. Scrat turned into "arguably the most endearing and popular character in the film," he says. Wedge and Saldanha's talk seems aimed at pros and animation buffs. The directors point out a change in acts, discuss test screenings and reveal a few of their formulas (any emotion must be immediately chased with slapstick). The commentary doesn't have a lot of entertainment value, but it is informative and moves right along. The bonus materials on disc 2 should appeal to a wider audience. John Leguizamo vamps "Mystery Science Theater"-style as his Sid the Sloth character views clips. A making-of shows the highly engaged Wedge directing Leguizamo, Ray Romano (the wooly mammoth) and Denis Leary (the tiger) as they record their parts. All three actors complain a bit about having to work separately. Leguizamo put together "a term paper" on the ice age and his character before he came to work, Wedge says. The actor came up with about 40 voices to try out, taking into consideration things like sloths usually have a mouth full of grass. "All you've got to do is watch a lot of Mel Blanc," Leguizamo says of voice work. "Mel Blanc is a god to me." The menu is packed with shorts that break down the animation process. The basic but well-edited pieces cover lighting, rigging and how animators employed their own acting. Wedge's touching and mysterious "Bunny" short, which won an Oscar in 1998, is included, along with commentary.
Rating: 
Summary: ICE AGE warmed me up!
Review: I finally rented this movie last night. It reminded me a lot of Monsters Inc. and The Emperor's New Groove. They go on a adventure together and by the end of the adventure, they are changed people [or animals]. It's very very funny and the facial expressions on the characters is amazing. I also love the music in the movie. This movie is great for KIDS and ADULTS. I'm definitely going to buy this DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Funny!~
Review: This was a very entertaining story about 3 prehistoric mammals out on their own adventure to return a baby to it's people. Very funny, i thought it was FARRRR better than monsters inc. FARRR better. I would highly recommend this dvd if you thought monsters inc. was okay, because this one will be BETTER!~ I don't know wat the squirrel had to do with the film. He was just there..... no purpose.... just chasing his nuts, trying to burying them in odd locations.
I know when i saw the previews this movie didn't seem interesting but when i got a chance to watch it, i began to think otherwise. Don't judge this movie by it's previews like i did. It is better than you think. If your the type who doesn't enjoy movies like monsters inc. (don't have to like it, just think it is okay) or in general funny childish stuff (nothing like that rugrats stuff), then maybe you should first rent the movie.
Well this dvd comes with 2 discs. Disc 1 is the movie that comes along with some kiddie games. Disc 2 has this "scrat's missing adventure," which is basically a elongated version of that squirrel running around burying it's nuts and blah... some commentary by the actors, Trailers, and more goodies. Audio in english, french, and spanish as well as the subtitles, except no french subtitles.
-*-Lady Serinity-*-
Rating:
Summary: This movie is hot
Review: This is a great animated film for the whole family. This movie got a lot of hype, and the animation didn't look that great, but it proved to be an excellent film. It's nice to see that someone other than Disney can make a good animated movie. Ray Romano and John Leguizamo head the cast as Manfred the mammoth and Sid the sloth. They are joined by the always-entertaining Denis Leary as the evil sabretooth, Diego. All three of them are great, but you just can't beat Denis Leary as a ranting, raving animated critter (He proved that in a Bug's Life). The story is great, and the characters are downright hilarious. This is a great animated film, and will make an excellent addition to any child or family's cartoon library. Don't miss out on Ice Age--it definitely lives up to the hype.
Rating: 
Summary: A little too cold...
Review: I was a little disappointed with this movie. The trailer looked so promising and I think Ray Romano is very funny.
His character in this movie, however, is a grouchy, aching whooly mammoth that has lost his entire family. There are too few funny moments in this film and it does have quite a serious tone.
This is not necessarily bad and I think children can learn some important lessons here, but if you're looking for a light-hearted movie, this is not it.
Rating:
Summary: Ice Age -- not that good and the DVD is only ok
Review: I saw this film recently as a rental DVD and expected it to be funny and brilliant -- as well as suitable for adults as well. Unfortunately it was more kid-suitable, unlike the incomparable Monsters Inc DVD which worked for all ages, including adults. The Animation in ICE AGE was not on the same level either, it was a little blocky and felt more suited to a videogame than a major film release. It lacked the level of detail that Monsters offered or that Shrek featured. The plot was screwy from the get-go. Instead of the creation of an entirely alternate world, the viewer must suspend their disbelief to accept that a) animals talk b) that primitive humans were the Engell family c) prehistoric animals mostly get along. Basically many ideas that are ridiculous on the face but which are proposed only to move forward a sappy script with badly evolved characters. This film was lacking and even a superb DVD presentation could not make up for that.
Rating:
Summary: Questionable Content
Review: I purchased this movie and initially thought it was pretty good. However, the behavior of the two Rhinos in the movie disturbed me a little bit. It seemed to me that they were gay, but I thought I was just seeing things, as I couldn't imagine any reason why someone would want to put that in there. I decided to do a search on the Internet and when 80% of all reviews made mention of the "gay Rhinos", I knew it wasn't just me. One review even went so far to say that the movie "deserved a salute" for including them. Aside from that, I thought the movie was a pretty good, but I wasn't interested in having a movie with "the first gay couple in the history of children's animation," (as another reviewer put it), so I returned it. But if you aren't morally opposed to something like that, then you'll probably enjoy this movie.
Rating:
Summary: don't miss "design gallery"
Review: it is easy to miss some great production art under design gallery. One of the bench marks of CG films, Ice Age is a film for all ages. The movie deserves 5 stars as well as its bonus materials like new Scrat short and Bunny...but the DVD menu is poorly designed. I almost missed amazing character design drawings under Design Gallery.(and you need to go to create your own gallery and play all....) Hope whoever made the DVD takes "interface 101"
but the film is great. no question about it.
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