Rating: 
Summary: Another Road Movie.
Review: Bing Crosby and Bob Hope made several "ROAD" movies together. The movies basically had the same plot: the duo traveled to some far off location, involved the duo getting into some kind of trouble, and had a beautiful woman fall in love with one of the duo (usually Crosby). The movies were also known for their cheesy songs and the frequent breaking of the theatrical fourth wall.With that said, THE ROAD TO EL DORADO is basically another Hope and Crosby film, except it's animated and it doesn't star Hope or Crosby. The animated visuals of the movie are rather spectacular in some parts and Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branaugh keep the picture moving as the bumbling duo of Julio and Miguel. The plot of the movie revolves around Julio and Miguel being accidently stowed away on one of Cortez's ships headed for the New World. The duo escapes in the night and in the process save Cortez's prize horse. The three companions eventually wash up on shore and discover they have landed on the shores of a distant land where El Dorado, the legendary city of gold, can be found. Eventually, the companions find El Dorado and are mistaken for gods. The plot of the movie does move rather slow and the film's songs, written and performed by Elton John, are rather cheesy. Nevertheless, THE ROAD TO EL DORADO is more enjoyable than many other animated pictures and proves to be an enjoyable animated action/adventure buddy flick that the entire family can watch together.
Rating:
Summary: Light and breezy entertainment
Review: The Road To El Dorado is a buddy movie, wherein two con men, after winning the map to the famed golden city of El Dorado in a dice game, find themselves thrust into the greatest adventure of their lives. This, of course, is a very quick synopsis of the movie, but I don't really want to give too much of the movie away because the journey in this case is the whole purpose of the movie. Animated movies, as a rule, depend on one major thing, besides a decent script, and that is the voice overs for the characters. If you can't believe in the voices, if they don't really seem to fit the characters, then no matter how good the movie is, you just can't really seem to get too deeply involved in it. Happily, in this case, Tulio, voiced by Kevin Klein, and Miguel, voiced by Kenneth Branagh, are a joy to listen to, and they fit their characters perfectly. Listening to the two of them banter together during the course of the film, you can really believe that these two men have known each other for a long time, and are really the best of friends. Rosie Perez as Chel, Armande Assante as Tzekel-Kan, and Edward James Olmos as the Chief also do very good jobs, making the movie a joy to watch. In any other animated production, you could envision Tulio and Miguel as the sidekicks of the main hero, the comic relief to keep the picture from getting too serious. In this case, they themselves are the main heroes of the movie, and it's a real pleasure to see the two quick thinking, quick talking scam artists as the heroes of the picture. Although they are constantly trying to steal the gold from El Dorado, when it comes right down to it, they always end up doing the right thing. The two funniest moments of the movie happen early in the picture. One is right after it is discovered that they were playing with loaded dice, and are about to be arrested. The two of them stage a faked duel as a means of escaping the guards, and the men they were playing dice with. The second scene is after they've made their escape from the ship in a rowboat, and find themselves drifting with no food, and no land anywhere in sight. After drifting for a long time, they are heartened to see a bird land on their oar, until it falls over dead, apparently from exhaustion. Then, as they are about to eat the bird and at least escape starvation, a shark leaps up from below, and snatches the bird from their grasp. Just these two scenes are hilarious, and the film delivers up many more to go with them. So, if you enjoy adventure, dashed with a healthy splash of humor, I'd recommend you check out this movie. It's the perfect buddy movie with even a fair amount of decent songs thrown into the mix. Check it out, I think you'll like it, I certainly did.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Movie for anyone.
Review: I cannot see why the American critics rate this movie poorly!
The Australian version has a G rating, though.
It is a great movie, my 3 year-old brother watches it all the time and he loves it! You might say that the relationship between Chel and Tulio is a bit adult, but anyone who would say that is a drama-queen! It's perfectly clean!
There is nothing wrong with this movie at all and I urge that you buy it, even if you don't have any kids!
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: ...I chose to miss this movie in theatres based on its poor reviews. However, when looking for a family movie to watch on our new DVD player, I could no longer resist the idea of characters voiced by Kevin Kline and Kenneth Brannagh. We (2 adults and a 2 1/2 year old) watched this movie from beginning to end twice that weekend. It is visually stunning, the plot is great as is the moral (friendship over personal gain). The songs are forgettable, that's true. (But the songs in Disney movies now try so hard to get radio play that they are no longer for a kid audience either. If Disney's our benchmark, they're up to par.) In general, this movie is much better than anything Disney has put out since the Lion King. Notably, except for the use of the word "hell" twice (which my 2 year old could do without - bare backsides in the context of taking a bath as in the movie are not considered sexual content in my house), this movie is far less violent than sections of most all of the Disney movies. In all, I feel lucky to have found this movie and feel it's unfortunate that critics seem to have kept so many of us from seeing this great family movie...
Rating:
Summary: Better than Disney's Tarzan, on par with Mulan
Review: I saw this film twice with my family. My wife and I and our three older children (ages 10, 8, 6) enjoyed it thoroughly. The animation is great, the writing is good -- my favorite part was probably near the beginning when the co-heroes are expecting life to end at any minute and they are reflecting on how they thought it would all end...great stuff. The music is good, but doesn't overpower or overshadow the movie. Character development is better than in the animated shows I've seen since "Mulan" and, interestingly, the main protagonist and antagonist are not the main characters. They are the village chief and the local high priest and all around creepy guy. Development of the story throughout the show is good, there are few slow parts, and many enjoyable action parts. I particularly enjoyed the "soccer game" played in an arena like those found among ancient central American ruins. The whole experience was somewhat reminiscent of "The Man Who Would be King" starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine, though not as graphic -- tooled down for the animated crowd to watch. All in all, well worth the ticket price. A sound show with action, music, and story that will hold the attention of adult and child alike. 5 stars. Alan Holyoak
Rating: 
Summary: Pay attention to rating - adult themes, but otherwise ok
Review: For me, the story on the whole is pretty good and the people (especially the two main characters and their horse, but others as well) are quite funny. I was a little frustrated with parts of it, and I didn't really care much for the leading lady, but on the whole, I was entertained. For an adult, I'd say go ahead and buy. But before buying it for your children, just be aware that the PG rating is for a some pretty frightening supernatural scenes near the end, a "mooning" scene, and a suggested sex scene. To give you a better idea of what the sex scene is all about, it goes something like this: The leading lady seduces one of the main characters in order to keep him from following the other main character, she massages his shoulders from behind as he sits on a sofa, she puts her hands far down the back of his shirt (at one point, he yells "ow!"), he resists her and they switch places, but she tells him that she is "free now" and pulls her hair aside from her shoulders to expose them better, then he gives in and massages her shoulders as a drunken smile comes over his face, then the scene cuts to something else, but it later returns to their voices and an empty sofa where, on hearing the voice of the villain, she pops up from the floor all worried about being found with him, she pulls her leg over 'something' to sit up, then he sits up with the drunken smile still, and she straightens his clothes and shoos him to meet his visitor -- they are clothed all along (her always rather scantily anyway), but they were obviously laying on the floor, and she was fairly obviously laying on top of him. Also, it may be inconsequential to some, but the suggested sex is outside of marriage or a present love relationship of any kind in the movie. Gotta say I was pretty shocked at this being in an animated DreamWorks film (PG-rating and all), even though the two do end up inlove which then didn't seem believable as there was not much more to their relationship than a mutual friendship of convenience. If you don't mind your kids seeing that (and you won't always know if a child totally missed it, is curious but just doesn't want to discuss it, or for an older kid, has a pretty good idea and is now being influenced by its acceptability in the film) or the scary supernatural scene, I'd say go ahead and buy because it's worth seeing otherwise. But don't let Hollywood desensitize you (or other reviewers bully you) into thinking you have to accept what makes you uncomfortable or you're just an old prude -- think for yourself and use your own best judgment ESPECIALLY when it comes to your kids.
Rating:
Summary: Hope & Crosby meet Connery and Caine on the Road
Review: It is nice to see that Disney has some competition. This is a solid 3 star movie of average entertainment value. The strength of the movie is repartee between the two main characters. The script design reminded me a little of a combination of the Sean Conneryand Michael Caine movie THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING and the Road movies done by Hope and Crosby only here they are Spanish warriors, not british warriors or american dandys. This is a movie that had enough action for my little kids and enough comedy for the older ones, like me. If you are looking for non-disney family fun also check out SWAN PRINCESS, BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER and the LAND BEFORE TIME.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed, with reservations
Review: I judge children's movies based on how eager I am to watch it again after what seems like the 50th viewing. El Dorado passes with flying colors. My husband and I enjoy watching it as much as my three year old does. I notice something new every time. The characters are believable, the story holds my attention and the music isn't too annoying. I give it only three stars because I think there are some aspects of the story that are too mature for little ones. It is rated PG, which I missed before I ordered it, due to some sexual situations and scary scenes. My daughter doesn't get the sexual references, but I could see a six year old asking some interesting questions.
Rating:
Summary: Fun For The Whole Family
Review: THE ROAD TO ELDORADO is a fantastic adventure for the whole family. It has chemistry in the characters and visuals that stunning and amazing in their color and detail. Directed by Bibo Bergeron (A Goofy Movie, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest) and Will Finn (Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin) it tells the story of two not-so popular con artists that inadvertently get themselves on a quest that turns into a real adventure. Kevin Klein (Life Is A House, In & Out, Wild, Wild West) and Kenneth Branagh (Harry Potter, Wild, Wild, West) play Tulio and Miguel who are friends for life and have an uncanny knack for theatrics, conning and being rogues of there own worlds no matter where they end up. The are funny and witty and always seem to be at each other's throats. Together they are a force to be reckoned with however separate they probably could tie their own shoes without help. They acquire a map and decide to find the gold of El Dorado. El Dorado is the adventure they seek having had acquired a map through a fantastic scheme and theatrical conning. Once on their journey they acquire and incredibly independent horse. (Sometimes this horse is brighter then them!) Through an accident, they end up on the ship of Cortez voiced by Jim Cummings (Shrek, Winnie The Pooh) who takes them to the shore where El Dorado is. Finding the city of gold itself they meet an ancient people who is lead by a Chief voiced by Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica, Stand & Deliver, Selena) and indirectly guided by his daughter Chel who is voiced by Rosie Perez (Fearless, Riding In Cars With Boys). There is also the bad guy voiced Armand Assante (Gotti, On The Beach) who is making things difficult and dangerous for the boys. This is a fun and fantastic film and the best part is that there are 6 original songs written by Tim Rice and Elton John and performed by Elton himself. The score by Hans Zimmer is upbeat and fun and with music like this you can't go wrong. (This is the same musical team that came up with the musical scores and compositions for The Lion King!) A must for your collection!
5-20-03
Rating:
Summary: "Holy Ship!"
Review: Tulio and Miguel are two Spanish con artist in 1519. They win a map to the new world in a game of craps. The two gets stuck on a boat who has Cotez on it. Tulio and Miguel escape from the boat with Cotez's warhorse. They land somewhere in the New World and decided to look for El Dorado. Once in El Dorado, the two are considered Gods by the evil priest until one of the "gods" bleed.
The Songs are enjoyable, including "It's Tough to be a god" with isn't sung by Elton John.
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