Antz

Rating:
Summary: How to get to a fully animated credits screen
Review: Go to the "Special Features" section from the main menu and you will see a Dreamworks logo hinted in one of the grass leaves on the right hand side of the screen. Select it by pressing the left arrow and then the down arrow key on your remote control, and you will be treated to a credit sequence with more "antzy" music.

Rating:
Summary: Lordage Animation
Review: The only reason why I watched this movie was because the immortal Sylvester Stallone lended his voice to a somewhat 'star-studded' cast. From Woody Allen to Jennifer Lopez, I was only interested in the godliness. Stallone plays the big, strong ant who wants to be a worker and not a soldier. Good choice. If Stallone's ant had gone to battle, he may not have made it. Then I would have been extremely distressed. They showed Woody Allen's and Sharon Stone's ants way too much leaving the real talent out of this picture, Stallone. This is really a film that kids can enjoy, but Stallone fans may be disappointed that you can't hear the immortal voice too much.

Rating:
Summary: well done
Review: i thought this was a well done movie. it was well acted, had a nice storyline, but unfortunately had to come at the same time as A Bug's Life, which was light years better and infinitely funnier.

(1998 was a strange year for doubles...Armageddon and Deep Impact; Antz and A Bug's Life; Saving Private Ryan and A Thin Red Line...hmmmm)

Rating:
Summary: Are you feeling a bit Antzy?
Review: This computer animated film is very well done. The animation is very stylized and "life like". It is almost as though you could reach out and touch this very unique world. The story centers around Z, (voiced by Woody Allen) a neurotic worker ant, who switches places with his buddy Weaver (Sylvester Stallone). With this new found freedom from his dull routine, Z goes off in search of a mythical place called "insectopia", along for the ride is Princess Bala (Sharon Stone). In their travels they uncover a plot by colony General Mandible (Gene Hackman) to destroy the entire ant population. In my opinion, Antz is a much better film, than the other animated insect movie, A BUG'S LIFE. I think the story is better, the characters much more interesting, and the script is funnier. This is a film that both kids and adults can enjoy together. LIFE doesn't have much to it accept the CGI stuff.

The DVD has a nice assortment of extras. The commentary track from directors Tim Johnson and Eric Darnell is very well done. A cast member or two thrown in would have made it better though. It offers a lot of information on how it all came together. There are also some production footage, sketches, stuff on computer facial features for the characters, production/cast/crew info, and the theatrical trailer. Join the colony and see ANTZ

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic animated fare
Review: Now that Dreamworks has become a thriving studio, animation has seen a big revival. In past years, there was often only one such picture [always from Disney], but 1998 saw five major releases. They ranged from the mediocre Rugrats to the extraordinary Antz.

Part of what makes Antz so special is that it is appealing to kids and to a broad range of adults. Years ago, there were many movies that did this. Today, when we watch such movies with our children, watching them be entertained is often more amusing to us than what's on the screen.

The makers of Antz created it primarily through computer technology, rather than the traditional hand drawn method. This choice has produced a visually stunning movie. I do not think it diminishes animation as an art form. It simply uses the latest tools. Computerized drawing is much faster, but mastery of it is tedious and difficult.

The ants in Antz have been skillfully created. They are insects with human features. They stand upright and have human facial features and hands. These hybrid creatures do not look grotesque at all. In fact, they are very appealing. What's most interesting is that each face resembles that of the star who is the character's voice.

While the story line is a typical of this genre, its dialogue, as well its visuals, lift it above the imitative and the mediocre.

The hero is a worker ant named Z-4195, who is different and want to be an individual. "I was the middle child in a family of five million, " he explains at the start of the movie. The voice is Woody Allen's, who succeeds here better than he has recently in his own films.

Z-4195 meets and falls in love with Bala, the colony's princess. She is engaged to Gen. Mandible, who, of course, turns out to be planning a takeover of the colony. Z fights a terrible war with termites, flees the colony with the princess, discovers "Insectopia" and returns to save the other ants from Mandible.

All of this is done at a fast pace, so there's hardly a dull moment. The dialog is sharp and funny. Some of it will mean one thing to adults and another to children, but none of it will offend anyone, save for the most pious among us.

Antz even has a message or two. One is that it can be dangerous for a group when everyone in it thinks alike. The other is that those on the lower end of the social ladder are not only important, but can be much stronger than they are given credit for.

While the ants are necessarily humanized, their point of view remains that of the tiny creatures that they are. Even "Insectopia", their version of Heaven on Earth, is very much a bug's vision.

The film score is excellent, and fits the movie perfectly. Surprisingly, Dreamworks opted to use some wonderful old popular songs, which makes for a pleasant change.

The only problem with Antz is that you may find that, after watching it with the kids, you may watch it again when they've gone to bed. It's that much fun.

Rating:
Summary: Someone Bring Out The Bug Spray!!
Review: This is a poor excuse for a movie. Its a stupid movie for an adult and is certainly not a good movie for kids. It's stupid humor, dumbness, as well as its non-funny story-line is an insult to movies. One of the worst movies I have ever seen! If I could I would even give it 0 star(s).

Rating:
Summary: Not bad...
Review: There is nothing WRONG with this movie, but it doesn't really hold up for multiple viewings. It's almost as if more effort was put into the great animation than to a great plot. I wouldn't recommend buying it without renting it first to decide.

Rating:
Summary: A Woody Allen Movie in disguise
Review: Disguised as a kids' move--a cartoon--this is in reality one of the best Woody Allen movies. It's got his unique wit: In the opening scene, an ant named Z (with Woody's voice and facial expression) is lying on his shrink's couch complaining that, as the middle child in a family of five million, he feels insignificant. The shrink agrees, saying You've made a breakthrough! You really are insignificant! This level of wit is sustained throughout the movie. It's got a great supporting cast, including the voices of Gene Hackman, Christopher Waulken, Dan Akroyd, Jane Curtin. And it has an upbeat ending. **Warning** This really isn't a kids' show, unless they happen to be Woody fans.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Films of 1998.
Review: When a Depressed Ant named Z (Voiced by Three Time Oscar-Winner:Woody Allen) has fallen in Love with the Princess (Voiced by Sharon Stone) but when a dangerous double crossing General (Voiced by Oscar-Winner:Gene Hackman) wants to start a new colony and destorying the rest of the Ants.

Directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson. This film has a Great Supporting Cast-Including:Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Lopez, Oscar-Winner:Christopher Walken, Oscar-Winner:Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover, Paul Mazursky, John Mahoney, Grant Shaud, Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin. One of the Biggest Hits of 1998. Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) is Superb. Produced by the same studio-Dreamworks (They Produced):The Box Office Smash CGI Film-Shrek. Written by Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz. Chris and Paul Weitz Produced the American Pie Films. Grade:A.

Rating:
Summary: Woody Allen movie
Review: This movie is to "Bugs' life" what "Small Soldier" is to "Toy Story". Woody-istic sarcasm runs through. He(as ant Z) fights against "007-Moonraker" style bad guy in a way he did not planned or intended. But his deep discontent about the social structure that disregards individuallity is the driving force of his adventure. Sorry for Bugs Life fans but while I enjoyed BL and applauded, that was it. I returned the DVD to the rent shop and forgot it. But AntZ I saw the movie and I wanted to keep it.
A goofs is there in the magnifying glass scene. It does not show you a correct optics. Play with a magnifying glass and compare with the scene in AntZ, and you will see it.