Babe

Rating:
Summary: A porcinely delightful movie!
Review: Babe was a runaway success in 1995. It even got a best picture nomination and in my mind should have won. This is a fantastic movie, sure to delight children from 2-100. Chris Noonan has created the modern farmyard parable. He deftly brings you into his world of talking animals centered around that most amicable of pigs, Babe. While the sheepdogs rule the farm, Babe warms the heart of sheep and dog alike, and eventually farmer Hoggett much to the chagrin of his wife who is counting the days to the next big feast. Ultimately Babe is spared as farmer Hoggett comes to realize he has a most unusual pig on his hands. Babe finds himself welcomed into the fold, rising to the ultimately status of being able to come into the house on miserable nights, at the expense of the house cat. All these animals are played wonderfully off each other. The voices couldn't be better. Farmer Hoggett eventually puts Babe to the ultimate challenge, the great sheepherding competition, which brings out a raucous reaction from the crowd. But Babe soon silences them. This movie has everything one could want in a children's movie and more. It deserves its place among the classics of all time.

Rating:
Summary: 5 star movie - 3 star disc
Review: This lovely and beautiful film was transferred beautifully onto DVD with ONLY a full-screen option and NO "extras". Was there NO additional information or commentaries on how these INCREDIBLE and almost believable talking animal scenes were done or on James Cromwell's fantastic (and Oscar-nominated) performance as Farmer Hoggett - who bonds with Babe the Pig and can think "outside the box" pretty well, allowing Babe the Sheep-Pig to fulfill his destiny.

I have NO quarrel with the movie - one of my all-time top 10, only with the DVD with NO extras!

Rating:
Summary: Who can forget the goose having a hissy fit at the window?
Review: The movie Babe is so completely filled with memorable and hilarious gags and scenes and one-liners that it's hard to pick a favorite.
I'm a sheep pig.
Baa-Ram-Ewe.
The goose flapping outside the window.
The farmer's wife passing out on the motel bed.
Etc., etc., etc...
Marvelous, marvelous tale of a little pig on an Australian farm who is adopted by the farmer's border collie and trained to herd sheep. The improbable movie turned into the surprise hit of 1995, the video has probably been bought by more families than any other film of recent memory. With its message of hope and salvation, it's a hilarious and sentimental film you can watch again and again.

Rating:
Summary: This is a great movie.
Review: If you aren't willing to admit that a movie with a talking pig as its star can be a great movie, you have to tell me what label to use for this wonderful and touching film. It is special in so many ways that I have to admit it is one of my favorite films. My kids make fun of me for it, but I don't really care.

I went to this movie in the theaters with no expectations beyond spending some time with my kids watching a goofy film. And I have to admit that the first few minutes in the pig factory had me apprehensive about the motives of the film. But when Hoggett (James Cromwell) and the pig regard each other at the fair, well, I started to be won over. By the time Ferdinand the Duck crows like a rooster, I was with the movie 100%. The whole look of the movie is unique. The voices of the animals are all great and they are given fabulous lines. Mrs. Hoggett (Magda Szubanski) is fab-u-lous as the silent farmer's ambitious and talkative wife.

There are so many wonderful things about the movie that I cannot name them all, but when Hoggett sings and then dances(!) for Babe to try and inspire the recovery of the pig, well, that is a great scene of all time as far as I am concerned. Magical. How Cromwell created and embodied this character I will never understand. Hoggett is a perfect character for the role he is playing as the man with the taciturn outside and the off the wall inside that can see the sheep pig where his wife sees only meals. How many lessons for life are there in that? They are hard to number.

And who doesn't love Ferdinand leading Babe into the house to try and steal the alarm clock that Ferdinand sees as a threat to his life because it is a mechanical rooster. Since he is a duck the farmer will eat he has become a rooster and now he won't even be needed as that. The funniest bit is when, and you might miss it, all heck breaks loose later in the movie and Ferdinand says "Rinnggg Rinnggg" trying to be the mechanical rooster.

And not enough good things can be said for the wonderful voice Christine Cavanaugh gives to Babe. It is perfect and thought the second movie is very good, it never reaches the perfections of this movie.

Rating:
Summary: A top-notch movie that surpasses the children's milieu.
Review: Disappointed in Babe: Pig in the City, I went back to watching the original. Ever after a dozen viewings, this original film retains its power to entertain, endear, and raise emotional and psychological issues uncommon among children's films.

The magic was in the details of this film, and not just in production design. After all, busy production design couldn't make the second film any more engaging than it was. No, the original Babe's charm lies in the wonderful characterizations of Rex and Fly, the sweet yet prejudiced sheep dogs, lovable in nature, but with character flaws that make them as rich as any human character; it lies in the matter-of-fact Farmer Hoggett, played with sincerity and humour by James Cromwell; it lies in the impeccably tailored voice work, from the braying ewe Maa to the hilariously squeaky mice, the booming horse, and that oh-so-greasy cat; it lies in the beautifully rendered, pudgy voice work for Babe by Christine Cavanaugh, who was sorely missed in the second film; and it lies in the pure heart of moments like the slamming of the gate at the sheep dog trial at the end, Rex and Fly's endearing kiss against a soaring crane shot, the eerie dramatic irony of Babe facing Farmer Hoggett's rifle, and Fly's loss of her puppies. And the film's famously ironic tone is the icing on the cake, spearheaded by a highly effective "naive narrator", which subverts the fairy-tale tone of the piece and adds dimensions that serve to add both humour and intellectual complexity to the story.

This film was well deserving of its Best Picture and Best Screenplay Oscar nominations, a film smart enough for adults but joyful enough for children.

Rating:
Summary: An Enchanting Movie for People of All Ages!
Review: When a little orphaned pig named Babe is taken in by Arthur Hoggett, the magic begins. He befriends all of the animals on the farm and becomes a "sheep pig," doing the Border Collies Fly and Rex's work just as well as the dogs themselves. Babe later wins a sheep-dog contest, proving that even the seemingly impossible is possible.

This brilliantly made film is an endearing family movie without being too sweet or sugar-coated. Adults and children alike will be delighted by the pleasant, and often funny, storylthe ine, as well as the talking animals like Fly, who takes care of Babe like she does her own puppies, and the trio of mice who sing songs like "Blue Moon." Underneath its surface, the movie holds an important moral: anything is possible.

"Babe" deserved its six Academy Award nominations hands-down. It is a must-see for anyone and everyone, young or old.

Rating:
Summary: Not Good At All
Review: This is the WORST movie I have EVER seen. We had to see it in our class one day. The teacher said that I HAD to watch. Reluctantly, I sat down. I hated it. She fast forwarded it to the middle so we could see the end. Even that part was bad, and I didn't see all of it! I'd give it -10 stars for horrible scenes, cruelty to animals, and lack of trying. DON'T SEE IT EVER!!!

Rating:
Summary: 5 star movie - 3 star disc
Review: This lovely and beautiful film was transferred beautifully onto DVD with ONLY a full-screen option and NO "extras". Was there NO additional information or commentaries on how these INCREDIBLE and almost believable talking animal scenes were done or on James Cromwell's fantastic (and Oscar-nominated) performance as Farmer Hoggett - who bonds with Babe the Pig and can think "outside the box" pretty well, allowing Babe the Sheep-Pig to fulfill his destiny.

I have NO quarrel with the movie - one of my all-time top 10, only with the DVD with NO extras!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best ever
Review: This is the movie which I have guided my young children too, so that we can both enjoy it on the 50th viewing.

It is visually terrific, the script and delivery have great little twists. The message of respect and communication is well delivered (and not saccharine).

I think Entetainment Weekly magazine was right when it included Babe as one of the timeless classics produced in the 1990's.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Movie, Terrible DVD
Review: What were the JERKS at Universal thinking? One of the great thing about DVDs in the ability to skip the previews at the beginning of most VHS tapes. The first thing this DVD does is disable all controls so it FORCES the viewer to watch ALL of the previews, including one for that horrible 'Cat in the Hat' flick. The only button that works is EJECT. That's right, you can't even select STOP!