Babe - Pig in the City

Rating:
Summary: Awful!!
Review: This was awful the first time it was on tv it didn't make any sense animals in a hotel dream on! the first one made perfect sense I recommend you don't get this it's not very funny nor doesn't make sense so get babe and forget about the sequel this is my opinion you can get it but it's gonna cost yah!!

Rating:
Summary: Pig in the City is a profound fable; judge for yourself
Review: Babe: Pig in the City will indelibly be compared with the original Babe movie, but keep them seperate please, thank you. This movie is a grotesque and satirical fable that is unlike any movie I have ever seen before. It is an unpleasant movie at times, but since when is this criteria on which to judge a movie? This is no movie for kids. Sure, kids can watch it, but they will ask a lot of questions; I'm simply not convinced that it was created with kids in mind.

In Babe: Pig in the City, Babe's clumsiness nearly kills the farmer, and Babe and Mrs. Hoggart venture to the city in order to earn money to save the farm. What is to be a simple, round-trip journey to and from the city becomes a ugly misadventure as the city sucks Babe and Mrs. Hoggart into its apathetic grounds. The city is never referred to by name, and features a hodge-podge of famous landmarks which crowd the backdrop and cloud the city's identity. Furthermore, the city is depicted as institutional hell where Babe's cheekiness and benign rationality are powerless (unlike in the original). Babe: Pig in the City does inevitably show, however, that there are good people (and animals) wherever you go, and, to them, Babe proves to be an asset and a valuable friend. Together, the benevolent forces of animal and kind-hearted human prevail over the ubiquitous pale of nihilism and apathy.

This movie includes one of the greatest chase scenes I have ever witnessed that comes replete with emotive redemption. The movie is thoroughly original and comes highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Superb modern fairy tale; very good DVD release
Review: Some parents think young kids grow through seeing fictional characters struggle with adversity, even limited doses of evil, as long as good characters come out fine on the other side. Other parents say, No, their young kids will encounter evil soon enough, and they don't need to hear it from books or films. The argument is as old as the Brothers Grimm fairy tales read to kids for 150 years before anyone heard of Big Bird or Barney. While I don't recommend showing "Silence of the Lambs" to a kindergartner to teach her that there is evil in the world, I think almost all five year olds, with adult guidance, can both enjoy and benefit from seeing "Babe: Pig in the City", one of the 1990s best family films. The dark side of life, bad luck, and evil are things most children do encounter in one form or another at an early age, and they can grow to understand and be stronger for learning to cope with it. If you're not sure your young child is ready for this film, preview it first. If your child dislikes it, put it away for a year and come back to it. It's not a life-scarring literary or cinematic experience when the final outcome is a positive message that gives hope to all who struggle.

Bad stuff, and lots of it, certainly does happen to Babe and his friends and to the Hoggetts, particularly Mrs. Hoggett, the central human adult character in this sequel. This is indeed a much darker film than the very enjoyable but fluffy original film, "Babe" (perhaps the main reason this superb film wasn't a hit commercially at the time of its release), and darker than the urban life view of Sesame Street. Babe and Mrs. Hoggett are victimized because of their naivete by life in the big bad city. They could have used the blues standard, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all" in the soundtrack, as things continue to go from bad to worse. Is it too dark for children, at the depths of the story? Is it darker than (even as nasty as) the old fairy tales? No, though one could argue that evil in videos has more impact than evil in a book. Two-thirds of the way through the film, the corner is turned when Babe rescues a snarling enemy who would have died without The Pig's help. An alliance is forged, and gradually, a way out of the tarpit mess emerges even though the situation seemed quite bleak on many fronts. Of course, there is a very happy ending and the problems are resolved, and Babe and Mrs. Hoggett and by extension their viewers have grown more resilient through their experiences. Like all great family films, "Pig in the City" has much to entertain all ages and holds up very well in repeat viewings. The realism of the animal characterizations (especially the scheming, city-hardened chimps and orangutan) is particularly strong, and the writing and the dialogue are superb.

The DVD comes with choices for 1.85 widescreen (a very enjoyable full-format look even on 27" sets) or a well-chosen fullscreen pan-and-scan. There is a superb Dolby Digital 5.1 English language soundtrack (no DTS option), Dolby Surround in English or in dubbed French, and subtitles in French or English for the hearing impaired. There is a theatrical trailer. There are also additional features such as cast and crew bios, and some indication of a featurette about the making of the film I would have really liked to have seen, but I was unable to access the featurette or navigate more than one or two screens in on a bio on my Sony DVP- S360, a popular entry-level DVD player. I'm not sure whether the problem was with my DVD player or the disk design. Five stars for the film, four for the DVD version.

Rating:
Summary: "Livin'in the CiTAY": Believe the Raves Here!
Review: This is a fantastic (in all senses of the word) film that is as different from the original "Babe" as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is from "The Night Before Christmas." You and "Babe" the pig are transported to an enchantingly "dark," but luminous metropolis, where animals are plunged into a kind of social Darwinism more treacherous than biological survival of the fittest. There are lots of political and moral implications about conformity, power, even fascism; balanced by true human/animal traits of compassion, sacrifice, and bravery.

The production is outstanding. After you get used to the fact that there the city is no idyllic Scotland, you will be stunned and gratified by the originality of the sets and design. This is a city forged by day-glow imagination and feverish abstraction, it is all of one piece. Give credit to the director, of course, but also to Andrew Leisnic's cinematography and Roger Ford's production design.

Is it too intense for young children? Probably yes, for 2- or 3-year olds (or older), especially those who expect a reprise of the first. But I don't know your kids: Use your prior experience to guide you, or preview the movie yourself (you'll definitely enjoy it). It's more intense than "James and the Giant Peach," a slightly similar movie with an elevated scare factor. Our just-turned-5 yr. old. loved it, but not as much, or on as many levels, as his parents. An absolute triumph!

Rating:
Summary: The City, a great place to visit
Review: The City, a great place to visit but you might want to leave the kids at home. Forego complaining that this picture is apparently a kids movie because its a "sequel". The genius alone of this momentous film is excuse enough. I figured out quickly that this was not a children picture and I admit I would have been bit up tight had I been stuck in the movie theatre with the little chitlin's. But frankly what we see here is no worse than Grimm or the other often twisted fables we used to lay on our kids. Have a little faith. If you want something truly dispicable to lay on the lads then go watch Animal Farm, now that is a travesty upon Orwell's fantastic "fable". What's mostly the point of controversy with this film is not that some of the humor is at times barbaric or that there are adult themes or even that it is dark (so is Fantasia and Dark Crystal). Raw intensity sears this movie along. It's the intensity of its images, the magnificence of Miller's meticulous attention to sweep of the camera. Each scene is like its own piece of music; magestic, timed, breathed, experienced as passionately as any emotion can be. With the patience of Kubrick, Miller will show you a scene where a lovable clown and impish shyster (Andy Rooney), will meet his demise like Greek fate. And though it be deserved the scene unfolds operaticly and ends with the embrace of the clowns entire identity sweeping your heart up and your judgements away. Remember when your parents told you or maybe you've mentioned it to your kids that you'll appriciate Bugs Bunny and The Muppet Show more when you're older? Same case. This movie is satire, a parady of society (which by its nature, can't be pretty). It's a parady in new ways, attacking things I hadn't seen targeted before. It is philosophically complete, right down to Pigs most honest inquery, "Why?" The implications of that moment in this film are haunting in their sincere simplicity. Let the kids watch this and they will never go to high school with intent to harm others. Yes, The City is very intense... and gorgeous, brilliant and as truly an honest fable you're likely to find these days. As original in image and artistic vision as Dr, Caligari was in its day.

Rating:
Summary: Completely different than the original
Review: The masterpiece "Babe" was one of the best family movies ever made. Because it showed how animals think and do and altough the animals talked, it was pretty realistic.

But the sequel, "Babe: Pig in the City" is actualy pretty weird. First, this movie doesn't look as realistic as the first movie. Especialy the hotel and the owner of it in the city looks like they come right out of a cartoon. The animals are also too much like humans. Part one kept them animals, but part 2 not. And, ok, the farmers wife (played wonderfully in the first movie by Magda Szubanski) was in the original already funny and a bit unreal but it was never as over the top like the human characters in this one.

Then, this movie is very dark. Tough part one had also some cruel things where animals have to deal with and that made that movie sad, this movie has just too much of it. And ok, I also think that children also have to be shown that it's not only fun n the world but from a movie like this you wouldn't expect things like this. And it is also too sad and cruel for young kids (like the monkey who is caught when he had a goldfish in his hand). The story even reminded me sometimes of George Orwell's masterpiece "Animal Farm" where animals also dealed with a lot of serious and cruel stuff based upon Stalins actions.

I give the 2 stars for the great visual effects, but if there's coming another Babe movie, they must set him on the farm. Perhaps it is a good idea to make the animals deal with the new animatronic tools which are used on a new farm nowadays (like a milk machine etc.)

Rating:
Summary: Go, Babe!
Review: I loved this movie. Touching, sweet; with an edge but I feel it is appropriate for children. This pig is a good role model.

Rating:
Summary: Gothic horror meets the barnyard
Review: I honestly do not know how to rate this movie. As a gothic horror kind-of post-apocalyptic fable, it was quite good. However, as a sequel to Babe, this movie left me bewildered and a little shocked.

First the good points. The effects are brilliant (i.e. the talking animals) and the sets are interesting. The use of animals to represent clans or tribes or races and the conflict between them is not new, but is raised to a higher form here than in the standard black-and-white Disney version, which is appreciated by me as an adult. The mood is consistent, the characters are true to themselves, and you are drawn in to the story. Visually (the cinematography) it's very interesting.

But..... While I applaud the effort of filmmakers to try new things with sequels, this one goes too far. This is not a children's movie. It is genuinely scary, dark, and gothic. It's irresponsible to use Babe's name to sell this picture to an audience thinking it will be another delightful children's romp. It is even jarring to an adult to be caught off-balance in this way. Additionally, while visually appealing, the story is pretty standard, and does degenerate into silliness towards the end.

So, while I think this is an okay movie, I don't have any particular desire to see it again. And please be careful if showing it to children.

Rating:
Summary: NOT VERY GOOD
Review: THIS IS SOME WHAT CHARMING BUT THE MOVIES SEEMS TO BE ONE BIG TRAGEDY AFTER THE NEXT.THE THE LAST MINS ARE TOTALY UNFUNNY SLAPSTICK.ALSO WAS WAS JAMES CROWELL NOT IN THE MOVIE MORE HE WAS PART OF THE MAGIC OF THE FRIST ONE.I WAS VERY DISSAPIONTED WITH THIS.

Rating:
Summary: Go, Pig, Go!
Review: I loved this film. It is perhaps not for very small children, but it is very endearing. NOT a carbon copy of the first--but that is a good thing. Both films I found enchanting, but in their own way.