Customer Reviews:
Brilliant, a must-see.......2008-03-03
The plot is fairly basic with a few plot twists, which re-engage the audience. The film is brilliantly shot and the after effects are immense - they cannot be faulted.
The film appeals to young kids, teenagers, adults and the elder generation so it's a film for all.
I highly recommend it to film buffs even if it's just to see the after effects.
A truly enjoyable and entertaining film.
As good as the book..........2008-03-03
...if you rip out half of the pages, jumble the rest up and get a five year-old to fill in the gaps.
Chris Weitz (who threw out a script by renowned and award-winning screen-writer Tom Stoppard and chose, instead, to write his own) has taken a great novel, full of wonderful characters, unique ideas and epic scope and turned it into a vapid throw-away piece of soulless gloss, removing all depth and character development in favour of a couple of set-pieces (two impressive; the rest very much not), then seemingly GAVE UP before the final chapter.
The cast are fantastic. Perhaps not everyone's ideal choices, but they all equip themselves admirably. It's just a shame they have so little to work with. Great characters like Farder Coram are reduced to background roles, while others are removed completely.
A sorry attempt at an adaptation that we can only hope is swept under the carpet so that the trilogy can start over in the hands of a competent film-maker.
a lesson to learn before book 2 reaches the screen.......2008-02-28
Only one comment. The producers and directors of this series need to talk to Peter Jackson urgently about how to bring a long complex and enthralling trilogy to the screen. On the evidence of the first instalment the current team have only the sketchiest idea of how it's done which is a great shame as the books are outstanding and deserve the same kind of attention to detail and characterisation, as well as a faithful adaptation of the plot! that made the Lord of the Rings trilogy so fantastic. If you haven't read the books you won't know what you're missing so give it ago or better yet read the books! If you have read them then don't bother watching this film as it will just frustrate and disappoint
A picture paints a thousand words.....or does it?.......2008-02-27
Read the book, saw the film and was disappointed to see a mish mash of characters, locations and storyline. Never mind there are two more to get right!
The most disappointing book adaptation I have seen.......2008-02-24
This film may pass for entertainment if you haven't read the book but I felt hugely let down. Reading about the torturous birth of the movie, i suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Directors leaving, replaced and then replaced again is not a good omen. I found the characters thinly sketched, the acting so-so, the effects iffy (technical term) and the pacing off target. All the mystery, excitement and energy present in the novel is missing and the story is mangled beyond recognition and respect for the author. Finally and unforgivably, a 'Hollywood' ending replaces the original thereby removing one the essential plot themes. Like Frankensteins monster, this stitched together creation from seemingly disparate parts, lumbers about for a while before someone (presumably in the editing suite) decided enough was enough and spliced in the end credits.
Amazon.co.uk review
Primeval may be a little daft, and it may be ITV trying to capture some of the success that the BBC has enjoyed with Doctor Who, but for brainless Saturday night entertainment, it's quite a blast.
Picking up from where the series before it left off, it finds Professor Nick Cutter and his team once again dealing with creatures quite literally out of their time. But this time, Primeval has a few more tricks up its sleeve. Because while the convention for much of series one was that the creatures that faced Cutter and his crew were arriving from the past, this time round there are monsters from the future to worry about too. Cue the likes of a woolly mammoth on the motorway, and a raptor-esque chase around a shopping centre.
Primeval then blends in some twisty narratives surrounding the characters themselves, which - while not particularly intricate or surprising - do keep the fun jollying along. And backed up with special effects that range from the very good to the slightly creaky, it does its best to throw as much at the screen as it can.
Superior to the season that preceded it, but still with some way to go to be regarded as any kind of classic, Primeval is nonetheless undoubtedly still very good fun, and the seven episodes here are suitable for family viewing too. Enjoyable, and worth checking out. --Jon Foster
Customer Reviews:
I'm completely absorbed!.......2008-03-03
I really hate it when people compare this to Doctor Who! Doctor Who is completely different and i cannot believe anyone would compare the two if they saw both shows. Sadly, for some reason, Doctor Who has more success, but Primeval has a great cast, great effects and most importantly an absorbing story! I first thought it would be a show with a very loose continuation running through it. However, I have been completely suprised, it has a vastly more intense and clever story line than i could have expected! Drawing in audiences that are interested in what happens to the characters aswell as seeing monsters every week! Making me very, very hopeful for the future of british television. Its not as high a standard as 'alias' or 'buffy' but its trying its hardest and its become one of my most favourite series on TV. Excellent, well worth buying, cus i could watch it again and again!
I would like better special features, namely out-takes, cus there always good and a larger amount of episodes too! 6-7 episodes a series isn't particularly impressive. When you start getting into it, its over.
Keep Going ITV!!!!!! Your on a winner here!!!Thank You!!!
trying too hard to out-do Who: CONTAINS SPOILERS.......2008-02-29
The basic premise for ITV's prime contender for Dr Who's crown is that anomalies in time start appearing that connect our time with prehistoric or future. The Government seeks the help of paelentologist Prof Nick Cutter and his team (hunky lab assistant Stephen, zookeeper Abby and nerdy student Connor) to tackle the dinosaurs and dangerous predators from the future that blunder into our world when anomalies open, as the Home Office is keen to keep this knowledge under wraps and minimise the damage caused. Working against Cutter (Douglas Henshell) is his estranged wife Helen, also a Professor and dino expert, who had gone missing (presumably exploring anomalies) eight years before anyone else was aware of them.
The first Primeval series was great fun, with a nice twist at the end as future predators escape back into earth's distant past. We saw Cutter's new love-interest Claudia Brown having dizzy turns and then disappearing from the time-line altogether in the final episode, and as she was such a great character, I was eagerly awaiting the new series. Well, at the start of Series 2 we get some codswallop "scientific" explanation that Claudia has never existed in the new time-line because Helen has gone back in time and changed evolution. Sorry, but evolutionary pressure works on whole species, not individuals! Cutter returned from his trip into the past to find a world not only lacking Claudia but subtely altered from the one he left, with the Anomaly Research Centre (ARC) replacing the Home Office, and its boss James Lester, now supported by a slimy side-kick called Oliver Leek. This new series sees Cutter attempting not only to get to grips with this altered world and maintain his position as leader of the anomaly-hunting team, but also having to deal with the arrival of a PR expert called Jenny Lewis who looks exactly like Claudia Brown! What disappoints me is that unless the writers are planning a far-reaching arc to explain Claudia's disappearance, the whole cliffhanger scenario at the end of series one is just dropped here in favour of some cheap thrills, cheap CGI and some sub-X Files shennanigins. Yes, kids will love the monsters - good to see the brilliant future predator back as well as a scary future walrus, a sabre-tooth cat and a magnificent mammoth that runs amok on the M25 - but it looks like a souped-up ITV kids teatime serial rather than a serious rival to Russel T Davies' Dr. Who. There's a serious effort to make Cutter into some kind of action hero, which Henshall doesn't seem too comfortable with, belly-flopping into the Thames one moment, sliding uneasily down a rope at a theme park to escape a sabre-tooth cat the next, or chasing velociraptors round an underground car park on a moped. The linking sub-plots for this series are the creation of an anomaly-detecting device by Connor and the machinations of the crafty Leek (a suitably weedy but not nearly evil enough Karl Theobald), who has teamed up with the marvellous pantomime villainess that is Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) to capture animals from the future and past in order to build some kind of army to take over the world. Throw in a bit of human cloning and it's obvious that Helen is blithely visiting the future for not only animals, but also new technologies (perhaps even controlling anomalies?), despite Connor having built the anomaly detector! Not sure why future humans arn't coming back through the anomalies as well then, but perhaps the budget doesn't stretch to that. Am I being picky? Of course, but good SF writing engages us emotionally and and there are many superior time-travel stories out there (just look at the Star Trek's "City of the Edge of Forever" where Captain Kirk's love-interest has to die to prevent the Nazis winning World War 2 and going on to conquer space, or that brilliant Dr Who episode BLINK). Series 1 of Primeval ended on an empotional high, but in this series the writers give the impression of making it up as they go along, oblivious to plot-line defects or inconsistencies, or audience loyalties to characters. I hope they pull some serious cats, sabre-tooth or otherwise, out of the bag for the next series: this one has been a serious disappointment for this viewer.
Prime Saturday night entertainment........2008-02-27
I was a little unfair on the first series of Primeval when i reviewed it on Amazon. I only realised that when it sunk in how much i was looking forward to the second series. Dr Who apart it's far and away the best thing on TV on Saturday nights.
The second series not too surprisingly picks up where the second series left off with Cutter (Douglas Henshall) knowing he is back in a parallel version of his old life , and everything seems to be the same except that Claudia (Lucy Brown) has disappeared and no one can ever remember her existing. Never mind because she soon re-appears except she is now called Jenny Lewis and is an aggressive PR representative for the powers that be , charged with ensuring that the existence of the shimmering anomalies stays secret. I would suggest that this storyline isn't explored to the degree it should have been but then again it can be in later series so maybe the writers will explore it then.
There is also an on-going plot involving Cutters (ex) wife Helen (Juliet Aubrey) ,which is also implicated in with shadowy blokes popping up at anomaly sites and the right hand man of the amusingly sardonic Lester (Ben Miller)- Oliver Leek(Karl Theobold) who looks shiftier than a weasel at the Tory party conference .Meanwhile Abby(Hannah Spearitt) and Connor(Andrew Lee Potts) continue their fractious but inevitable coming together though Connor is side-tracked for awhile by the romantic attentions of Caroline (Naomi Bentley) who is in the pay of the bad guys. Stephen Hart( James Murray) is clashing with Cutter and being manipulated by Helen. And of course there is the usual menagerie of prehistoric beasties to deal with including a mammoth on a major road, a sabre toothed tiger in a theme park , velociraptors in a shopping centre, and strange mist dwelling worm creatures in an office block. There are also some bizarre aquatic seal like creatures from a possible future , giant scorpions plus the return of Primevals best creation- the future predators(The one time the CGI is really up to scratch) from series one.
Its all cracking pacy fun .Complete nonsense of course and it's best not to think too deeply about it or the numerous plot holes will have you questioning every thing that occurs and therefore ruin your enjoyment . The acting isn't anything special but is good enough and the scripts are fairly sharp .In fact the only thing that really lets the series down are the special effects which are frankly lousy. Compare them to regular CGI heavy series like Dr Who or Enterprise and it's like comparing Inter Milans defence to Derby County's.
The DVD has an extensive making of feature called "Through the anomaly" though like most of those they are not actually all that interesting but if you like that sort of thing there is plenty to keep you occupied here. Commentaries are also available. The great thing about Primeval though is that it's an imaginative entertaining slice of hokum that you can watch with the kids on a Saturday night and gives you an alternative from interminable celebrity reality drivel and dull quiz shows. More programmes like Primeval and the recently acquired Dexter and ITV1 might start gaining a reputation as a half decent channel again.
whats that coming over the hill is it a monster.......2008-02-24
better than series 1. this time round the monsters look better the stories are more inventive and it's massivley enjoyable.
Primeval!!!!!!Series 2!! : ).......2008-02-24
Primeval is amazing!
Episode guide (no spoilers!)
Episode 1: Great opening for series good reference from series one so starters wount be confused. Great dinosaur!! 9/10
Episode 2: The scariest episode of the series, great suspence! Realistic monster!! 10/10
Episode 3: The poorest episode of BOTH series! Enjoyed it when i first watched it but the second it ended i felt a wave of disapointment! The sabre-tooth looked realy fake!! 3/10
Episode 4: There is nothing really to say about this episode, just AMAZING!!! If i say anymore it might spoil it!! 10/10
Episode 5: A bit of a disapointment, don't get to see the monsters alot. OK!! 7/10
Episode 6: The first of a two part season finale!!!!! It's all good stuff. The beginning is a bit pointless but still good!! 9/10
Episode 7: Like episode 4 it's hard to say anything without spoiling it!! Great season finale. Amazing monsters!! Sad end! Great cliffhanger for next series!! 10/10
All in all I gave it 4 stars because of the awful Episode 3!!!
Amazon.co.uk Review
Often forgotten about in the Disney back catalogue, The Aristocats is actually a fun, lively feline adventure, with plenty of zest and some terrific tunes too. Arriving in the wake of The Jungle Book, it's not vintage Disney, but it still sets itself a high standard.
The Aristocats is set in France in 1910, and tells the tale of a high society cat and her trio of kittens who are dumped into the backstreets of Paris by an angry Butler when they inherit a fortune from their owner. Here, they're soon befriended by Thomas O'Malley (voiced by the unforgettable Phil Harris, who also lent his tones to Baloo in The Jungle Book) and a wild cast of characters, and it's as much a cue as is needed for some jazzy tunes, fast-paced animation and a fun family adventure.
As the last film to have been supervised by Walt Disney before his death, The Aristocats inevitably has a significant place in the back catalogue at Disney HQ. Yet many still overlook it, and that's a real shame. There are well-realised Parisian locations, a good few chuckles, and a genuinely strong soundtrack that'll stick in your head long after the credits have rolled. It's good, too, to see Disney finally give the film the special edition it richly deserves. --Simon Brew
Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the very best animated films that the Walt Disney Studio has ever released (and the last to be produced by Walt Disney himself), and as downright brilliant as it was on its debut in 1967, The Jungle Book makes a very welcome return to DVD in this excellent 40th anniversary double-disc set.
Based loosely on the Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name, the film tells the story of man-cub Mowgli, and the friends he makes in the jungle. And it's these friends who ignite the film, with some of the most memorable characters and songs that Disney has ever put on the screen. Kings of The Jungle Book are the likes of Baloo the Bear, King Louie the villainous Shere Khan the Tiger, while supporting characters such as Colonel Hathi are just as memorable. It's astonishing that it packs so much and so many into its relatively short running time.
It's an amazing achievement too that The Jungle Book bristles with such energy and fun, and that it's just as likely to enthral the current generation of youngsters as well as those of us who saw it first time round. And when those songs start playing--from Bare Necessities through to I Wanna Be Like You--it'll take some effort to not start tapping your feet. A brilliant, brilliant film, and as vintage as the Disney back catalogue gets. --Simon Brew
Customer Reviews:
Magical and Timeless, a joy from start to finish !.......2008-02-06
Enchanting and wonderful story about a boy who lives in the jungle and comes across some brilliant characters along the way from a posh panther to a fun loving bear, clumsy elephants, swinging monkeys, seductive snakes and a ferocious tiger. The songs are timeless and will live forever and this special DVD has some great extras from deleted songs to lost characters !
A classic to be enjoyed by everyone !
King of the Swingers.......2008-02-04
I was never a massive Jungle Book fan. When I was a kid it just wasn't one of the films I'd really seen much of. Disney's Robin Hood was the main Disney film I experienced. But recently I watched this DVD and realised how fantastic the film really is....
...The style of this film seems more akin to a detailed Japanese anime film than an American animated feature. The backgrounds are so detailed and the colours vivid (helped in this release by the digital remastering). But let's face it, this film isn't necessarily about the visuals - it's the music that has ensured this film has secured iconic status.
The tracks are catchy, and genuinely so - they aren't childish songs, they are proper musical tracks performed by esteemed artists at the time. The music seems to match up perfectly with the characters. Instead of trendy pop songs, you get classic numbers which have never dated.
This release has plenty of additional features; I enjoyed these, but long term Jungle Book fans will love them. From a decent `making of' to a deleted additional character - the DVD has the kind of features DVDs *should* have.
Perfect for the whole family to enjoy, the issues are adult ones, the themes are quite serious - so parents don't feel they are `lowering themselves' when watching. If you watch this and then don't find yourself singing "The Bare Necessities" as a result, then you must have a medical condition preventing you to do so - or you're in a library and would get chucked out.
The Jungle Book.......2007-12-28
I have fond memories of this film from my childhood and was delighted to receive a copy for Christmas. It's just how I remember it, beautifully animated, toe tapping music, great characterisations (although this was less of a concern when I was 5!) and a good story to boot. Modern animations, although impressive, seem too polished sometimes and I love in this film how you can see the pen strokes on the screen and get a feel that there was a person behind the artwork. The songs in this film are some of Disney's most famous and rightly so, 'Bare Necessities' 'King of the Swingers', even the 'elephant parade', they really are that good . I tend to find Disney films too saccharine sweet, but The Jungle Book is just the right balance of cuteness and story. Overall a great film from the Disney back catalogue and one not to be missed.
The little fella wasn't happy.......2007-12-27
Bought this for my boy and what can only be described as earth shattering noises expelled from his gob as he opened it. the wife insisted on it but I did tell her it was a girls film. Christmas was officially ruined. Thanks alot Amazon - you let me down
Martin
Enjoyable exuberance.......2007-12-07
This is certainly not the best of Disney, but the musicality of it makes it very enjoyable, as does the fun factor. It's a sloppier piece of work technically, than most Disney animations before it, which would have been a worry if it hadn't been the huge success that it was. I do disagree with some of the reviews here, and believe there actually IS more magic in the book, but this movie is totally its own creation, and much inspiration went into the great soundtrack, and the personalities of the characters. The voice work IS magnificent, and the dialogue is very funny. Must be the most extrovert of all the Disney animated films, but not the most highly crafted. The focus is on the fun and spirit of the story rather than trying to carefully create another masterpiece, and this suits the story superbly, giving the film the high spirited and fluid feel the project deserved. And it has of course become a classic in its own right.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Chances are there's barely a parent of a toddler in the country who hasn't encountered In The Night Garden in some form over the past few months. The latest BBC-hit from the CBeebies channel, and with a passing resemblance to Teletubbies, this debut DVD for the show brings together five episodes. And many parents already, we suspect, will have their credit cards ready.
In true childrens' television tradition, In The Night Garden is often as alien to adults as it is compelling to its real target audience. But heck, do children love it. Accompanied by the gentle narration of Sir Derek Jacobi, it's billed a nursery rhyme picture book of sorts. This manifests itself in the shape of a wild mix of children and characters, who get up to a mixture of diverse and diverting activities.
And this is one of the many areas where In The Night Garden strikes gold. Not only does it have a distinctive and warm collection of characters, but it does have an educational undercurrent to it all. In short, it engages its target audience particularly well, and teaches them a little in the process.
The DVD is rounded off with special bonus footage and a parents' guide, but it's the five episodes that are set to be spun time and time again. And rightly so. Expect this to be the first DVD release of many, too, for a show with many, many years ahead of it. --Jon Foster
Customer Reviews:
blooming marvellous.......2008-02-13
wonderful. my 18 year old absolutely loves this programme. it keeps him quiet and contented and it just THE most perfect viewing after he's played with his superskunk. it sets him up nicely for some really intense hallucinations and out-there political opinion-forming. marvellous.
Beautiful!!.......2007-12-07
Absolutely beautiful programme. Not sure whether I should be worrying more about my daughters eyesight as she stands an inch away from the screen so as not to miss anthing or the relationship between Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy.... (all that kissing, getting into Upsy Daisys bed and private rooms in the Pinky Ponk......!!!)
Took the dvd on holiday with us and we watched an episode each evening before bath as we do at home - worked a treat and she (generally!) went down without a problem.
Only hitch now, is she has figured out it is bath and bed after Night Garden so once the carousel comes on she immediately become very absorbed in "playing" with just half an eye on the programme so as not to miss anything but also to look very busy!!
Anyway, every under 3 should have this dvd - In the Night Garden on tap!!!
This is What They Want.......2007-12-05
There is only one programme which helps to wind down the active toddler, and this DVD, if you miss the 6.30pm slot on CBeebies, is it. Great music too.
Yes...his name is Iggle Piggle!.......2007-11-20
WOW! This is such a cool DVD....join Iggle Piggle, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka and the gang on their day to day shinanagans in the garden. The beautiful colours, sounds and storylines will keep your little one entertained. Unlike the teletubbies this has character and is enjoyable for parents as well....GO AND BUY IT YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!!!!
It's isn't SUCH a pip........2007-11-04
Like most of the parents reviewing below my two year old really likes the show although thankfully his attention is now starting to wander. I find some of the characters really quite disturbing - none more so than Upsy Daisy whose repeated mannerisms and little yelps and giggles are exceptionally irritating. The 'stories' don't seem to me to have much heart and the other squeaking repetitive characters annoy me considerably - especially when watching it for the 5 millionth time. And the perspective is very weird - how big are these characters relative to each other, it makes me dizzy.
But I fully accept that it's not meant to be for me. I just wish it really WAS as charming as some claim and something that I could actually enjoy watching with my kid rather than making me want to reach for the revolver every time I hear "Daisy Do" announcing the arrival of one of these distubing, incessantly kissing, non-humans hoving on screen. The Ninky Nonk is quite good particularly as they have done us the favour of not investing it with a "personality".
Customer Reviews:
One of the best ever pieces of children's TV.......2007-08-07
Mr Benn is easily one of my favourite children's programmes, short and simple but also magical and truly unforgettable. I never realised that only 14 episodes were made though, maybe it is because time goes a lot slower as a child, that and the fact that by the time an episode was repeated, I must have thought it was a brand new episode but anyway, quality will always be more important than quantity plus it is proof that Mr Benn has great replay value.
Another great thing about Mr Benn is that every episode is almost identical up until the point where he changes into the costume and so I could watch any episode randomly and never be quite sure which costume it was going to be, very clever. AN ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL CHILDREN'S TV CLASSIC.
Brilliant........2007-07-28
Now this is what I'm talking about! Mr Benn: brilliant! Never mind this Harry bleedin' Potter nonsense. Mr Ben was visiting all manner of locations and getting into incredible twists on a daily basis long before Harry feakin' Potter showed up. He didn't even need to go to school at Hogg `bleedin' borts either. No Sir! He just nipped into the fancy bleedin' dress shop down the road, so he did. Brilliant stuff, brilliant stuff. Tell that to the kids of today and they won't believe you.
Instant hit!.......2007-01-30
For me, watching Mr. Benn was a trip down memory lane. For my wife and kids, however, this was a brand new experience because we live in America and they've never seen Mr. Benn before. The result? They loved it! I mean, really loved it! My kids saw it once and haven't stopped asking for it since. And my wife, who could be forgiven for not sharing my enthusiasm, says it's already one of her favourites. Add to that the fact that the menus and picture quality are far better than I was expecting and you've got the best kids' DVD £5 can buy!
Nostalgia at it's best.......2006-11-14
As soon as I heard that this had been released it brought memories of childhood flooding back to me. As one of my favourites growing up, I simply had to have it. Compared with modern animation it has a lot to live up to, but the stories and the imagination involved are just fantastic. Definitely one to have in the collection. The best thing is that because they are such short episodes you can watch it whenever, squeeze it in when you have a few spare minutes.
Absolute Classic - And kids still love it.......2006-07-18
Our oldest (almost 3 years) loves Mr Benn! She is re-enacting his adventures pretending to be a pirate or a dinosaur and loves it.
It is nostalgic watching all those episodes again, it amazes me how much I still remembered.
This is a no-frill Mr Benn DVD, all episodes ever made, no extras, but who needs them anyway?
Customer Reviews:
Blu-Ray makes everything more beautiful........2008-03-01
THE MOVIE
Ratatouille is Pixar's latest release in their row of succesful movies. The star of Ratatouille is Remy, a sensitive rat with ambitions and dreams far beyond those of his community. Remy wants to cook and become a great cook like his idol, Chef Gusteau. Remy and his community live on the loft of some old house in the country, but one day, the owner of the house, an old lady, discovers the rat colony and they have no choice but to flee the building. During the escape, Remy gets seperated from his family and friends and finds himself lonely flowing through sewers. Eventually he decides to climb up a drain to find that his journey has brought him to Paris. The culinary capital of the world and the home of Chef Gusteau. Eventually, despite the warnings of his conservative father, Remy forms a friendship with a human and together they challenge the conventions of what fine cooking encompasses. Through brilliant computer animation and great voice performances, Pixar delivers the story the best I can imagine. The characters are charming, the animation is beautiful and the story works on multiple levels offering something to keep audiences of all ages entertained.
THE PICTURE
Because Pixars beautiful animation job, Ratatouille is a movie which really thrives on Blu-Ray. Details and colors come across flawlessly. There are no compression artifacts of any kinds. This Blu-Ray release of Ratatouille is how Ratatouille is meant to be viewed.
While the DVD release is undoubtly good looking, the Blu-Ray, using the right equipment, leaves you breathless. I caught myself moving closer to my 37" LCD set multiple times, just to examine the extremely fine details of the animation.
If you already own a PlayStation 3 or some other Blu-Ray player, Ratatouille is an essential purchase.
If you are thinking about getting a PlayStation 3, then you must realise that it is an essential purchase and go get it together with Ratatouille and a shiny High Definition television.
This is living.
An amazing film and blueray, simply the best !.......2008-02-15
Wow .. what an absolutly stunningly buitifull film ratatouille is ! The story is as meaningfull as it is funny and will have you laughing and crying at the same time ! The visuals are amazing and the hi-def animation is a wonder to just watch ! but luckly for us we have ears so we can hear the awsom surround sound that this film offers as well. Disney have realy out done them selves with the quality of this blueray and I found my self on many occasions just pausing the film so i could walk up to my screen and just look at the detail !! which on occasion is just daw dropping !
The extra features are, as usual from disney plentafull, very well thought out and give you plenty of things to watch and play with.
You must buy this film, not doing so is doing yourself, your hi-def telly and your bluray player an injustice ! This is what HD was made for !
What I watched it on.
Panasonic 42px60 (plasma 1080i)
playstation 3 blu-ray player (HDMI)
JVC th-v70r surround sound (optical) (dolby digital 5.1) (inc tannoy m1 front L/R speakers)
Good film, Good picture!.......2008-02-13
Pros
Picture Quality (1080i)
Sound
Cons
Disney Adverts at the start (I had to press the next button about 7 times!!)
Equipment
Playstation 3, Dolby Digital 5.1, 26" LG LCD
Awesome film! .... shame it doesn't play on Samsung BDP1000!.......2008-02-09
Love this film its awesome! ..... beware if you have a samsung bdp1000 as it will not play the film! .... I even have the latest firmware...
Come on samsung UK we need a firmware upgrade please!
Pixar back on form! Excellent Transfer on Blu Ray.......2008-01-15
I imported this from Amazon in the States, and all I can say it wow!
This is an excellent film a notch above Cars which was a good movie but not upto Pixars previous releases.
The Transfer on this release is outstanding, only the Cars Blu Ray release comes close so far for a CG film, buy this and it will blow everyone away!
High Def Picture 5/5
High Def Audio 5/5
If you love Pixar films you'll love this, there is no other way to see this movie!
Amazon.co.uk Review
While many movie franchises slide as they reach their later instalments, the Harry Potter films just keep getting better. The latest, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is easily the darkest of the series to date, and it's also one of the best. For while it could easily have been little more than a holding film to set up the big encounters to come in the last two instalments of the series, it's to the credit of British director David Yates that the end result is really very good.
It finds Harry coming under suspicion from his wizarding colleagues, who don't believe his claims that the evil Lord Voldermort has returned. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix thus finds its title character on the backfoot for much of its running time, with a select band who firmly believe his story, and very powerful figures who don't.
Where the movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix excels though is in its three trump cards. Number one is a far tighter script than we're used to with Potter films, which, combined with trump card number two--the aforementioned David Yates behind the camera--cuts much of the slavish loyalty to the text away in favour of a film with real momentum. The third, and best, card though is the casting of Imelda Staunton as Professor Dolores Umbridge, who simply flies away with every scene she's in. It's a superb performance, and the film is poorer whenever she's not on screen.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not a film without a few problems, certainly: it's a fair criticism that not too much actually happens, and one or two bits feel superfluous. But it overrides its problems with ease, to emerge as a compelling, highly enjoyable family film, which will leave you salivating for the Christmas 2008 release of movie number six in the series. --Simon Brew
Customer Reviews:
Oh dear, a poor stab at a good book.......2008-02-24
Yes, we all know this is the longest of the Harry Potter books, and to fit into the standard film format some cuts had to be made, but how the choices were made as to which bits were cut must remain a mystery. The end product is more than a bit disjointed. Anyone other than a die hard Potter book fan would loose the thread, where did Hagrid disappear to at the start? And then again for the last half hour? How did they get into the Ministry of Magic? In the book this was a good bit of narative, and in the film? completely cut out.
Not the best film in the sequence.
Another terrible Potter movie.......2008-02-18
I give 1 star for this and all the Potter movies.
Before i continue i must say that i love the books so much, and even more than that i love Stephen Fry reading them on C.D.
That is why i have been so dissapointed with the movies, i really wanted to see great Harry Potter movies.
Made by Warner brothers, they are like the movie equivalent of Macdonalds food. No depth, big budget, profit making.
The choice of actors is terrible.
The ONLY characters in the movies who are similar in the book are Hagrid, Magonigal, and Snape.
The actors playing Harry, Hermiony, Ron, Dumbledor, Voldamort, The weezley twins, Victor Crum and many more are either very weak actors, nothing like the characters in the book, or sometimes both.
Dumbledore in the book is Friendly , calm, allknowing, and funny. in the movies, he shouts alot and has no humor. The most annoying one is Hermiony. The actor was choosen because she is cute, and comes across as a spoilt brat. In the book Hermiony is very down to earth.
Have a look at DR WHO the episode "Family of blood" season 3.
All the acting is first class, and there is a boy there, the one who can see the future, he would have been such a good Harry. The Harry in the movies as just rediculous.
I can't wait for the BBC to make Harry Potter like DR WHO, great acting, humour, and good music.
The music in the Potter movies is typical HollyWood music, how inapropriate for mystical British Harry Potter.
J.K Rowling says she likes the movies, she has to say that, i bet she is dissapointed when she see's DR WHO
Longest Book but Shortest Film.......2008-01-27
Longest Book but Shortest Film, or How To Turn a 766 page Phoenix into a 128 minute Turkey.
Yes, the film, including credits, actually runs 138 minutes. But the book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is 766 wonderful pages long, from perhaps the best, certainly the most popular writer to bridge the gap between children's writing and adult writing, J.K. Rowling,
A pity that the same cannot be said for the poor wretch Michael Goldenberg who took this wonderful book, cut out almost all the supporting characterisation, and turned in a script which concentrates exclusively on Harry Potter in the least satisfying of the films so far. Where was Steve Cloves, who did such a fine job with the first four screenplays? One wonders why J.K. Rowling let this script pass. Perhaps she gave up the right of script approval. Perhaps she no longer cares, now that the series of books is finished, and she is wealthier than the Queen.
Brilliant, flashing, but hokey special effects dazzle the viewer, but waste so much of the film's running time, that all the supporting characters get short shrift. Hagrid is almost absent. The little brat Malfoy has almost disappeared. Hogwarts itself doesn't look the same as it has in most previous films. Even the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix don't live up to the book: the screaming portrait is gone, and Kreatcher, the Black house elf gets so little screen time he might as well not be there. Tonks has about two lines.
The Ministry of Magic scenes which feature so prominently in the book are minimal in the film.
The whole film has also been printed so dark that one needs to turn up the brightness control to see any of the details of the sets. Maybe Warners couldn't afford to build sets with enough detail to be seen with proper lighting. Maybe Warners doesn't care any more, as long as the money keeps rolling in.
Director David Yates did the best he could with a sorry travesty of a screenplay, but even he couldn't pull this one out of a hat. One hopes for better results with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which he is directing for release later this year, 2008. Good news though, Steve Cloves has written the screenplay.
Too bad that Chris Columbus has bowed out of the production. Too bad that Director of Photography Roger Pratt, who so brilliantly photographed the second and fourth films didn't do this one.
The bottom line: rent this one, don't waste your money buying it. Read the book, if you haven't already.
BRILLIANT.......2008-01-15
If you are a Harry the Potter fan you will really like this film. Do not be concerned about the other reviews, watch the film and I assure you that you will enjoy the film and want to see it again. Famntastic.
Another one that's okay.......2008-01-09
The film itself is alright, but lacks any humour or reasons to like the lead characters. They're all there to say the right lines to reach the end of the latest adventure, and that's all they do. I like to see embelishment and signs that they do actually like each other, but as always I see lots of things happening but nothing at all going on beneath the surface. The relationship between Hermione and Ron is still non existent and all the digital trickery in the world isn't going to make sparks fly there in the next two efforts. It's a big budget and a guaranteed hit but with the story so drawn out, I'm not sure why.
As for the extras, the deleted scenes are pointless, and the Travels With An Airhead tour of the studio is more like a demonstration of why actors should only ever work with a script. The one who plays Tonks stumbles and bumbles her way around the studio sets establishing very little and being ditsy and short of anything worthwhile to say. The whole extra is summed up when she tries serving lunch to some embarrassed crew members and makes a very minor mess of it. "Oh, I am so blatantly gonna get fired" she declares. Even that line needs editing.
Amazon.co.uk Review
A delightful undersea world unfolds in Pixar's animated adventure Finding Nemo. When his son Nemo is captured by a scuba diver, a nervous clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) sets off into the vast--and astonishingly detailed--ocean to find him. Along the way he hooks up with a scatterbrained blue tang fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who's both a help and a hindrance, sometimes at the same time. Faced with sharks, deep-sea anglers, fields of poisonous jellyfish, sea turtles, pelicans and much more, Marlin rises above his neuroses in this wonderfully funny and thrilling ride--rarely do more than 10 minutes pass without a sequence appearing that's destined to become a theme-park attraction. Pixar continues its run of impeccable artistic and economic successes (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc). Supporting voices here include Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush and Allison Janney. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews:
Decent 2nd disc.......2007-10-30
This film is absolutely briliant for all ages and the additional disc actually has stuff on that you'd like to watch/use as appose to the usual rubbish/of no use to anyone that you find on all 2nd disc's. Whatever your age buy it!!!
I LOVE THIS FILM.......2007-08-19
One of the best animated films ever to see the grace of a movie screen, Finding Nemo is a classic piece of cinema that'll probably stick around for decades to come. The classic story of a kid looking for his father looking for his kid finds new life when re-located to the bottom of the ocean. Taking the manifestation of aquatic life, the movie confronts us with one of the most beautiful and miraculous secrets this Earth still has to offer. To balance it all up, Ellen DeGeneres's forgetful-yet-unforgettable Dory brings in the masses with her witty voice over, while the endless variety of colors and vivid imagination rolls in the rest.
Finding Nemo is one of those few films that'll make you want to laugh, to cry, and to embrace your loved ones over and over again.
Get the 2 disc collectors edition - NOW.......2007-07-19
There is not much to be said that has not already been covered in the reviews written but I would just like to add that this 2 disc collectors edition is amazing. It is really double the fun because there is so much more to watch and enjoy.
I guess I am already preaching to the converted if you are ready this but Nemo is a firm winner in our house.
I LOVE ITTTTTTTTTTTT!.......2007-07-15
Finding nemo....ahhhh what to say about Finding Nemo. Well one word comes to mind..."AMAZINGGGGGG". This film is sooo brilliant, god bless whoever came up with the idea! If you still have not seen Finding Nemo, you must of been on a different planets cause this movie is something you can not miss. However if you have not seen it...watch it NOWW!!!! You'll be thanking god every night for this gift. All true disney fans must have this movie, if you do not...your not a true fan! :)
best movie for ages!.......2007-04-28
Ah finding nemo! This is set in aussie, great holiday place! In the great barrier reef, which, as i've been there, has to be the most beatiful place on earth!
This movie is a true gem, it has funny bits, sad bits, scary bits, and sharks!
If you hadn't guessed, its about a fish called nemo, and his overprotective father, who makes his son annoyed, so he swims off on his own... well i can't tell you more, cause that would spoil the film!
watch out for the dentist...!!
DVD:
- The Jacksons: An American Dream [1992] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Lady and the Highwayman [1989]
- The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride - Special Edition [1998]
- The Littlest Light On The Christmas Tree [2004]
- The Lost Prince [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The New Adventures Of Pinocchio [1999]
- The Return of the King [1980] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Spiral Staircase [1946] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Threepenny Opera [1931] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Wild Thornberrys - The Movie [1998]
DVD List
DVD
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All Action & Adventure
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Action & Adventure
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Video
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