25 May 2012

Gorgeous but vapid

The visuals are gorgeous, I agree. But the dialog and plot are so sappy and cliche that it's extremely difficult for anyone over the age of ten to watch. Take every plot device from any archetypal fantasy film, throw them together, and that's the plot for this movie.My seven and nine year olds did enjoy it but it was sheer torture for me to sit through it. Buy it for your kids if you must but make them watch it when you're not around. The only reason I gave this two stars instead of one is because my kids did enjoy it. But, tellingly, they didn't ask for it on blu-ray.

CAMILLE

25 May 2012

Outstanding Film

This 3D film was the best we have seen. Flawless animation and amazing acting. It was the perfect family film; exciting and entertaining. Beautifully shot and "epic" music. One of the best animated features we have seen. My son said it was flawless and "pixel perfect!"

24 May 2012

Amazing Animation

The short version of my review is this: the animation is spectacular and makes up for most of the weaknesses in the film. Now for details. Those who have stated in their reviews that this is the most visually beautiful film they have ever seen are NOT exaggerating. As my family watched this dvd in our living room (on our 1080p plasma) my husband kept saying, "We should have gone to the theater to see this in 3D." It truly looks amazing. I can't speak to the blu-ray since we only have seen the dvd, but I imagine it would bring even more of the incredible detail to life. No one in our family had ever read or heard of the books this film is based on, so the story was unfamiliar to us, though it is a familiar enough story. Young owls are kidnaped from their peaceful forest home and enslaved in an evil kingdom. They escape, find the mythical Guardians, and become involved in an epic battle of good vs. evil in which they much face their fears, draw on strength they didn't know they had, etc. There are so many elements of the story that are familiar (basic hero's quest stuff) that even my kids kept saying things like, "This is just like Lord of the Rings" or "That's like when Obi Wan dies" or even "This reminds me of Harry Potter." The dialogue was difficult for us to make out (we kept having to turn up the volume), but I'm not sure if that is a fault with the sound or something to do with the Australian accents. The overall tone of the film is rather dark and dramatic, and the interjection of a perky Owl City song in the middle was somewhat jarring. My 13 year old son said, "That's cute to have an Owl City song while we're literally looking at an Owl City, but the song is too cheerful." The names of the characters were hard to understand, and we couldn't even read some of them when the credits rolled. All that being said, I recommend everyone see this film in order to understand the sheer beauty of the animation. I thought I'd seen everything that cg animation could do, but I'd never seen anything as jaw-droppingly gorgeous as this film.

23 May 2012

youve already seen this movie 1000 times

This review is from: Legend of the Guardians-Owls of Ga'hoole (Two-Disc Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray Combo) (Blu-ray) same hackneyed story about the progression of an underdog to a hero. the 3D is pretty well done but the soundtrack is generally awful. overall tone is pretty serious, but a couple attempts at comic levity are thrown in and fall flat. if you like owls and Zack Snyder, stick with the Watchmen.

Ris

21 May 2012

a surprisingly fantastic movie.

I had been waiting to see this movie for months. I've read the four books to the series and was aware before I saw the movie that some points in the plot were changed. And by no means did that destroy the movie-nowhere near the destruction M. Night did to Avatar. I feel like to judge this movie by the often used "the book was better, this movie sucks" is cliche and redundant. Of course the book is better. But as a movie, I decided to review it differently-based on the fact that it's a movie and not a book. The characters and plot remained relatable to the books and were translated well in the movie. The owls were portrayed exactly how I envisioned them and the setting was absolutely breathtaking. The special affects were amazing(imax3D=epic), the flight scenes were dreamy and the battle scene was just awesome. The story at times was moving (a little too) fast and may be too much for a very young children to stay focused but it is a pace that might be appreciated by more mature children and adults like myself. I love this movie and plan on seeing it again!

21 May 2012

Save yourself the trouble and just enjoy the books!

Ok, first let me say that I've read all 17 books (if you include the 2 extras), and I'm a big fan. The books are amazing and I liked them so much I'm reading the whole series over again. when I saw that they were making a movie I thought (how can they do this, on 15 books?) Basically they left everything out! I rented the movie last night and was thoroughly disappointed. I suppose if you have never read the books you might like the movie, but if you have indeed read the books, you will be disappointed too! Please save yourself from ruining your experience with the books! The main characters were portrayed so differently in the movie, it was terrible to see, and they didn't even look the same. In the movie there was no mention of holidays, or special events, or the wonderful Madame Plonk singing everyone to sleep. (if you have read the books then this will make sense to you)Don't even get me started on adding in 'modern' music to the film. I cringed after hearing a rock song sung in the background during the movie when the characters were flying.... If you've read the books you would know that classical music and not spoken words is the best bet for this kind of story! I will say that the scenery was good, bascially the only good thing I can say is about the graphics and design work. Ah, but they just missed the whole point otherwise! I've never not liked a movie so much that I wished I hadn't watched it at all. Please, if you have read the books, do not watch this movie! It's not worth the time, it's not worth it at all! And you know what? Even if you haven't read the books I can guarantee that you will get a lot more out of the story by just reading the books and skipping the movie all together. Buy the books instead!

20 May 2012

Fun Movie

This review is from: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) As the title suggests this is a fun movie. Not the best movie ever but I personally enjoyed it. Before buying I might suggest renting it first to see if you like it enough to buy.

20 May 2012

Amazing 3D

This review is from: Legend of the Guardians-Owls of Ga'hoole (Three-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) Having recently purchased a 3D TV, we were hungry for some movies. We were very happy with this one. It was a good story, and the 3D was amazing. Much better than others we have seen. We highly recommendthis one.

robot_rollcall

19 May 2012

Visually stunning

The Guardians is the type of movie where low expectations will be yourfriend. If you go into the theater expecting The Secret of NIMH youwill be sorely disappointed with the story. Although Guardians doescontain some mature themes, such as racism and war, these themes areexplored more in the setting than in the characters.The main characters are mostly vehicles for the story. Strangely, it'sthe supporting characters - the villains and the Guardians themselves -who provide the most interesting, and sometimes the most compellingcharacters.There are no big surprises in this story. Any adult can figure out theentire plot within the first ten minutes. On the positive side, theplot takes off quickly and rarely slows down. If your kids can handle alittle violence they should love this movie. I'm happy to report thatthe villains are appropriately threatening. Metalbeak and his mate Nyaare on the same level as classic Disney villains like Scar and Ursala,so if your kids can handle these films they ought to handle Guardiansjust fine.Overall Guardians is worth seeing in theaters and, if you can affordit, in 3D. I didn't say much about the visuals because there reallyisn't much to say about them. This movie is stunning at least andmajestic at best, even if the plot is a little dull.

latewinner

18 May 2012

Feel the Guardians

This animation claiming "From the studio that brought you Happy Feet"do expect similar characters from them. The main owl Soren reminds meof the penguin Mumble from Happy feet. I would say the face 70% a like.You can spot a few similar character such as Ezylryb the Owl'scharacter definitely is the owl version of Ramon the penguin from HappyFeet.Story wise. It's slow and lack of climax. But if you are watching it in3D, at least you'll have the chance to enjoy quite a lot of 3D designedmovement. It's really beautifully done. There are many scenes which youneed to FEEL like what Soren the owl did. Otherwise you will end upwaiting for the final battle of the Owls.The team has done a good job on the owl's movement. It's very naturaland somehow patrons can learn a little bit of owl habitat in the movie.Anyway, there will be a continuous animation of it obviously.Conclusion, it's a good movie for kids whom still believe in dreams.

17 May 2012

The Owl Holocaust

This review is from: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) This movie has racial undertones. The owls are being subjugated by a "superior" group of owls that capture them and make them pellet pushers. (owl pellets being moved around and collected)The superior owls are all bowing down to a large female owl who is delighted by the other owls vying for her attention after they compete in flying abilities. The chosen owls are trying to fight the owls who are new and not quite conforming to their new subjugation.The subjugated owls are put into a trance before going down into the lower area to collect and organize owl pellets. The three new owls try to escape being put into the trance. Two of the three new owls manage to not be put into a trance, they realize the third owl is under the trance and they essentially write him off as one of them at that point. The two new owls try to infiltrate the large female owl's status as a ruler and therefore dictator that is subjugating the other owls. I won't spoil the ending for you. The 3d effects are stunning, similar to Despicable Me or Coraline, however the lighting on this film is always darker than that of the other 3d movies mentioned. I thought this would be a nice movie to show off the new 3d television, however, I would have liked to have been warned that it is a downer, depressing, dark, not much like any kids movie I have ever endeavored to watch. I love kids movies, I just got Bolt 3d (Disney)and I even loved Cats and Dogs the Revenge of Kitty Galore, but a dark owl movie about owls being subjugated by other owls into a second class slave race of owl pellet pushers is not my idea of a good time kids movie.This movie would be a great metaphor for explaining the Holocaust to kids that were not quite ready for the real details of the real thing.

jessica_elgersma

16 May 2012

Ultimately disappointing plot

I give this movie five stars out of ten purely for the beautiful,amazing imagery. However, the storyline seemed to dark for children,and too flat and clichéd for anyone over ten to enjoy.The plot dividesneatly into good owls vs. evil owls. The evil owls are given no motiveother than racism for anything that they do. The betrayals and "plotturns" are extremely predictable and typical clichés of almost everychildren's adventure story. I was expecting better, and was franklydisappointed.And since my review isn't long enough I'll add that theevil brother was kinda kinky. He had this thing for the evil queenperson and it was like "DUDE! that's kinky!"... that was a completewaste of two lines.

16 May 2012

3D Was Amazing. Kept my attention

SO me and the girlfriend sat down and she pulled this movie out. "NO, I am not watching that" and low and behold I lost the verbal debate as to what we are watching, cause she insisted I would like it, and boy did I ever. The graphics were flipping intense, the story line, the voice actors, the action just kept me enticed and the fact that I (20 years old) Loved this movie so much that I went out and bought for myself the next day. I only have great things to say about it

16 May 2012

while no where near as good as the books its a fine tale.

This review is from: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (Amazon Instant Video) My son enjoyed these books and wanted to see the movie, so it was rented but according to him (so not a personal review) the movie was very different from the books, but that is understandable knowing there are 3 books and 1 movie trying to cram it all in.

Bhupender Thakur

15 May 2012

Best Animation Movie of 2010 indeed

Legends are not born they are made. it is very true for thismovie..every thing about the movie is superb. The animation from WarnerBros. is really a piece of gems in the list of 2010 blockbusters.. Thekids gonna love this movie and even adults will find themselves amazedhow this movie is so captivating and story is so entertaining that itssequel will receive a much more grand opening then its predecessor.. iam waiting impatiently for the next part..the movie is studded with the captivating animation in high detailswhich amazes its viewer and makes it a winner on technical platform..story is refreshing and screenplay which is based on a book doesn'tdisappoint and speed of story is good. you don't get a chance to thinkabout other things. Hats off to Warner Bros. for bringing a nice movieand it is definitely good for the audience who were only enjoyinganimation from Pixar & Sony animation studios so far.. In a nutshell...Go, Watch it, take your friends & family with you, you will love it...P.S. i am really looking forward for another animation RANGO ready tobe released in the summers this year and the trailers looks awesome.

14 May 2012

BEST MOVIE EVER

I think this is one of the best movies ever. It inspires me. Altough it might be to violent for little kids this is a great movie that teaches, friendship, and courage.Most of all it inspires you to reach your goals.

ruink

13 May 2012

Let your imagination fly...

Legend of the Guardians is director Zack Snyder's first attempt at acompletely CGI and children's film while his other credits are all hard"R" films. So does the king of slow-mo succeed?The quick answer is yes. Guardian's is a film that takes the liberties3D and photo realistic CGI have to offer, like Avatar, to make a worldand characters larger (or smaller) than life to let your mind besoothed into something beautiful, mystical, and most importantly,entertaining.The story takes the classic yet reliable fable of good versus evil. Toput it simply, an army of Evil owls who have obvious horrid intentionsof ruling the Owl Kingdom must be stopped against all odds. The onlycreatures powerful and wise enough to defeat the army are the legendaryGuardians of Gahoole.The film follows main owlet Soran, voiced heroically by Jim Sturgess.Soran is kidnapped by the army of the Evil Owls. After being exposed tothe armies wrong doings, Soran knows the only hope in defeating thebaddies are to warn the Guardians. From there, the film takes flightinto an epic adventure of action, companionship, and beauty.Guardians is a rare treat in computer animated cinema. While Pixar isalways reliable, Guardians is a very different film that strives to bean epic while appealing to a mass audience and succeeds in doing so.From the fantastic action scenes, to the articulate directing,spectacular animation, smart 3D, and top notch voice acting, Guardiansis a film that will leave you mesmerized days after it's viewing.

13 May 2012

Where is there mention of enclosed 3D glasses with the DVD

These reviewers are more than likely company people for this production. If the makers of this movie think anyone is going to spend about $2k on a 3D TV to see a DVD in 3D they must be nuts, cheap and greedy.Those 3D glasses in the theaters work but a lot of time the movie doesn't work in 3D. Bought several DVDs in 3D that provided those flimsy paper glasses. The reproduction of 3D was very good with the cheap flimsy glasses at home. It it better than in the movies because a lot theaters really can not run 3D as it should be. Some movies that claimed to be 3D in the cinema were in fact never 3D movies.America is supposedly in an economical down turn. Provide 3D glasses with the retail version of 3D movies. One has to be nuts to buy shutter glasses and a 3D TV. No one even goes to the movies nowadays.And huge numbers just pay for one movie and spend all night or all day at the cinema.The reviewers never said a thing about 3D glasses or the lack of them. I got to assume they are professional writers who will say anything for a buck two.

10 May 2012

My FAVORITE 3D movie I own!...so far!

This review is from: Legend of the Guardians-Owls of Ga'hoole (Two-Disc Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray Combo) (Blu-ray) This movie was enchanting and exciting to begin with. But the 3D version is even BETTER! You know how some movies do the upconvert thing as a gimick? This is so not the case! They fly most of the movie, awesome for 3D....then they show all the elements: wind, fire, rain, ocean waves, giant swirls of blue magnetic magic. It is very interactive for at-home viewing. Plot reminds me a lot of the old cartoons like the Secret of Nim and so on. NO matter what your age, get this to actually let your 3D tV off of its leash.:)

09 May 2012

Amazing Graphics

This review is from: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) This is a great movie for all ages. Great graphics great storyline and this with a 46 inch Samsung LCD and surround sound creates a great movie.