Fantastic Mr. Fox (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

Genre : DVD ( Blu-ray )
Release : 2010/03/23
Price : $21.99

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The visually ravishing animated movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox follows a fox, voiced by George Clooney and dressed in a natty brown corduroy suit, as he cheerfully and recklessly takes his thieving ways a little too far and brings down the wrath of some sour-faced poultry farmers on his family and friends. Based on a lesser-known book by children's author Roald Dahl (who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach), the movie is the work of Wes Anderson (writer-director of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums), who expanded and elaborated on the original story; the combination is inspired. Anderson's sensibility--his fondness for meticulous compositions, coordinated colors, and narrative filigree--can sometimes seem finicky and stiff in live-action movies, but it's exquisitely suited to the painstaking art of stop-motion animation. Every corner of the screen crackles with visual invention and whimsical humor. The top-notch vocal cast (which also features Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Owen Wilson, and others) create vivid personalities that perfectly mesh with the movie's lush colors and luscious textures. The Fantastic Mr. Fox is an off-beat gem, a giddy mix of adult emotional issues, wild animal behavior, and childlike delight. --Bret Fetzer

I had high hopes for this movie, as the "experts" gave it glowing reviews. Thank goodness I rented this from the library before buying it! This has to be one of the worst movies ever created. It was so boring I could not even make it through the first half of the movie. The characters are flat and unmemorable. The voices were uninterested and almost seemed bored themselves. There really is no plot or purpose to the movie. No wonder it did so poorly in the box office.

When I saw previews for this film in the theatre, by wife and I exchanged eye-rolls. So when I borrowed a friend's copy out of sheer boredom with the current panoply of predictable, music video children's films, my expectations were low. In fact, we began this film close to the kid's bedtime so I'd have a reasonable excuse to bail out early.

Well, the kids loved this movie and so did I. It's wonderfully paced, the animal characters are idiosyncratic and immensely likable, and the dialogue is conversational and amusing. I don't like when an animated children's film includes a stratum of adult innuendo. That, to me, is targeted marketing, and those carefully distributed oblique references that make mom and dad chuckle exist to compensate for a weak story. No gimmicks here. Funny situations, cleverly crafted characters, technically superb animation, and a novel story.

We've must've seen it 10x since that first night. Any other film and I would have accidentally lost the video by now.

It was visually entertaining but nothing more. To me it was just action scene after action scene with no real rhyme or reason . Look, just because objects move fast on the screen for and hour and a half and gets your adrenaline pumping, doesn't mean it was a great movie. The movie also didn't have a heart to it. It felt emotionally cold. O.k. in a cartoon world we can argue that a fox doesn't show emotion because they are crafty, but there was something seriously lacking in this movie. There wasn't any real substance to it. I say it's slightly below average. Tom C.

By reading the reviews, is appeared I would be getting a wonderful evening movie. The reviews on the box were so great! I gave it a chance and watched or about 40 minutes, and what a disappointment. Poor story line and poor graphics. Boring characters. See if you can find a preview first. You might like it! My copy is on its way to The Salvation Army.

Ordinarily, I watch a movie one time. On rare occasion, twice. Has to be a really special movie (or highly quotable, a la Caddyshack or Pulp Fiction) for me to desire multiple viewings.

That said, I can't stop watching "The Fantastic Mr. Fox". The animation is fascinating, the voices are perfect, and the writing and vibe are pure Wes Anderson. On every subsequent viewing, more details come to light. The expressions on the faces of the characters, the way they eat (you'll have to see it), etc. Can't stop watching. Every wordless gesture invites repeated viewing. i.e., something as simple as Kylie shrugging his shoulders and grinning caused me to watch it over and over. Same with Ash turning to look at the camera after a redemption of sorts.

I'm almost embarrassed by how much I like this movie. I'm 46 years old, for crying out loud. But I do.