Home :: DVD :: Science Fiction & Fantasy :: Fantasy  

Alien Invasion
Aliens
Animation
Classic Sci-Fi
Comedy
Cult Classics
Fantasy

Futuristic
General
Kids & Family
Monsters & Mutants
Robots & Androids
Sci-Fi Action
Series & Sequels
Space Adventure
Star Trek
Television
Babe - Pig in the City

Babe - Pig in the City

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 17 >>

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A let down
Review: Not as good as "Babe" by a long shot. Still the characters we continue to follow act as we would expect. Frankly I'm not sure why the film creators felt the need to go to a city to further Babe's adventures. I'd recommend strongly that you watch it on television or rent it with some others before investing your money in it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Never has a movie so divided people ...
Review: Wow, I don't think I've ever seen such a split on a film. And the amazing thing is, I think both viewpoints are right.

What was this film actually rated? Was it a G, as some have mentioned, or a PG? Maybe R would have been better -- and I'm usually the last to argue for these type of ratings. But at least people wouldn't have been misled about the tone of the picture.

Actually R is too strong, as several people have commented that their kids did actually enjoy the film.

I saw it, fully knowing its rep for being dark and scary, and watched in amazement at how truly disturbing much of the material is. At the same time, I was applauding the screenwriter, director and production designer -- and the animals -- for doing such an outstanding, creative job!

A very, very black comedy, with plenty of laughs if you're in the right mood for it. Technically, just a marvel. There's a kind of storytelling here that throws you back into a kind of wonder that you rarely feel beyond childhood.

Extremely entertaining and very moving. And the scene with the dog on the bridge that many have mentioned -- I recall that criticism of this scene was one thing which scared me away from seeing this film theatrically. And I understand how many would be disturbed by the scene. But in the context of the overall film, it now seems like the scene is justified. And I truly doubt the dog was actually hurt, given all the technology at the filmmakers' disposal.

One thing I find interesting is how so many people remember the first movie as sort of "cute and fluffy." It did actually concern some of the same serious issues faced by animals. People said, "I'm never eating pork again." Maybe it's the number of incidents which creates the impression; Bambi too was very dark, but only in a few scenes.

Highly recommended, but only if you are expecting a surreal Dickens, Terry Gilliam-type atmosphere.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: delightful
Review: Pig In the city is a beautifully created film with a sweet romantic harmony throughout.
The use of colours, voices, accents and typifying characters have made this delightful and heartwarming entertainment ,both funny and interesting for adults and children. The movie is incredibly artistic,theatrical and full of moral richness.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect! Babe with a bite!
Review: "Babe: Pig in the City" is a perfect blend of elements to make one of the best live-action animal/kids films ever, surpassing in many ways, the original itself. It takes us into scary territory, leaving Babe without the stoic, but kind-hearted Mr. Hoggett, without the maternal Fly or the friendly sheep for the bulk of the film. Its just Babe and Esme Cordelia Hoggett to save the farm and a whole slew of new animal characters in a frenetically-paced adventure that carries a "Fellini meets Willie Wonka" feel to it.

The sets are absolutely magic and watching them transported me straight back to my 4th grade imagination. Its frantic, funny, adorable, intense and even scary, but despitethe chaos around him, Babe stays loyal and true to the big-hearted character presented in the 1st movie. And like that film, he wins over his detractors in the city, too.
Highly recommended!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bizarre and Disturbing
Review: The first movie, Babe, was cute and funny and very Disneyesque. This bizarre sequel is more like a Fellini film. It begins with a disturbing nightmarish scene of the farmer (from the original Babe) falling down a well. Shortly after, it moves the setting to the city. The animal characters in the city are not cute and cuddly like on the farm. There are strange and bizarre personalities to most of them. The imagery is equally bizarre... the use of close-ups and slow motion effects for some of the stranger things makes the oddity more intense. There is a psychotic pit-bull who consistently tries to kill Babe. There is a lame Chihuahua using a wheelchair type of wagon to get around. There is a manic depressive orangutan, and a family of crazy chimps. Then, there is the clown character (played by Mickey Rooney) who has more sadness in his life than joy. The whole thing is just so surreal and depressing.

On its own merit, Pig In The City stands as an interesting and unusual movie, especially for fans of Felliniesque films. But, compared to the predecessor, Babe, this one is like Hell to its previous Heaven. If you like bizarre movies, you might like this. But, do not... I repeat... DO NOT let your kids see this one! It's definitely not a family movie... unless you're the Addams family!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A bizarre, grotesque nightmare
Review: The first Babe film captured the imagination on many levels- the eye-opening effects, the moralistic tale, the down-home yet subtly surreal farm environment- a movie that could be enjoyed by all ages. This cynical sequel is too grotesque to be enjoyed by kids and too outright dark and malicious to be enjoyed by adults who are expecting a pleasant film experience.

Pig In The City turns all that was noble about the original Babe on its head with a mean-spirited, dark fall into the looking glass, where all the attractive aspects of the first film are dispensed with and in their place the viewer gets a wretched, overly-surreal, distorted tale set in your typical evil fantasy city, (see Matrix, Fifth Element, Batman, Blade Runner et al).
It is obvious that the filmmakers tried too hard to shove the "evil city" vibe down the viewers throat at every turn and within a short period it all gets rather revolting.

All subtlety goes out the window for this one. Every frame, every shot, every character- from the disturbing clown played by Mickey Rooney to the chimp family to the incessant nightmarish jet planes flying low over head...from the cliché ridden chaotic street scenes full of hoodlums, from the inexplicable betrayal of the drugsniffing dog at the airport which leads to a body cavity search on Mrs Hoggett- yes a body cavity search...to studies in animal torture and death....every single character is a study in unfriendly, evil, malicious intent, confusing indifference, or bizarre Alice In Wonderland behavior.

The filmmakers succeed only in killing the uplifting message of the first film. They also succeed in trivializing Babe himself into a bumbling idiot extra in his own movie, who either (movie cliché alert) causes great disasters around him by accident, is constantly chased by evil animals/people, or wonders what the heck is going on. We wonder too, Babe, we wonder too.

Couldn't they have written another interesting tale based on the farm instead? Instead we get an attempt at art film pretentiousness...

Get back to where you once belonged Babe.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Sensational Sequel to a One-of-a-Kind Classic
Review: The original "Babe" was a huge and deserved hit when released in 1995, earning a Best Picture nomination for it's novel animation and trendsetting technology. Simply said, this follow-up film subtitled "Pig in the City" is equally ingenious, heartwarming and special, indeed.

Critics hailed its messages and transplanted landscape and risky vision. From the warm, embracing countryside, to the chilly rotten city, Babe (and in this case Mrs. Hoggett) venture far from home, encountering profound characters and learning life lessons along the way.

Unfortunately, Babe 2 was a commercial dud, far underperforming the original, due to an uninspired marketing campaign and the film's overall noir-drama characteristics. Alot of parents kept kids away hearing the movie would upset them, and although some intense moments occur, kids by and large have seen far worse on afternoon TV. This film dares to stretch beyond what was expected of it, and becomes a thoughtful, complex fable in the process ... but never fails to entertain young and old alike. It's a film anyone can enjoy, at any time, at any age and a rare thing indeed as a sequel that's literally equal to its predeseser. So many of us loved and cherished the magical Babe during his first incarnation, but trust me, this hog is going places! A class act all the way that needs to be revisited or enjoyed spontanelously the first time around. DO NOT MISS IT.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Come, gaze into the abyss
Review: Draw a bath and grab a razor blade - it's the bleakest film ever made! Babe travels to the city and learns that the world is a great big dark pit of despair and suffering.

Cringe! in slack-jawed horror as animals and cancer-stricken children flee a hospital fire.

Weep! as a depressive orangutan tries in vain to maintain his dignity in a world that strips all dignity away.

Sob inconsolably! as innocent animals tell (with children's voices) tales of the unspeakable cruelties they have suffered at the hands of Man.

Finally, fall! to your wretched knees and pray desperately in the implacable face of an uncaring universe for some small sign that life is more than an endless black night of pain and despair that makes a mockery of hope and a cruel joke of the conceit that there is any kindness or joy to be found in the barren desolation of this cold and merciless world.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This is for kids?!?!?
Review: The origianal Babe movie was wonderfull. It was like a live action disney movie where annimals talk. Now we have the sequel and we have to ask ourselfs, what the heck went wrong here? Babe 2 is one of the worst sequels to a movie I have ever seen. Its incrediably dark, disturbing and very unpleasent. The film starts off right where the first one ended, with farmer Hogget returning to the farm to live happily ever after, but sience this is a sequel, we cannot let that happen. So Babe accidentaly pushes Farmer Hogget into a well and nearly kills him. While he is recovering, the happy cheerfull bank shows up and tell the Hoggets that they are about to loose the farm. So Ms. Hogget decides to head into the city with Babe and make some money. When they arrive they eventually reach a hotel in what has to be the most bogous city set I have ever seen. After that the typical bad stuff happens and its a lot worse then before. The annimal cast consists of really mean dogs, annoying bossy Godfather like apes and a whole lot more. The only nice annimals are Good natured Babe, Some cute Kittens, and Ferdinand the Duck. All the other annimals are making Babes life really miserable. While at first Babe 2 seems charming, that instantly jumps out the window when you first see the annimal cruelty scenes. Babe is constantly attacked, a dog is strangled by his chain underwater and nearly drowns, another dog attacks a car and is dead for a few minutes (but he recovers) kittens go hungry, and in a horrifyingly disturbing sequence, the hotel is assulted by annimal catchers. All this cruelty to annimals, and you wish they would die just to put them out of thier misery. I was shocked at how un-kid friendly this is. Dont take your kids to see it, it will diminish the fond memories of the first one.

The Good: Its a Babe movie, The narrator does a great job, some nice annimals

The bad: really really dark(and not in lighting sense), awful sets.

and the ugly: Lots of annimal cruelty scenes, the apes and dogs are very annoying, definatly not for young kids.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hollywood at its BEST!
Review: I say Hollywood at its best, but this isn't Hollywood. Forget what Leonard Maltin said in his "review." It's obvious he didn't even pay attention to the movie. (Where does he get the notion that Babe was taken to America...look at the visuals, Leonard, this is "Everyplace", not just one place.) One of the most imaginative and visually appealing films I've seen. Babe does indeed take the audience on a journey, sometimes dark (but all good stories must have "dark" side...otherwise, it's just marshmallow fluff), through the dark side of a civilization. (Again, this place is not specified, which makes it all the more interesting.) Babe learns quickly about the other side and with his good heart and determination, saves the farm and a whole cast of dogs, monkeys, and cats. GREAT film! A must see. This isn't Disney, kids. This will make you feel good, without a sappy sugar-coating.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 17 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates