...lovely to look at and fun to listen to, but dull and lethargic in spots, too, and sometimes brutally savage.
Watership Down (1978)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:27
Fresh:22
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Aimed at adults perhaps more than children, this is a respectful, beautifully animated adaptation of Richard Adams' beloved book.
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: An animated adaptation of Richard Adams' best-selling book about a group of rabbits desperately searching for a new home after the demolition of their warren. The bunnies endure a danger-filled... An animated adaptation of Richard Adams' best-selling book about a group of rabbits desperately searching for a new home after the demolition of their warren. The bunnies endure a danger-filled journey in which they contend with hunters, vicious dogs, and even other rabbits who are out to stop them. As the heroes travel, they are befriended by a wisecracking seagull named Kehaar. Will Hazel and the other rabbits find a place to call home, where they can live in peace? [More]
Starring: Ralph Richardson, John Hurt, Zero Mostel, Michael Graham-Cox
Starring: Ralph Richardson, John Hurt, Zero Mostel, Michael Graham-Cox, Richard Briers, Harry Andrews
Director: Martin Rosen
Director: Martin Rosen
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Reviews for Watership Down
A rare movie that keeps kids on the edge of their chairs without inducing in their parents an overwhelming desire to escape theirs for a smoke in the lobby.
A beautifully realised animation, Watership Down ultimately works because it doesn't dilute the violence and drama of Adams' book with a rose-tinted lens.
Expertly and realistically animated, this version of the popular novel didn't seem to have an audience.
A brief spark of imagination survives in a prologue sequence, designed by the great John Hubley before he was fired from the film. The rest is blandness.
The rabbits' interactions mirror those of human behavior, and so too does the film possess a startlingly tangible sense of death.
The 'camera' takes a conventionally objective viewpoint, perpetually rolling over rolling countryside, which effectively robs the plot of all its terror and tension.
Cuts so deep on so many ethereal levels that you can flip to nearly any page in the history book and see a parallel.
Don't listen to anybody who writes it off as a 'cartoon about bunnies.' Stunning beauty, smart scripting, a splendid score ... this is a serious film for serious moviegoers.
Richard Adams's unforgettable, much-loved tale is honorably brought to life in a low-key, realistic animated style well suited to the naturalism and mature tone of the book.
For a kid, it's great. Kids can't normally smell extremely episodic, fractured narratives.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| 19% 19% | Transformers: Revenge … |
| 55% 55% | Orphan |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 88% 88% | Ballast |
| 67% 67% | The Merry Gentleman |
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