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

(as of 10/04/2010 02:42 - more info)

$39.99 $19.99

Listed Under: DVD gifts

  • ISBN13 : 0024543657552
  • Condition : NEW
  • Notes : Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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Mr. Fox plots the greatest heist ever in the animal kingdom.

5 Reviews

  1. Roland E. Zwick says:
    April 5, 2010 at 12:00 am

    For those who’ve grown just a wee bit tired of all those “family-friendly” animated features we’ve been inundated with over the years, I commend to you “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Wes Anderson’s sly little creation that, for once, is aimed less at the kids in the audience than at the adults. Not that it is particularly crude or vulgar – it’s certainly no “Fritz the Cat,” and even the swearing is covered-over by the characters uttering a generic “cuss” – but its themes and dialogue are pitched at a generally higher level of sophistication than we are accustomed to in such works.

    Based on a book by the beloved Roald Dahl, the story focuses on the dapper Mr. Fox, a recovering chicken thief who, at the behest of his wife, has given up his predatory ways in favor of domestic responsibility as a husband and father and a career as a newspaper columnist. What could be more respectable than that? But old habits die hard, and Mr. Fox soon discovers he must remain true to his nature as a carnivorous mammal, leading him to enlist a few of his friends and neighbors of various species in a scheme to raid some local farms and make off with their poultry. This lands him and his buddies in hot water with both the owners of the farms and the heavily armed authorities who are called in to support them.

    Like Anderson’s live-action works, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (co-written by Noah Baumbach) owes much of its charm to the scattered, random and quirky nature of the material and its presentation, with a narrative so full of side forays and offbeat, eccentric characters that the movie feels as if it’s constantly renewing itself as it’s going along. There is wonderful voice work by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Willem Dafoe, clever in-joke references to spaghetti westerns and “Rebel Without a Cause,” a funny subplot involving Fox’s son and his obsession with proving his athletic prowess to his inattentive dad, and a simple, clean, streamlined look that combines a minimum of stop-motion movement with remarkably true-to-life backgrounds.

    It may not be a great animated film, but it is one of the more original and refreshing ones we’ve come across in quite some time.

    Reply
  2. Andy says:
    April 3, 2010 at 12:00 am

    Anyone who gives this a bad review is either unfamiliar with the work of Wes Anderson or has been spoon-fed “good looking” Pixar animation for far too long. To me, the stop motion made it feel handmade and I expect nothing less from the unique vision of one of the greatest, no, “fantastic” directors working today. The story was enjoyable, the dialogue was great and the characters were interesting and fun with the help of their talented voice actors, making it 87 minutes I wanted to watch again and again

    Fair warning; this may not necessarily be a “kids” movie, but it may shock you that not all animated movies are created for children in mind only. I also noticed a lot of people knock it down due to what it made at the box office. Have you SEEN any of Wes Andersons movies (my guess is no.) Well, some movies make a lot of money at the box office (like Transformers 2) and some don’t (the Hurt Locker). One of those won Best Picture, but the answer may surprise you.

    If you love Wes Anderson, get this movie now! (or knowing him, possibly wait until a Criterion Collection is released).

    Reply
  3. Gustavo Miranda says:
    April 3, 2010 at 12:00 am

    Simply put, this is one of the greatest laid back fun movies I’ve watched recently. It has great characters and dialog, plus the stop-motion and cinematography are breathtaking (make sure you see it on blu-Ray). The only small downside might be the plot, which is a bit generic, but it follows the story from the book. As to how much a child will enjoy this, I do not know, it has some heavy adult themes in it. The comedy is very offbeat, as always in Wes Anderson’s films. I don’t normally do reviews on here, but I was so amazed by this movie, that I just had to write something and hope it brings more attention to it. I didn’t think it was the best movie of 2009, either. It was just a very, very fun, charming watch.

    Reply
  4. R. Lamparter says:
    April 2, 2010 at 12:00 am

    I’m sorry, I thought this was awful. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t think it was great.

    The stop motion looked bad, although I couldn’t tell if that was the intention of the animators or not. Even though I had read the book, I just couldn’t find interest in the plotline. I had to constantly turn up the television volume because the voices were so low and quiet.

    I couldn’t stand the animal characters and was cheering for the farmers about halfway through it. This movie was not a delight, and a bit disturbing.

    Reply
  5. Ander says:
    April 1, 2010 at 12:00 am

    This is a cute movie, great for kids and families. However, I found the animation very distracting.

    I realize stop-frame (model) animation is nearly as challenging as drawn animation, and I admire anyone who takes it on. But for a big-budget, professional production, I found the animation so distractingly unlifelike I couldn’t relax and enjoy the story.

    And is it just my imagination, or did they use a lower animation framerate (number of frames per second) than usual, to limit production costs? That would account for some of the jerkiness, though not all of it.

    (By contrast, the characters in the “Wallace and Gromit” features are much less sophisticated, yet they’re so well-animated I have no trouble suspending my disbelief and enjoying them.)

    As if that weren’t distracting enough, these characters are covered with fur. Even when the they do nothing but speak, this fur is always shifting here and there from the animators’ adjustments. Maybe there’s no way to avoid that, but it was another constant reminder that I was watching models, not “living” characters.

    Reply

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