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Amazon.co.uk Review
As warming as a nice cup of tea on a cloudy day, Chicken Run is that charming singularity, a commercially successful British family movie that has near-universal appeal without compromising its inherent British pluckiness (that will be the first and last poultry-pun in this review). It invites us into the Plasticine-world of Tweedy's farm, a far-from-free-range egg factory ruled with an axe of iron by greedy Mrs.Tweedy. One intrepid chicken, Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha) sets her sights on breaking out the whole flock, a cast of beautifully individuated chicken characters including ditsy Babs (voiced by Jane Horrocks), matronly Bunty (Imelda Staunton) and practical-minded Mac (Lynn Ferguson). Each effort is thwarted, and Ginger repeatedly reaps a spell in the coal bunker for her troubles, prompting the first of many allusions to The Great Escape, one of several World War II films name-checked throughout. (Grown-ups will have a ball playing Spot-the-Allusion Game here.) When an American rooster named Rocky (Mel Gibson) literally drops in from the air, the hens are set all a-flutter with excitement thinking he'll help teach them to fly away at last. But Rocky is not all he seems.
Although the action sags just a fraction around the 40-minute mark, it's the set pieces that really lift this into the realm of cartoon genius: the montage of inept flying attempts, Rocky and Ginger's narrow escape from Mrs Tweedy's new pie machine (an horrific contraption of chomping steel and industrial menace) and the magnificent, soaring climax. Despite the fact British animators (such as the directors, Nick Park and Peter Lord, themselves) regularly scoop Oscars for their short films, our record in full-feature length cartoons has been scrappy at best. There have been a few highlights--Animal Farm (1955), The Yellow Submarine (1968), Watership Down (1978)--and, er, that's about it really, unless you count The Magic Roundabout: Dougal and the Blue Cat. ChickenRun, made by the Aardman production house who produced the delightful Wallace and Gromit shorts among many other treats, has proved that Britain can compete with the most calculated, merchandised and screen-tested Disney production and win. --Leslie Felperin
From the Back Cover
Trapped behind barbed wire, fearing for their very lives, Ginger, Bunty, Babs and Fowler are chickens with a mission. Ginger and her fellow flock are determined to make a break for freedom but every escape goes "fowl" when they are caught by the evil Mrs. Tweedy and her oafish husband who want to turn them into chicken pies. When an all-American rooster named Rocky lands in the farm, Ginger sees her chance - these chickens won't cross the road; they'll fly the coop. Together they prove that chickens are anything but, as they escape in a daring and spectacular escape.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clucking Brilliant Fun !,
By A Customer
This review is from: Chicken Run [DVD] [2000] (DVD)
I loved this film when I saw it on holiday in Dublin that I had to take my best friend along to my local as soon as I got back. Tweedy Farm, the setting for this comedy that is anything but plastic, is a typical 50's Yorkshire farm - from the vehicles, to the clothes and dialog. Mr + Mrs Tweedy are branching out into the chicken pie market, and that means trouble for the chickens. Following numerous attempts to escape, including frequent trips to the cooler for Ginger, the head chicken, they start to feel they will never make it out alive. Enter Rocky, a Yankee rooster who uses his charm to get among "the beautiful English chicks". Of course, he's hiding a secret which they eventually discover (not saying what it is) and the scene is set for the funniest climax ever with a few nice twists along the way. The dialogue is more likely to appeal to the adult audience while the kids just enjoy the set pieces, but it's Jane Horrocks (Absolutely Fabulous) who gets the best lines throughout the film including what will hopefully become a catchphrase once the film hits the shops just in time for Christmas;"BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE IN A PIE. I DON'T LIKE GRAVY"
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fantanstic alround entertainment,
This review is from: Chicken Run [VHS] [2000] (VHS Tape)
not just for the kids a good laugh for all, and you don't even have to be a farmer to understand the goings on. We all know someone like a character from this film
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb, absolutely brilliant,
By A Customer
This review is from: Chicken Run [VHS] [2000] (VHS Tape)
How can anyone not be entertained by this film, any purist who can find holes to pick at in the production are well, just sad !! Bah Humbug to them.The action that goes on in the background, like where Mrs Tweedy pinches Mr Tweedy's bottom in the scene where food rations are doubled, doubles me up every time, and the spatial sound (if you have a TV up to it) when Rocky and Ginger are in the oven never fails to make my kids jump, and the bit with Edwina , the first time my kids saw it you could cut the tension with a knife. You can watch this film a dozen times, and get something new out of it each time. A good sucess indicator is, whenever I drop a CD/DVD into the player, Chicken Run is already in there
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