14 used & new from £0.42
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Animal Farm [DVD] [1999]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Animal Farm [DVD] [1999]

DVD ~ Kelsey Grammer
2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


5 new from £4.50 9 used from £0.42
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Animal Farm [DVD]
30% buy
Animal Farm [DVD] 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£2.98
Animal Farm [DVD] [1999]
29% buy the item featured on this page:
Animal Farm [DVD] [1999] 2.8 out of 5 stars (5)
Animal Farm [DVD] [1955]
25% buy
Animal Farm [DVD] [1955] 3.2 out of 5 stars (6)
£5.38
1984 [DVD]
9% buy
1984 [DVD] 4.0 out of 5 stars (32)
£4.98
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Kelsey Grammer, Ian Holm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julia Ormond, Pete Postlethwaite
  • Directors: John Stephenson
  • Writers: Alan Janes, George Orwell, Martyn Burke
  • Producers: Greg Smith, Morgan O'Sullivan, Paul Lowin, Robert Halmi Sr.
  • Format: Full Screen, PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: All Regions
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Hollywood DVD Ltd
  • DVD Release Date: 28 Jan 2002
  • Run Time: 87 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004TIYH
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 19,971 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

After the technical achievement of Babe, it was almost inevitable that "talking animal" effects would be applied to the serious themes of George Orwell's Animal Farm. A bitterly satirical indictment of Stalinist Russia and the failure of Communism, Orwell's 1945 novel is a time-honoured classic, so it's only fitting that this TNT production remains largely faithful to Orwell's potent narrative. A showcase for the impressive creations of Jim Henson's Creature Shop (where director John Stephenson was a veteran supervisor), the film employs animatronic creatures and computer animation to tell the story of uprising, unity, and tragic rebellion among the farm animals.

The politics of "Animalism" are initially effective, ousting enemy humans according to rules ordained by Old Major, the barnyard pig whose death sets the stage for the corruptive influence of the pig Napoleon, who cites superior intelligence as his right to dominance. This tyrannical reign destroys the farm's stability, and the film--decidedly not for young children--preserves Orwell's dark, cynical view of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Particularly effective is a propaganda film shown to the barnyard collective, and certain scenes--while not as impressive as the Babe films--powerfully convey the force of Orwell's story through animal "performance". Animal Farm occasionally falters in its emotional impact (the fate of the horse Boxer should be heart-rending, and it isn't), but it's certainly blessed with an elite voice cast, including Peter Ustinov, Patrick Stewart, Pete Postlethwaite, Julia Ormond, Kelsey Grammer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Paul Scofield, and Ian Holm. Not the masterpiece it might've been, this is nevertheless a worthy representation of Orwell's novel. --Jeff Shannon



Special Features

4:3 Full Frame
English
Region 0
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Trailer
Cast And Crew Information
Interviews
Production Notes
Animal Rules
See all Reviews

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Animal Farm [DVD] [1955]

Animal Farm [DVD] [1955]

DVD ~ Gordon Heath
3.2 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.38
Animal Farm: York Notes

Animal Farm: York Notes

by S. Foster
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £3.88
Animal Farm [DVD]

Animal Farm [DVD]

5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £2.98
GCSE "Animal Farm" (Letts Explore)

GCSE "Animal Farm" (Letts Explore)

by John Mahoney
£3.48
1984 [DVD]

1984 [DVD]

DVD ~ John Hurt
4.0 out of 5 stars (32)  £4.98
› Explore similar items

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(9)
(8)
(7)
(8)
(4)
(4)
(2)
(2)
(3)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Can't Stand Comparison to the Book, 7 Jul 2002
By A Customer
A mostly disappointing live action adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel of communism and revolution, which has clearly been watered down to suit a younger audience. It does have its powerful moments, particularly when Boxer's doom is involved, but is mostly devoid of the book's gripping darkness, and has transformed the desolate, grim atmosphere which Orwell depicted in writing into a colourful and picturesque farmyard. The voices are mostly excellent; one of the film's saving graces is the splendid acting, both in person and voice-over, but the animatronics aren't particularly impressive. The liberties that have been taken with the book in terms of plot will also raise a few eyebrows to anyone familiar with the original book. It opts for a happy, fairytale ending, and thus loses a great deal of its potential power, while feeling the need to insert a narating herione into the story, and unwisely making it one of the dogs, the savage beasts of Orwell's novel. To make matters worse, the dramatic irony that made the book so remarkable is missing - the narating dog sees through the tyranical pigs too clearly and explains almost everything to the viewer. If none of this bothers you, then by all means buy it - you could well enjoy it - but you're still better off buying the book.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing sadder than what could have been, 30 Oct 2003
By A Customer
Another potentially great movie ruined because the director feels he knows better than the original author. Why they had to tinker I cannot say, but it badly misses. Why do we need the story explained by a dog? (It's almost as if they saying that the regimes thugs "aren't bad, just misunderstood") Why is the death of Boxer almost funny? (This was the single greatest act of betrayal, confirming the final corruption of Old Major's vision) What was wrong with the original and powerful end? Just shows how small changes can ruin a story - because much is true to the book. Just seems that they felt that the book was too dark and brooding - well newsflash, it was meant to be. That was surely George Orwell's point, what the point of this version is I fail to see.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Pity, it could have been amazing!, 26 Aug 2002
By Thomas Milnthorpe "pipkiin3" (W-S-M) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Though I enjoyed the film, therre was a lot I wasn't happy with. This was mainly the animatronics and special effects. I thought they were really ropey, and Babe did much much better. There was something about the film that made it less impactive. I feel that it was done it a silly, camp way. Lets hope books like Watership Down don't fall into this directors grasp!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I was really let down by this film. I'm a massive Orwell fan and this film strayed a little too much for my liking. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2006 by Natalie Oughton

4.0 out of 5 stars A satire of Stalinist Russia, Animal Farm
I never got to read Animal Farm in high school. Now after seeing the TNT Original Movie adaption of George Orwell's novel, I can't wait. Read more
Published on 21 May 2001

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject







i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.