The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) (1st 1950’s Sci-Fi review of 3)

                                                

         What can I say, I’m a huge Sci-Fi nut, in other words, I’m a big fan of Science Fiction Cinema! The new modern age Sci-fi films like “Independence Day” and “District 9” are always great fun but I also love the classic, old school Sci-Fi’s, and the 1950’s was the great golden age of Science Fiction Cinema. Throughout the 30’s and 40’s horror movies were huge, all the classic horror movie characters were introduced and people were more excited to see those. As for the Sci-Fi genre, it was ignored more than any other category of film. If it was a B movie someone wanted to watch, they would just look at one of the classic horror movies. But then the atomic bomb came up in the 1950’s, and just like that, people were no longer interested in supernatural story’s. They were far more concerned about the dangers of nuclear war, and just like that the Sci-Fi boom of the 50’s was born. There were a lot of films that focused on monsters that were born from nuclear radiation and all kinds of films with anti nuclear messages. This is when Sci-Fi made a big impact on cinema and all the classic sub genre’s like exploring the unknown, science experiments gone wrong and best of all, alien invasion movies made their eternal mark on film. So I thought it would be fun to do three individual reviews of three different 50’s Sci-Fi movies based around these 3 different sub genre’s. I will have a review for a film involving alien invasion, one involving exploration and another involving an experiment gone wrong. Now, let’s begin with the best sub genre of all, ALIEN INVASION!

                                  

     Now picking just one alien invasion movie from the 50’s is no easy task because there are so many good ones to choose from including  “The War of the Worlds”, “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers”, “Invaders from Mars”, “the Blob” and my personal favorite “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. These are all great movies, but of all the films that came from this period, the one that is often regarded as one of the all time greatest and smartest is the 1951 classic “The Day The Earth Stood Still” and that’s what I’m going to review. The film is based on the screenplay of the 1940 Harry Bates' short story "Farewell to the Master". It’s completely different from the other cliched Sci-Fi’s at the time, and still one of my favorites to this day. If you watch any of the other alien invasion movies I mentioned, you’ll see that they were all about aliens killing us for the sake of killing us. This film however does something completely original. A flying saucer lands in Washington D.C. and we meet a humanoid alien named “Klaatu”. He’s come to earth in peace to deliver a warning that an alien invasion force is just a few small light-years away and are ready to go to war with earth. This alien race is frightened about the atom bomb and sees it as a threat to their planet. They will decline from invading only if they invoke in an era of peace and put an end to all major wars. The military doesn’t like the sound of this and treat him with hostility, so he goes into hiding. He makes friends with a small boy, his mother and a scientist. Together they formulate a plan for Klaatu to meet with globally intelligent minds and to give his full message of peace.    

                                                                                                      

      To prove his power, he will turn off all electricity all over the planet (with the exception of hospitals and plains in flight) for 30 minutes and that’s how we tie in with the title. By this point in the film, you really get attached to Klaato and you want him to succeed in delivering his message of peace. But things aren’t going to be easy, the military are out hunting him, they won’t let anyone near his ship and are ready to kill him. There’s also a selfish jerk who thinks he’ll get a lot of money for turning Klaato into custody, the alien invasion force is up in space, ready to strike and finally when Klaato gets shot down by the authorities, it activates a giant, indestructible robot named Gort, who’s bent on destroying Washington, it’ll make your head explode! Gort is simply the classic gem to put on top of everything, he’s an awesome, giant robot with such a memorable design. He doesn’t have any electronic circuits revealed but he does have a laser shooting eyepiece, that’s awesome! The only thing that can stop him is the command "Klaatu Barada Nikto”.  I’m not entirely sure why, but this has become one of the most famous commands in cinema and has been parodied and celebrated countless times. The biggest tribute to this command was in a 90’s horror movie called “Army of Darkness” (a.k.a “Evil Dead 3”), the lead character had to say this command in order to safely remove a book from its resting place.

     This is a very well written story with a strong anti war massage and it’s morals of peace and understanding are still just as strong today. It’s easily more of a “First Contact” story rather than a full invasion flick but there is a good chunk of entertainment and it is essentially about an alien who put the world in a state of panic, just through methods of science, not destruction. The music by Bernard Herrmann is just fantastic, putting you in the right mood just as the film starts. The opening is actually one of the coolest openings to any black and white movie I can think of. There are only two things in this film that people have issues with. First of all is how Klaato is so easily comparable to Christ. I never even thought about that but now that I look back on it, I can see some comparisons. Klaato comes from high above with a message of peace and is killed by authorities, then latter he’s brought back to life through his technology, gives his message of peace and then ascends back to the stars. Fortunately, the MPAA didn’t like this and gave Klaato lines where he mention’s an all mighty spirit and that only he can harness the powers of life and death because the effects off his technology are only temporary. For me, this is just enough to save this character from turning into a Christ impersonator. I really like the character Klaato, he makes for a great educator as well as a character who learns beyond what he was expected. My favorite scene is when he visits the Lincoln Memorial and he begins to read Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. He says his words are beautiful and that he wishes he could have met him. That was such a serial moment for me, I know we often get lines like that from movies like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” ( that’s also a great movie) but never before from an alien who was fascinated by a man from earth’s history and wishes he could have had the honor of meeting him.

      The second thing people have issues with is how cheesy it looks. Come on, its 1951, of cores it looks cheesy and out of date. Admittedly, they’re some silly moments like when weapons are destroyed by Gorts eye beam and when the mother is carried off by Gort you can clearly see the strings holding her up. Never the less I think the visuals where ground breaking for their time. There were a few adaptions over the years, it was dramatized as a radio play on January 4, 1954. Most notably, in 2008 there was a remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” with the same title. That to me is really sad because a land mark movie like this shooed never be remade. The only reason it was remade was to enhance the special effects. I honestly can’t stand when great classics like this are remade just for the sake of eye candy, that’s not what made the original so great. It was a fascinating new premise with great characters and was one of the very first Sci-Fi’s to give us a smart story and to examine the human issues of violence and the dangers of the nuclear age, all through the eyes of an outsider, while also giving us a new look at the possibilities of alien life. It’s been praised as a classic for over 60 years and I hope younger generations don’t shy away from this film because it’s so old and cheesy looking, it’s still a wonder of cinema and one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies of all time. 

  

                   I give the 1951 original of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” 4 stars.                      

        Stay tuned for review number 2, one of the most famous science fiction experiments will go wrong in the 1958 classic, “The Fly”!                    

                       

The Fly (1958) (2nd 1950’s Sci-Fi review of 3)

                                                                                

     It’s time to dig up another 1950’s classic. I’m doing individual reviews of three classic 1950’s Sci-Fi’s, each themed around one of the main Sci-Fi sub-categories, which are exploring the unknown, science experiments gone wrong and alien invasions. Last time I reviewed the 1951 alien invasion classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, now it’s time to cover a film from the next big 1950’s Sci-Fi category, SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS GONE WRONG! Aside from classic Sci-Fi, I also love Horror movies that are ahead of their time, films that are low budget and become legendary. The 1958 original classic “The Fly” blends these two outstanding categories of Sci-Fi and Horror perfectly in one movie. It was based off a short story by George Langelaan and the film follows it beautifully. It had a low budget, small screenings and it was not rated, but that didn’t stop this movie from becoming a classic.

 

                                                                         

   It stars horror movie legend “Vincent Price” as Francois, who gets a call that his brother named Dr. André Delambre has been murdered by his own wife Helene. Francois has a hard time believing that she’s a psychotic murderer, so to prove her sanity, the wife tells everyone a dark and sad story about what drove her to kill her own husband. We learn Andre was a scientist that had created a teleportation device. It draws the audience in right away because it’s such a fascinating idea, you won’t need to us cars or plains again just step in a transporter and be beamed anywhere you need to be. It really makes you consider all the possibilities that can come from something as monumental as this. Although it does sound a little unsettling to have your molecules broken apart, sent through cyber-space and then reassembled some place else. There’s one part where he tests it on a cat but unfortunately it never reassembles, too bad. The doctor claims that her molecules were scattered across cyber space but we still hear the cat purring, so is it still alive and just trapped in some void or is it just invisible, it’s never fully explained. Despite that failed attempt, the transporter begins to work and he feels that it’s time to test it on himself, which only leads to bigger problems.    

                                                                     

    One day, his wife goes to his lab discovering that he’s wearing a hood. Turns out that when he tested the machine on himself, some of his DNA was mixed with a fly that had flown into the machine during transport. Now his wife has to capture the fly so they can send both of them back through the machine to reclaim their original DNA. It may not sound that scary or exciting but it is actually a pretty engaging film that dose get a little unsettling at times. This movie is completely devoid of clichés and it warns you about the dangers of science similar to “Jurassic Park” or “Frankenstein”. It’s not about a giant fly dominating the world or a half man half monster terrorizing people uncontrollably, it’s a very emotional, sophisticated and sad flick. The doctor is still himself and he speaks to his wife by typing letters and carving words on a chalk board. It’s the most emotional performance I’ve seen with no dialog and the actor named “David Hedison” just gives an amazing and powerful performance just by using his hand motions or body postures. The saddest part is when he tries to right “I love you” on the board but he can’t get himself to do it because the fly part of his brain is taking over. The fly makeup is also really cool, with a lot of moving parts and the actor dose a great job giving it an insect like movement. Then there’s that awesome effect where the fly see’s her screaming and it’s like several shots of the same image all in one frame. There’s also a lot of conflict regarding the transformation, he has only a few days before he loses his mind and the fly has a short life span. This really makes things exciting for the audience.

                                                                            

   For such an old film it does a great job holding your attention, from the fascinating topic of teleportation, to the mother and son trying to catch the fly, and not forgetting the awesome screen presence of Vincent Price. He really is a power house actor, he's so genuine and emotional that you can’t take your eyes of him. The laboratory is also really cool with a bunch of blinking equipment and flashy colors. The most famous and disturbing part of the film comes at the very end when they find the fly in a spiders web and he starts crying out “Help me! Help me!” It’s such a creepy and unsettling image and that scream just rings in your ears afterwards. Of cores this became the most memorable part of the film and has been spoofed several times, the first time I ever heard this was a short parody in Disney’s “The Emperor’s New Groove”. 

     After the success of this movie there was a sequel called “The Return of the Fly”, again staring Vincent Price. Then there was another one called “The Curse of the Fly”, but it was very distant from the first two. In 1986 there was a spectacular remake (again called “The Fly”) starring Jeff Goldblum. I highly recommend this one because it’s one of the best remakes I’ve ever seen, I’ll leave it at that. This remake actually had a sequel called “The Fly 2” and as far as sequels to remakes go, this wasn't that bad, worth giving a rent. There were all kinds of spoofs and tributes to follow, one example is one of R. L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” story’s, “Why I’m afraid of Bee’s”, in this story a boy accidently gets his mind switched with a bees mind, there body’s are untouched but the bees mind is now in the boy’s body. Now while the boys mind is trapped in the bees body, he needs to find a way to reverse the problem, it’s an ingenious way to put a twist on the story. Then there was a popular episode of “The Simpsons” that parodied every event in the film and it did an excellent job of it.     

           

    People now a days tend to find old films like this boring and unexciting but it’s still a wonderful piece of science fiction/horror cinema and very recommendable to people who love classics. To sum things up, if you would like to see a classic Sci-Fi/Horror film that (in my opinion) rises above a typical, cliché B monster movie, then check it out.   

                                                         I give “The Fly” 3 ½ stars.  

    Stay tuned for my third review, we’ll be exploring the unknown in the 1959 classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth”.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) (Movie Review)

                                                   

  For the past month I've been reviewing classic 1950's Sci-Fi classics, with topics ranging from Alien Invasions to Science Experiments gone bad, and now I’ll close things out with the last main category … “exploring the unknown”, and todays movie is in the 1959 classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. Based on the novel of the same title by legendary author/writer “Jules Verne”, this adaption stays true to the source material, while making it accessible to wide-range audiences of its time. It’s very much in the same spirit of another Jules Verne book adaption to film in 1954, Disney’s “20’000 Leagues Under the Sea”, as it also aimed to appeal to both kids and adults. While arguably dated by today’s standards of family entertainment, I find "Journey to the Center of the Earth" very refreshing, as it’s so different from the mainstream commercial entertainment of today, and for me, it represents a simple time that will never come again. With that said, how much of this film holds up with genuine quality, or is it simply comfort food … lets dig in and find out.     

  On this adventure, we follow a professor named Sir Oliver, who's played very well by James Mason, the same talent who played Captain Nemo in the previously mentioned 1954 picture “20’000 Leagues Under the Sea” … although, his Professor Oliver portrayal is far more optimistic by comparison. Anyway, he receives a rock fragment from one of his best students named Alec, which seems to have mysteriously traveled from one end of the world to the other. 

Further tests on the fragment reveals a man-made object inside, with an engraving from a traveler who made it the center of the earth, and died before he reached the surface. Professor Oliver soon reveals he’s obsessed with discovering things that are unknown to man, and what could be more fascinating than an underground cavern leading to the other side of the globe. Thus, he elects to go on this expedition himself, along with his student Alec, and a lady named Carla, whose late husband had previously dared the journey to the Earth’s center. As their underground travel ensues, our heroes find themselves racing against a rivel scientist determined to beat them to the grand discovery. Along the way they discover many wonders, and battle various elements, including monsters lurking in the deep caverns below.  

  The characters are all familiar archetypes, but likable enough to root for, and the cast deliver committed performances. As stated above, James Mason is an engaging lead, and naturally slips into the role of an excited scientist eager to unearth something new. Pat Boone makes for a decent lead behind James Mason as the young student Alec, and Arlene Dahl is charismatic as our leading lady Carla. Peter Ronson also provides some levity as a Russian accomplice named Hans, who brought his pet duck along for the ride. A lovely young Diane Baker is also a welcomed presence as the Professors niece, who provides the emotional concern while our hero’s travel. Rounding-up the main cast is Thayer David as the wicked Count Saknussemm, who’s a stock cliché villain, but played with so much commitment and restrained menace that he steals every scene he’s in.   

  The great composer Bernard Herrmann, who previously gave us a chilling score in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, gives us another terrific music theme in this film. From the opening credits, I'm instantly hooked by his score, which provides a sense of excitement for whatever mysterious and excitement await us. I will admit that it’s a slow burning first half, with the charm of the actors carrying me through, but I’m not really hooked until about the midway point. While it’s all necessary build-up, I do wish it had tightened things up a little faster in the first act. Still, the payoff develops gradually, and it’s quite fun when keeping a humble perspective. Once the underground caverns take on a more fantastical appearance, the film really comes alive.

   Some of the highlights along the way include a room full of diamonds, a figurative mushroom Kingdom, the ruins of Atlantes, and at the center of it all … a giant, subterrain ocean. While not exactly a spectacle, there’s still a comforting sense of wonder and joy present in the design of these locations and imagery. 

Today’s notion of digital effects and imaginative, fast-moving escapist fun certainly have their strengths, appeals, and are arguably superior … but for me, there’s a special magic that comes from these older pictures like “The Wizard of Oz” or “Forbidden Planet”, and seeing all these extraordinary hand-crafted settings, with all the attention to detail in the environment, the props, the colors, map-painted backdrops and it all seems to take on a personality of its own. I still love my big, modern blockbusters, and their dazzling effects … but I’ll always carry a special fondness for these older pictures, and their dated, yet groundbreaking effects for their time.   

  While the film’s greatest strength is its sense of wonder and imagination, the adventure elements are only so-so, but still not devoid of appeal. Plenty of exciting obstacles challenge our caravan along their journey, including a boulder that goes chasing after them, getting trapped in a cave that’s slowly filling-up with water, a volcano that’s threatening to erupt, a team member getting lost in salt mines, and the cherry on top are the giant monsters lurking about, which are hungry for humans. 

While these creatures are supposed to be dinosaurs, their clearly just big lizards with prosthetics, which is basic, but still kind of fun. There's one ambitious shot for the time, framed from the inside of a lizard's moth, which is kind of striking. Similar lizard stand-ins for Dinosaurs would be seen again in the following 1960 picture “The Lost World”, which looked even sillier by comparison. 

 The comedy on display is also an acquired taste, as it’s goofy but not always funny. A scene with the characters playing a long game of Morse Code with the duck sets the stage for what kind of hummer we’re in for. Even after the movie builds to a genuinely thrilling climax, the momentum fizzles out on a cringe joke involving a group of Nuns spotting a naked man in a tree. As stated above, the film was aimed at a wide range audience that both kids and adults can enjoy, and the hummer on display was unmistakably a product of the time.

   Like many early 50’s Sci-Fi pictures, “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has been remade and rebooted several times, with the 2008 picture starring Brendan Fraser probably being the best known. While a little more fast moving and fun, I still prefer the original classic by a mile. While I wouldn’t call 1959’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” one of the all-time great Sci-Fi classics … it’s still undeniably an appealing vintage offering of early Science Fiction Cinima. I first saw it at just the right young age, and it’s always been a simple comfort-food picture into my adulthood. I’ll admit, I can easily see kids, or contemporary viewers being bored, put-off or just not interested in this picture, but I say it’s worth giving a chance. If you have any love for old-school effects, or early Sci-Fi, then I’d say this journey is well worth experiencing.

Thanks for reading my review of the 1959 Sci-Fi picture “Journey to the Center of the Earth” … and continue to enjoy the movies you Love! 

One of the most important movies ever made that not enough people acknowledge

Before I reveal what this film is, I want to explain what I mean I by important. If I ever post the list of my top 20 favorite movies, you’ll probably notice that they're all entertainment films, movies that you can watch on repeated viewings and there only purpose is to entertain. Now while they' re all B movies that I  definitely enjoy more than others I can still admit that they're not that  important. Now films like “Seabiscuit”, “Pay it Forward”, “Joan of Arc”, “Men of Honor” and “Iron Jawed Angels” aren’t all that fun to watch but they’re true masterpieces of film with great morals and very inspirational stories that are far greater than any of my favorite films. This is how you separate an important film from a favorite film. So while I say this film is very important and must be seen by all, it’s still not one of my favorite movies. So what is this film, well here it is, one of the most important movies ever made that not enough people acknowledge is “The Passion of the Christ”.

                                                                      

     This is one of the most tragic, emotional and powerful movies ever made. But unfortunately a lot of people want to avoid it. Both audiences and critics alike have complained that this film has no message and that it’s nothing but seeing Christ get cruelly tortured for no real reason. Well it’s not an easy film to watch and I do think some of the torture went on longer than it needed to. But the movie isn’t about the torture, it’s about the sacrifice. This isn’t like those stupid torture films like “Hostel” or “Captivity”, those are just sick films for sick people with sick interests. The primary purpose of this film is to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice and how he willingly put himself through all of this to save us from our sins. It’s all stated in the title “Passion of the Christ”, “through his sorrowful passion he gave his life for us”. It’s the perfect movie (actually the only movie) to watch on “Good Friday”, the time to reflect on this event. One of the biggest strengths of the Christian faith is to “honor thy sacrifice”, and it’s so much easier to respect it if we get a glimpse of what he went through. Director “Mel Gipson” dose an amazing job telling us the tragic story and combining it with the shear epic scope of its biblical size, there are a lot of massive elements in this film and the most powerful moment of all is when Gods tear drop falls from the sky, hits the ground and starts an earthquake.

      

       The cast is perfect, properly portraying Jesus is no simple task but “James Caviezel” dose an excellent job and “Maia Morgenstern” is outstanding as Marry, she represents her so well that you actually forget it’s an actress. I also liked “Hristo Shopov” as “Pontius Pilate”, a small part of you almost feels sorry for him because he’s really being forced to do something that’s against his better judgment and you can see how much it’s hurting him both mentally and physically to sentence Christ to death. As for this film not featuring a legitimate moral or message, the movie actually contains several. The film forces you to pay attention to each scene, because there are all kinds of powerful metaphors and morals given to you throughout the cores of the film. Here’s one example, when Christ is carrying the cross up the mountain he has a flash back to when he was teaching a group of people to pray for loved ones but to also pray for your enemies just as much and latter when he’s being crucified, he prays for God to forgive the people who are doing this to him, that’s the greatest act of kindness to come from a person.

    

        Like I said, this is a powerful film that dose a great job getting you to reflect on the event and is one that definitely deserves more attention then what it’s gotten. Now I’ve heard that people have actually died of heart attacks while watching this movie, and if you’re someone who can’t stomach what this film contains then you probably shouldn’t see it. However, if you think you can handle it, then absolutely try to watch this at least once on “Good Friday”. It’ll help you fully appreciate his sacrifice and to reflect on this time of the year and for that, I give “The Passion of the Christ” nothing less than 5 stars.      

  

  So have a reflective “Good Friday” and a “Happy Easter” everyone! 

      

Opinionated look at Don Bluth’s animated film’s (Updated)

    I just posted a list of my top 12 favorite Disney movies, now it’s time to look at another big part of my child hood, the Don Bluth animated movies. Just the name Don Bluth is like being injected with a needle of nostalgia. He made some of the greatest (and worst) animated children’s films of all time. So I decided to look over all 13 of his films and voice my own opinion on them. I won’t include any of the Disney movies he directed (with the exception of of "The Small One") or the video games he worked with.

                                             The Small One (1978)    

 My personal score is 8/10

When you have a combination of Don Bluth, Disney and Christmas, you know you’re in for a real treat. It’s a heartwarming tail a boy finding a new home for his best friend, a pet donkey. That premise may sound a little too simplistic but from beginning to end, the films can hold a viewers attention quiet well, thanks to it's drama, characters and an especially touching ending. It’s just one of the strongest feel good Christmas specials I ever seen and despite being a twenty minuet picture, it packs some great quality material. 

                                Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979)

 My personal score is 5/10

This is another one of Don Bluth's Half-hour long movies, but unlike "The Small One", this doesn't offer as much. The characters are decent enough and there’s plenty of quality drama mixed with some cheerful moments, but it’s also a story that Don Bluth dose over and over again, involving a small boy separated from his family and hoping to be reunited with them. Basically, this is the pore kids version of "An American Tail".  

                                      The Secret of NIMH (1982)

 My personal score is 10/10

Despite being a film about talking mice, "The Secret of NIMH" really treats audiences like adults. The hero isn't the stereo type you'd expect, instead she’s a frightened mother who has to brave her way through dangerous obstacles in an effort to save the life of her dying son, and personally, she's one of my favorite leading characters ever featured in an animated movie. The settings are dark and uninviting, which puts the kids in her place, making you feel the emotion and fear she is, but her bravery is also felt and helps the audience to stick with her and face the danger. It’s also a sophisticated, three way battle between the evolution of science, nature and the unknown. The result is a beautiful and complex story filled with magic, wonder, a stunning score composed by Jerry Gold Smith and some truly wonderful hand drawn.

                                         An American Tail (1986)

 My personal score is 7/10

Stories involving a character separated from his family are common with Don Bluth's movies, and this is the film that perfected this premise. While many concepts in the film are depressing and tragic, there's still plenty of joy that can be found in the characters, animation and musical scenes. For all the dark and frightening encounters our little hero faces, the film ultimately builds to an especially upbeat ending. It's a warmly nostalgic film that brings me back to my youth, and it even has a good squeal to boot.    

                                     The Land Before Time (1988)

 My personal score is 9/10

When a group of young dinosaurs are separated from their herd, they have to work together to trek across dangerous grounds and battle monstrous predators to find the land that time forgot. I've always looked at this film as "Bambi", but with Dinosaurs, so this ties into my childhood more then the former, as I've always had a nostalgic connection to Dinosaurs. Despite the cutesy designs of the characters, this remains a reasonably mature film, with intense moments, and some legitimate drama. The musical score always brings a tear to my eye, there’s a lot of exciting battles with the T-Rex, the animation is splendid and the ending is one of the strongest, feel good moments from any kid’s film. Overall, "The Land Before Time" walks a perfect balance between it's appeal to little kids, while also treating the audience at large with a mature and beautiful story. 

                                      All Dogs go to Heaven (1989)

 My personal score is 7/10

Don Bluth has always made his animated films darker and more tragic than Disney, but this was like a sick joke. The subject material in this family film are pretty intense, with subjects like depictions of death, violence, drinking, smoking, gambling, demons and Hell. Our lead hero is a pore role model for kids, but it's for the sake of a good story. To be fare there are a lot of really good things in this film. The animation is great as always, there's some quality morals, deep human drama, a good character story of how this terrible character became a better person in the end and the ending once again is sure to leave you terry eyed, hey real men cry during movies, even animated ones. If you can get past all the cruel moments, harsh tones, cynical subjects and demonic scenes, you may find that "All Dogs go to Heaven" is actually a pretty good film.

                                            Rock-A-Doodle (1991)

 My personal score is 6/10

In this film, a group of animal's go on an adventure to rescue an Elvis Presley like rooster from a big city before an evil owl silences his singing for good. What can be said about this movie, it’s loud, silly, over the top, and in all honestly, I have a very big nostalgic spot for it. Oh, it really isn't a good movie at all, but I just can't bring myself to say I don't like it. The voice acting can get annoying but the characters are still likable, Phil Harris is great as always and the grand duke of owls is one of the coolest animated villains I've ever seen. For all it's annoyances and lack of real quality, the film is still beautifully animated, with some especially colorful and detailed backgrounds, it's fast-paced, the music is catchy and it still makes me feel young, in a good way. This may not be a great movie, but I'm not going to bash it either. 

                                                 Thumbelina (1994)

 My personal score is 1/10

When a little lady is kidnapped by generic bad guys, a young fairy prince has to go and save her, they fall in love, sing songs and if you've seen all that before, you should probably just skip this movie all together. Everything about this film is just so darn generic, no surprises, no ambition, no magic, the characters are average, the music is dull, the animation isn't all that captivating and it all comes off as boring and forgettable.     

                                    A Troll in Central Park (1994)

 My personal score is 0/10

Take this comment as a public service announcement, never show this movie to your kids, they deserve better. The film has nothing that even resembles a story, basically, two kids find a troll and they play around for an hour and a half. There’s nothing entertaining or magical about it, the characters are annoying and it may even make you stupider as you watch it. It’s just painful to site through and what’s worse is that a great director like Don Bluth led this project.

                               The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)

 My personal score is 4/10

When a penguin finds a shinny pebble, he goes on a long journey to give it to the love of his life before an evil Tim Curry penguin before he claims her for himself. I suppose it’s not a completely terrible kids film, the music is okay and the animation is charming enough, but the story is standard, the characters are average and it’s overshadowed by far superior kids films.

                                                 Anastasia (1997)

 My personal score is 9/10

When a Russian Princess loses her identity, it's up to a sneaky con man to set her on the right path. That may sound like a very simplistic premise but in truth, this film offers everything I love to see in animated movies. The characters are a lot of fun, the lead couple have great chemistry, the voice cast is very talented, the villain is especially entertaining, the songs are great and the animation is just beautiful. While the films take on Russian history is questionable, the film still succeeds with it's classic music and memorable cast. 

                                Bartok The Magnificent (1999) 

 My personal score is 2/10

So, the least interesting character from "Anastasia" gets his own animated adventure, in other words, it's a safe film to skip. The animation is standard, the story is boring, the music is forgettable and it makes me wonder, of all the sequels and spin-offs from Don Bluth's films, why was this the only one he was involved in? 

                                              Titan A.E. (2000)

 My personal score is 10/10

This is personally my favorite Don Bluth movie and one of my all time favorite animated films. The stakes are huger than anything I’ve ever seen in a children's film, to put it bluntly, earth is destroyed, the human race is becoming extinct and a small group of people are on a mission to find a ship that will give the humans a new home. The characters are great and feel more mature than what most kid films offer. Plus, it’s just a thrilling journey through outer-space. I'm just a sucker for Sci-Fi adventures and this films got it all, it's fast paced, action packed has some good plot twists, a rock'in good soundtrack and some of the most mind blowing animation I’ve ever seen in a traditionally animated movie.

                                                                   The End