Customer Reviews
Outstanding adaptation of the book that unfortunately skims over the last half - By: Greshon, 16 Aug 2008 
I have loved this film since I first saw it as a child. The sense of menace & foreboding which hangs over it is truly disturbing, as are the flashes of savage violence. The 'Bright Eyes' moment about half way through turns the supposed death of Hazel into one of the most moving moments in cinema history, & the 'Black Rabbit of Inle' ending is hardly less moving.
Bigwig, Hazel & Fiver are brought to life with a huge amount of warmth & 'humanity'. Before reading the book I always thought the gull Keehar rather embarrassing, with his strange Middle-East-sounding accent, but after reading the book I think he actuallly is supposed to sound like this & I have come to reallly like the characterisation.
I always found the ending confusing, & after reading the book I understand why. 'The film makes some conflations here & there (particularly regarding the character of Holly) but this probably serves to speed up the narrative without any detrimental effects. The film does, however, unfortunately skim over the second half of the book rather quickly with the result that some aspects of the plot are confusing, resulting in loss of interest. It would be great if we found out that this was due to some studio-imposed cutting & that an extended version of the film exists with about 20 minutes of extra footage in the last half. It would serve to make this very good film into an excellent one.
How did this film get a universal rating, by the way, with its sustained sense of menace, frequent blood & violence, & the words "Piss off" hissed at a rabbit by a black-headed gull? Hardly a good example for human children, rabbit kittens or gull chicks (or whoever else may be watching).
A Masterpiece - By: Ibraar Hussain, 31 Jul 2008 
Watership Down is one of those films which you'll never forget!
I first watched it when I was a youngster back in '81 or something, & have watched it several times since (and read the book).
The plot, story line, directing, & especiallly the voice overs (John Hurt again - what an Actor & what a voice!) is superb.
Others have reviewed this film fully, but to those who criticize it, they misunderstand it, & have completely bypassed the ethical & moral lesson, & the sheer innocence & wonder which this film is presenting in so beautiful a form.
Rosen has done extremely well with this, & with the "Plague Dogs" (Another of Adams' books/films I recommend) It's delightful in parts, dark in others, & to be moved by it is something to be proud of, as it taps into the purity of the heart! It portrays an innocence which is sadly lacking in these days of despair, kids are prone to watching rubbish rather than masterpieces like this.
Buy it & treasure it & when the kids are old enough, let them watch it & love it too!
Delightful
Nightemares! - By: E. Leadley, 22 Jul 2008 I watched it on VHS when i was little & its given me night mares ever since! i love the film to pieces but it still scares the hell out of me so i cant bring myself to watch it!
Rabbits on the Run BUT........ - By: Geoffrey McCarthy, 21 Jun 2008 Another classic film from many people's childhood including my own. One of those films where the old VHS tape was worn out it was watched so much.
The animation is good but the pre-credit sequence is amazing, very stylish indeed. There are also lots of voices here that you go...."Who is that? Now I know who that is but I can't remember his name". It's funny in places too especiallly the scenes featuring the seagull. "Biiig Vaater!" Great music too featuring the great song sung by Art Garfunkel "Bright Eyes". A very touching film indeed.
However Disney this is not......
It's strange how you look at a film like this differently when you become an adult. Even though my personal memories of this film are very good I cannot help but share some of the concerns that have been raised by one of the other reviewers here. The subject matter here is certainly not of a childish nature. There are some quite adult themes displayed & a few images of death which could be viewed as harrowing bearing in mind this is a cartoon. The themes include almost dictatorships, blood & mild torture. I still think this is a good film & it possibly can teach children that the world is not always a friendly place. On the basis of this then, a note to parents: if you have not seen this film before I would recommend you watch it first without your children & then decide whether or not you feel it suitable for your children. As a result I too find it quite shocking that this film is classified as Universal.
A very good film though but not without it's weaknesses.
Completely pounds these 3D animated films kids are spoon-fed nowadays - By: WhipperSnapper, 20 Jun 2008 As you probably know, this is based off a novel of the same name, which was a bestseller & crossed age boundaries, being enjoyable by children & adults alike.
As a book to film translation it is reasonable, but if you put the novel comparisons to the film aside the film has a lot of magic & life of its own. The voice acting is great, with John Hurt at the helm how could it go wrong?
The storyline is cut down but pretty much unchanged from the novel, it's a very simple story but it's the atmosphere throughut the film that carries it. The comic relief from the gull Kehaar could have been a lot worse, & it's needed for the younger audience, & hell some of it still raises a smile from me.
However, as people have said this deserves a PG rating, if you want to get this for a child under 10 I'd advise you watch it yourself first. It's very different in style & tone to say, a Disney film, even if the DVD cover doesn't suggest this.
Story - ****
Soundtrack - *****
Animation - ***** (look at the detail put into those backgrounds)
Rewatchable value - ***** (I'll watch this every year or so, & I'm 20! When I was younger I wore the tape down)
And it's barely £4 on here new, if you want your kid to have something different and, without wanting to sound pretentious, meaningful than another hollow CGI farting animal/car/surfing penguin extravaganza, then get this.
