Wall-E

[audioqueso]

Ok, I don't get this movie. I mean... it seemed more like a politic message more than anything. It was entertaining... but just weird. They didn't talk in the movie. It was just a bunch of robot sounds.

PQ was mouth watering gorgeous, and the SQ was very impressive... but that's about it. I'm really not sure about this Pixar movie. It doesn't have a line to catch you by. It's just... keep watching... keep watching, you know. Kinda weird.

I can't recommend this as a buy. But it sure was impressive in the animation that Pixar did.

[Ovation]

Think of it as an homage to Buster Keaton silent classics (with a nod to 2001: A Space Odyssey)

[Chris D]

I thought it was good enough. On the level of "Cars", though, not "Toy Story 2".

[Ovation]

I actually prefer Cars to all Pixars except The Incredibles. But I'm a "car nut" from way back and even my father (not normally given to watching "kids movies") thoroughly enjoyed it (I inherited my "nuttiness" from him). So far, even the least (relatively) entertaining Pixar, though, beats 90% of films out there, IMO, so you can't go wrong with any of them.

[David Meek]

I enjoyed Wall-E. It doesn't quite measure up to The Incredibles which is my high-water mark for animated films. But, I put it right up there with the Toy Story(s), Cars, etc.

[ShadowZA]

Enjoyed it too. :T

[Gremal]

I loved it too. To me, Wall-E it seemed more like a cosmic love story than anything political. The idea that mankind eventually has to go into space and leave the earth behind is not political so much as sci fi, anyway. The amazing thing is that Pixar could make two animated Robots that didn't speak and didn't have faces seem more human than 90% of the actors in Hollywood. It's fantastic in every sense.

[mikeh240]

I'm excited to see Wall-E. I'm saving it for Christmas though when I'm with the family.

[Classe4me]

Ok, I don't get this movie. I mean... it seemed more like a politic message more than anything. It was entertaining... but just weird. They didn't talk in the movie. It was just a bunch of robot sounds.

PQ was mouth watering gorgeous, and the SQ was very impressive... but that's about it. I'm really not sure about this Pixar movie. It doesn't have a line to catch you by. It's just... keep watching... keep watching, you know. Kinda weird.

I can't recommend this as a buy. But it sure was impressive in the animation that Pixar did.

There is no doubt that one person's favorite movie is going to be another person's most loathed. I personally prefer to wait until movies are released on DVD or BR because I am spoiled to the sound quality of my system, my own popcorn, clean bathroom, pause button, etc.

I can't think of a movie in a very long time that I anxiously anticipated any more than Wall-E because of the immense appreciation I have for the cleverness and genius of the Pixar/Disney (I put Pixar first because they were standalone before joining forces with the mighty mouse and it's endless capital and marketing resources, not to mention brand equity, and almost guaranteed success with that set of ears). I will admit the very first time I watched it I was slightly let down.

I need to go on to say that I am a 46 year old that suffers from as bad a case of adult attention deficit disorder that you will ever encounter. I do however love music, movies, and things artistic and of their own intrinsic beauty. I am also borderline obsessive/compulsive and enjoy watching movies many, many times. Not in sequence but I might watch something and find the need or desire to watch it again in a matter of a couple of days. Sometimes it might be a week or two. Sometimes longer.

I found that with Wall-E it is going to take the average person off guard that expects a lot of dialogue that is laced with clever wit and innuendo. To me, this is the beauty of Wall-E, the fact that it delivers messages that aren't necessarily of words or speech, but very cleverly delivered with sights, sounds, movements, expressions, and other avenues that are totally unorthodox and unconventional. To me, the beauty of this movie is that you have to immerse yourself into their world and watch every move, pay attention to every sound, and gain more and more out of it each and every time you watch it. Believe me, that can be a difficult task for someone like me!

In my humble opinion, I think that the more you watch Wall-E, the more you will appreciate his adorable personality, mannerisms, emotions, and feelings that are coming from a cold, sort of beat up, a little bit rusty piece of machinery that can steal your heart.

I have probably watched it at least 15 times now and love it more and more each time I watch it. I always catch something that I didn't catch the times before when I watched it.

It also helped for me to go Wall-E crazy and obtain the huge three dimensional Wall-E display that talks and makes his adorable noises that he does in the movie when you walk up to him. It was the display that Best Buy used when they released the DVD and Blu-ray. He was in the front of the store to greet everyone that came in to pick up their copy. Of course I also had to have the Ultimate Wall-E remote controlled robot that has 10 motors and 4 microprocessors that allows you to program him to do just about anything. I had to also have the U-Command Wall-E that is the next level down and much smaller that the Ultimate Wall-E. If you aren't familiar with the Ultimate Wall-E then you can Google it and see some tapes of him in operation on YouTube.

If you keep watching him you are bound to fall in love with him and the movie. Of course maybe it's just me??

Hope you don't mind my commentary, just my very humble opinion.

Now we can anxiously await the debut of UP, the next Pixar release coming May 29th of 2009 I think.

Enjoy!

Tom

P.S. I did not like or even want to own the Incredibles in the beginning and now I have grown to be extremely fond of it and consider it to be one of my favorites. I love Cars and both Toy Story movies as well. I would say that my least favorite is a Bug's Life but it's not a bad movie. I also resisted Ratatouille and now think it's great and very ingenious. Finding Nemo is a classic that kids from 1 to 99 will love and you have to think Monsters Inc. is totally cool! I guess I keep waiting for them to make a bad movie and so far that hasn't happened. I keep raising my bar with expectations and since we are our own worst enemy I suppose it's inevitable that I will be in for a disappointment someday. But hey, maybe not!

[Brandon B]

I put Pixar first because they were standalone before joining forces with the mighty mouse and it's endless capital and marketing resources, not to mention brand equity, and almost guaranteed success with that set of ears). I will admit the very first time I watched it I was slightly let down.

2 things:

Pixar was joined with the $ and marketing force of Disney from their first feature on. When Disney "acquired" them almost 3 years ago, Jobs and Lasseter (and Catmull) very specifically negotiated that the Pixar culture and chain of command would remain untouched, and in fact, would be brought to bear on Disney's own animation group to attempt to revive its morale and success. We will hopefully see more evidence of this as time passes. They also insisted on reviving 2D animation, and were rather dismayed that the success of their 3D cgi had been used to justify its abandonment. My point, though, is that Pixar still operates very autonomously, so you should see no change in their product due to corporate interference, and it is still entirely appropriate to refer to their products as Pixar films.

2nd, I am also 46, and my initial reaction was the same, and I also have found my affection for the movie has grown with each viewing (although I am now only at 5). After watching he extra feature on their study of lenses and peculiarities of 70mm film production and how they integrated these elements into their animation, my appreciation for it increased even more.

[Ovation]

I watched this with my kids today and I enjoyed it even more the second time around (despite the sub-optimal viewing of a BD hooked up to an SD CRT via composite--long story). There are so many elements from the best of silent films in many scenes. It won't be long until this gets a proper screening in the "man-cave" (my wife has decided this term best describes where the HT gear is set up--not an original term but accurate).

[wkhanna]

The best of Charlie Chaplin merged with the best of high-tech CA while still maintaining the ‘soul’ of the characters. If it were in black&white, I might not even notice. My grandchildren and I watched it a few times over the holidays. This is the kind of stuff I want them to see.

IMHO, 5 ½ stars.

[Brandon B]

It also helped for me to go Wall-E crazy and obtain the huge three dimensional Wall-E display that talks and makes his adorable noises that he does in the movie when you walk up to him. It was the display that Best Buy used when they released the DVD and Blu-ray. He was in the front of the store to greet everyone that came in to pick up their copy. Of course I also had to have the Ultimate Wall-E remote controlled robot that has 10 motors and 4 microprocessors that allows you to program him to do just about anything. I had to also have the U-Command Wall-E that is the next level down and much smaller that the Ultimate Wall-E. If you aren't familiar with the Ultimate Wall-E then you can Google it and see some tapes of him in operation on YouTube.

Not quite the ultimate Wall°E. Our R&D group built a full size interactive version that makes appearances in the parks from time to time and helped during the promotional period of the movie. You can find a bunch of videos of him online:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As7UQtKX00c

He has cruised around our lunch patio at a couple of events, and he's really well done. His movements are not as high velocity as the character in the film exhibits sometimes, but for the more typical movements, he really captures the essence of the CGI one pretty effectively.

[Alaric]

The amazing thing is that Pixar could make two animated Robots that didn't speak and didn't have faces seem more human than 90% of the actors in Hollywood.

And they charge how much to see Angelina Jolie ?

[impala454]

Thing is, usually they have an actual actor stand in and operate with the animators in order to get such a great look/feel to the character. That's what they did with Gollum in LOTR. Andy Serkis did such a great job at this, they actually remodeled Gollum's facial features to be in line with his. It's scary how alike they look. Now obviously they didn't model WALL-E after a human, I still bet the acting began with a human.

[Isaac]

Great movie, I enjoyed how they portrayed the humans, reminds me that exercise is important and maybe I should not super size my value meal.

[Chris D]

Although there definitely was an agenda in this one, I don't think it detracted from the story all that much. Didn't mind too much.

[aud19]

I have to say I'm in the "meh" category on this one as well. It was certainly gorgeous to look at but I thought it was a bit preachy for what should have been a fun kids movie. I didn't dislike it it by any means but it was certainly no Incredibles/Finding Nemo/Toy Story IMO.

[greenjudas]

I watched this with the kids as well yesterday and to give some indication as to what I thought of it.............I fell asleep half way through for 15 mins or so!

Yes,it may take repeated viewings to grow on you but I really don't think I or the kids could do it again.

Did anyone think that the LFE was lacking or was there something I missed during my nanny nap? :Z

Jeff

[littlesaint]

I know I'm in the minority here, but for me this is the best modern Disney film I've ever seen, and yes I've seen them all. If you refuse to watch this as a "kids animated film" and watch it as a film, it really is a great piece of work.

[NoDestiny]

I loved this film really. I think too many people took it as trying to push going green and the lack of actual dialog. The lack of dialog really makes for all the sounds and names said from the robots to be expressed of more importance and emotion, IMO. Its amazing that through tone, expressions, and situation how the repeated use of the names (Walle, Eeeevuh) could say so much.

I was disappointed in the audio as I went in with high expectations, but the video quality was definitely top notch!

[David Meek]

Did anyone think that the LFE was lacking or was there something I missed during my nanny nap?

It wasn't an LFE-fest by any stretch, but it had moments. I definitely got a chest thump when Eva was shooting things , and during the probe ship's landing and take-off.

[Gremal]

I loved this film really. I think too many people took it as trying to push going green and the lack of actual dialog. The lack of dialog really makes for all the sounds and names said from the robots to be expressed of more importance and emotion, IMO. Its amazing that through tone, expressions, and situation how the repeated use of the names (Walle, Eeeevuh) could say so much.

Exactly. I saw the film as a cosmic love story in which the two main characters were far more adept than most hollywood actors, despite lacking dialog or real faces. There was no preaching about environmental issues whatsoever. As with all sci fi, a possible future was presented, a set of circumstances was explored, there was a climax and an outcome. No preachy messaging whatsoever.

I was disappointed in the audio as I went in with high expectations, but the video quality was definitely top notch!

On my system, the audio is nothing short of phenomenal. From the smallest blip of the robots and tick of the cockroach to the score to the deep bass rumbling of the spaceships and crispness of the dialog, I would give Wall*E highest marks for audio.