Watership Down

[daveb75]

(So, here I am, writing about Watership Down. My goodness, who'd've thought it, eh? )

A little heads-up to people: it looks as though the film is to be rereleased in cinemas sometime next year. I only know about a UK release so far - Germany (where WD is apparently huge) is probably the next best bet, with Canada next. No idea about the US - the fact that "Bright Eyes" did so badly there won't help it. I don't know any more than this, yet - if and when I find out, I'll come back and edit this post.

For those who've read the book but not seen the film (which is quite unusual - the other way round is more common), it's really not a bad stab at all at a very hard work to adapt. Some things are moved around a bit, and one or two changes do grate somewhat, but the story still works and - vitally - the cast treat their roles with absolute conviction, which makes all the difference. Particular praise has to go to John Hurt's Hazel, which is magnificently judged - Richard Adams thought he was excellent, and so do I. Provided you understand that you're not going to see either a "fluffy bunnies movie" or a word-for-word version of the novel, it'll be well worth seeing on the big screen.

Cheers,
David.

 

[Deerskin]

I love this film, it's probably one of the best book adaptations I have seen. I remember seeing it as a child; I hated the part where the rabbits are geting crushed as the tunnels are filled in, and the horrifying image of the red fields - surprisingly effective for animation.

 

[Ell]

I guess I'm in the minority about this film, but I didn't like it much.

I recently finished reading the book (which I thought was excellent), so promptly went and got the DVD to watch. I was terribly disappointed! The water colour backdrops were very lovely, but the pacing of the story left a lot to be desired. I almost fell asleep.

It didn't seem to have nearly the urgency of the book and I found the characters, other than Hazel, Bigwig and Woundwort, to be rather lacklustre. I didn't really care about the rabbits in the movie, whereas the book made me want to jump and cheer at every obstacle they overcame.

Maybe I shouldn't have watched the film so soon after reading the book.