[Jonwo]

Aardman hasn't done a film in 5 years but they have two coming up in the next year or so. The first one is Arthur Christmas which is a CGI animated film but the one I'm really looking forward is The Pirates! which is done in claymation and looks brilliant. There are two trailers, one is the US/International trailer and the other is the UK trailer, I prefer the latter as it has a song!

UK Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWOFL...el_video_title

US Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=manIoYC9fTU

[JCR]

Saw it yesterday, I loved it. It was laugh out loud funny several times and the animation was really good too.

[PhoenixRises]

I think I will be watching this tomorrow or on the weekend, I wasn't planning on seeing it but there hasn't been many good releases of late so our cinema seems to be not showing much, so I thought I would give it a go along with Wrath (although I am not expecting much on that front either)

[NickClapper]

Saw this the other night and despite feeling way too old, I was pretty impressed. Aardman are always good value and Hugh Grant is great fun in this little movie.

If you'd like to read my extended thoughts on the film, click here!

[Jonwo]

Just came back from The Pirates! and it was another corker from Aardman, it has a lot of laughs and so many quotable lines, I did love how poor Charles Darwin and scientists got the mick taken out of them and Queen Victoria proved to be a effective villian. I hope there's a sequel although I imagine due to the time to take to make these films, it won't be for a while.

Favourite Line:

Spoiler

Pirate Captain (when seeing Charles Darwin's house): 'You don't get many women round do you Charles?'
Pirate with Gout: 'I hear the people who live alone are serial killers!'

Scientist: 'Makes Electricity look like a pile of crap!'

[PhoenixRises]

Well I watched it today, it was a good film, it had a few laugh out loud moments and it had a nice flow to the story. I couldn't place the voice of the Pirate Captain, so was really surprised when it turned out to be Hugh Grant, I recognised everyone else

The only downside to this was the woman with her kid sat in the cinema with me, she went to complain that the sound was too loud - the staff then turned down the size - so for the rest of the film I had to listen to her child wittering on all the way through it. That is why it should be loud so we don't have to listen to the kids who seem to be forced in the cinema (as they don't seem to want to watch the films)

[Jonwo]

Originally Posted by PhoenixRises

Well I watched it today, it was a good film, it had a few laugh out loud moments and it had a nice flow to the story. I couldn't place the voice of the Pirate Captain, so was really surprised when it turned out to be Hugh Grant, I recognised everyone else

There are some bits where you can tell it's Hugh Grant but he does such a good job and it's unusual that he's not above the title.

I loved The Albino Pirate, he had some of the best lines.

[bbclassics]

I'm going to see this film with my little brother this week, I can't wait! I love Aardman

[Noiseboy]

Terrific. Actually I think this is the best Aardman film to date. They've never managed to capture the perfection of The Wrong Trousers and expand it to movie size, but this came awfully close. Lots of laugh out loud moments, smart without being too clever-clever, great voice performances - hope it does really well. It totally deserves to.

[MissDexter]

Avast me 'arties!!!!

Well I must've seen a different film to everyone else.
Very few laughs, dull characters, lacking in atmosphere.

Couldn't wait for it to end.

[wodder18]

Originally Posted by MissDexter

Avast me 'arties!!!!

Well I must've seen a different film to everyone else.
Very few laughs, dull characters, lacking in atmosphere.

Couldn't wait for it to end.

You're not alone, I didn't like it, I'm a fan of all Aardman's other work though.

[thomasDrooney]

I loved it. Didn't match up to the likes of the Wallace and Gromit shorts but wasn't far off..

[Josh K]

To be honest I thought it was meh! Some quotable lines, but it seemed to drag a bit for 88 minutes

[pocatello]

Hugh grant is a media censoring nitwit so no way I'm watching that.

[Noiseboy]

Originally Posted by pocatello

Hugh grant is a media censoring nitwit so no way I'm watching that.

God, I love the internet. How else to come into contact with opinions like that?

[frisky python]

Took two 7yr olds and a 5yr old to see it. The 7yr olds were OK but my 5yr old son got a bit bored until half way through when the action ramped up a bit.
The bits I saw (with young kids you can't really sit back and enjoy the film) I found quite funny, laughed out loud a few times. Thought Hugh Grant was great.

[brangdon]

I found it more amusing than funny. The 3D worked better than usual; not as over-done as, eg, Avatar.

[drwhoru]

funny, but way to long for the story. could've and should've been 25 minutes less.

[planetnokia]

Superb animation, mildly funny but far too long. I was bored rigid throughout

[Noiseboy]

I'm staggered at the reactions here. BO hasn't been great either. I saw it with a 10 year old and 12 year old - not a hint of boredom from either, frequently laughing out loud. And DEFINITELY not too long.

The characters were stronger, for me, than any of Aardman's other movies (Wallace and Gromit excepted - I had other issues with that film!), and like most great comedy, much of the humour is character-based. Honestly think this is their strongest film, I can't really explain some of the negative reaction. Critics loved it too.

Makes me kinda depressed about the implications for the state of the nation, frankly.

[MissDexter]

Originally Posted by Noiseboy

I'm staggered at the reactions here. BO hasn't been great either. I saw it with a 10 year old and 12 year old - not a hint of boredom from either, frequently laughing out loud. And DEFINITELY not too long.

The characters were stronger, for me, than any of Aardman's other movies (Wallace and Gromit excepted - I had other issues with that film!), and like most great comedy, much of the humour is character-based. Honestly think this is their strongest film, I can't really explain some of the negative reaction. Critics loved it too.

Makes me kinda depressed about the implications for the state of the nation, frankly.

So, let me get this right - the fact that some people (me included) found Pirates slow and unfunny has implications for the state of the nation.

I presume this is slightly tongue-in-cheek.

[Noiseboy]

Originally Posted by MissDexter

So, let me get this right - the fact that some people (me included) found Pirates slow and unfunny has implications for the state of the nation.

I presume this is slightly tongue-in-cheek.

No, I'm genuinely baffled. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a critical rating of 92% - into Pixar territory, but a user rating of 71%. I certainly don't always agree with the critics, but this seemed (ironically) like a no brianer - a cracking script (Gromit), great characters, tons of sight gags and puns. But clearly my kids and the critics are out of step... I don't see how it was slow, I don't see how it was unfunny. I was worried it might be a bit clever-clever, but it wasn't that either - it was smart, but never smug or requiring a ton of knowledge to get the gags. It was just Aardman at the top of their game - superior craftsmanship, writing, voice talents, filmmaking. The arc of the story was spot on. It was all spot on.

Why have much of the public fallen out of love with them? I'd be so depressed if I were Peter Lord and the other filmmakers. They did absolutely everything right in my book, and yet - seemingly - many people were just bored. Yup, I find that really depressing. This is so, so much better than the vast majority of CG animations (Pixar excepted) and yet people aren't interested. Genuinely sad.

[Sarlacc]

^^ What he said ^^

[MissDexter]

The animation and the skill on show is second to none, but it just didn't hit the spot for me.

Whereas Chicken Run is great imo.

[planetnokia]

Originally Posted by Noiseboy

No, I'm genuinely baffled. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a critical rating of 92% - into Pixar territory, but a user rating of 71%. I certainly don't always agree with the critics, but this seemed (ironically) like a no brianer - a cracking script (Gromit), great characters, tons of sight gags and puns. But clearly my kids and the critics are out of step... I don't see how it was slow, I don't see how it was unfunny. I was worried it might be a bit clever-clever, but it wasn't that either - it was smart, but never smug or requiring a ton of knowledge to get the gags. It was just Aardman at the top of their game - superior craftsmanship, writing, voice talents, filmmaking. The arc of the story was spot on. It was all spot on.

Why have much of the public fallen out of love with them? I'd be so depressed if I were Peter Lord and the other filmmakers. They did absolutely everything right in my book, and yet - seemingly - many people were just bored. Yup, I find that really depressing. This is so, so much better than the vast majority of CG animations (Pixar excepted) and yet people aren't interested. Genuinely sad.

I think that it should have been released on TV instead of the cinema. I would have broken it into six 15 minute episodes shown on consecutive nights.

I did not consider it to be slow...rather the opposite. There wasn't time to appreciate the skill of the animators. I so wanted to enjoy it but couldn't. Something was missing!