Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

 
Home | Archive | About | Cinematical.com | Lists | News | Links | E-mail me | Sign up for my weekly newsletter!  
 



2009 Oscars
District 13: Ultimatum **1/2
From Paris with Love **1/2
Edge of Darkness **
Fish Tank ***1/2
Legion **
When in Rome *
More
 




Adam
The Bourne Identity [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The Bourne Supremacy [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The Bourne Ultimatum [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The House of the Devil
Import Export
More Than a Game
Ong-Bak 2
Zombieland
The 25 Best DVDs of 2009
More
 

Film Features

2009: The Year's Ten Best Films
The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
My 2003 Interview with Brittany Murphy
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2009
Richard Linklater
John Woo
Jared and Jerusha Hess
Essential Halloween Movies
Michael Stuhlbarg
Jane Campion
Bobcat Goldthwait
Hugh Dancy
Kathryn Bigelow
Willem Dafoe: The 2009 CineVegas Interview
David Carradine
A 2002 Interview with Edward Asner
Vinessa Shaw
Henry Selick
2008: The Year's Ten Best Films
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2008
The 25 Best DVDs of 2008
Bruce Campbell
Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei
Josh Brolin
A Tribute to Paul Newman
Steve Coogan on Hamlet 2
Manny Farber (1917-2008)
Bernie Mac (1957-2008)
Emily Mortimer
Brad Anderson
Don Cheadle at CineVegas
Abel Ferrara at CineVegas
Tina Sinatra
My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut
Alfonso Cuarón Interview
Guillermo Del Toro Interview
Christmas Movies
Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
The Top 100
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
Agee on Film, by James Agee
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
Negative Space, by Manny Farber
5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
More Books
 



Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Advanced Search

 
© 1997-2009 Combustible Celluloid



Babe (1995)

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 4)

That'll Do

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Babe on DVD

Babe is the story of a little pig (voiced by E. G. Daily), won by Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell) at a state fair to be raised for Christmas dinner. By the time Christmas comes around, Hoggett and his wife (Magda Szubanski) decide to keep him to exhibit him in the fair. Before the fair comes along, Babe expresses an interest, and a talent, in sheepdogging, a talent that the farmer (called "the Boss" by the animals) picks up on. When his prize sheepdog is put out of commission, he enters Babe in a sheepdog contest.

The animals in the movie were done by Jim Henson's creature workshop, and it's hard to tell if they are puppets, real animals, or special effects (they're actually made up of all three). But it doesn't matter, because, like in Star Wars, the special effects take a back seat to the story. This is a phenomenon that Hollywood has forgotten completely about.

The story, by George Miller (of Mad Max fame) is loaded with little jokes. The farmer doesn't ever fit through a doorway. The housecat calls the farmer's wife "boss" and the farmer the "boss' husband." Three field mice sing little songs during the movie's various chapter breaks. Besides the humor, there are great thrills and drama that folks of any age will care about.

Does Babe have any really annoying, goody-goody little kids (a la Free Willy)? Well, the kids in this movie are pretty vile, but in a funny way. And they're only on screen a merciful two or three minutes.

Any jaded audience member will notice about five times the movie might have made a wrong turn, but doesn't. Directed by Chris Noonan, it's a great dancer that keeps pulling back from the edge of disaster. It has been so long since I've genuinely cared about movie characters in a lighthearted story like this that I nearly wept with joy. Babe deserves a proud place next to movies like: The Wizard of Oz, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Muppet Movie, E.T., and The Witches.

Starring: James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski, voices of E.G. Daly, Hugo Weaving, Miriam Margolyes, Christine Cavanaugh
Written by: George Miller, Chris Noonan, based on the novel "The Sheep-Pig" by Dick King-Smith
Directed by: Chris Noonan
MPAA Rating: G
Running Time: 89 minutes
Date: August 31, 1995

Home
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
DVDs
Features
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
The Rating System
Email Me
All scribblings © 1997-2010 Combustible Celluloid