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Babe: Pig In The City - DVD
Writer: George Miller, Judy Morris and Mark LamprellDirector: George Miller Producer: George Miller Studio: Universal Studios Characters: Mrs. Hoggett - Magda Szubanski Farmer Hoggett - James Cromwell Landlady - Mary Stein Fugly Floom - Mickey Rooney Babe - E.G. Daily Ferdinand - Danny Mann Zootie - Glenne Headly Bob - Steven Wright Thelonius - James Cosmo Review: Babe was a wonderful movie. A great children's story, which had a real heart to it and which was fun not only for children, but adults as well. It was the classic case of a kid's movie that adults could enjoy. Babe: Pig In The City is not so great. I rented this film on DVD the other day, and my wife and I sat down and watched it. It held a little bit of the charm of Babe, but the film didn't seem to know what it wanted to be. It tried to cater to adults with some adult humour (including a poodle who gets around if you know what I mean), and to kids with some decidedly slapstick humour. It never hits either target audience. It seems that this film is enjoying a bit of a critical revival now that it's available at home. Critics are swarming around, telling us how under appreciated this film is. Quite frankly, I think these critics should go back and watch the original Babe again. Pig In The City suffers from the following problems: 1. The production was troubled, and it shows. It's quite easy to spot where some scenes were cut (probably because they were overly traumatic) and others were edited because they ran out of time for the special effects. 2. The script is too dark for a kid's movie, too light for adults. There are several scenes where animals are shown in serious danger, and the whole film seems to tell people that "cities are bad, the country is good". Almost everyone in the city is self-serving and egotistical, and while this may be the case with some people, it's certainly not with the majority of people I know. 3. Clowns are scary enough when they're alive. 'nuf said. Having said that, the film does have its high points. The best part is definitely near the end, when George Miller has a little bit of fun with his past with a spoof on Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (Miller directed all three Mad Max movies). There are other moments like this which are genuinely funny, and a few touching moments, but they are overshadowed by the dark undertones of the script and the direction. As for the DVD, it's a typical Universal DVD. Looks great, sounds great, and provides both the 16x9 enhanced widescreen and 4:3 pan & scan editions on separate layers of the disc. The extras are sparse, including both Pig In The City trailers and a trailer for the original Babe, and some text production notes which are an interesting read, but of course make no note of the well-documented production troubles. I can understand why Universal ditched the special edition in this case, though. The fact of the matter is the film doesn't warrant it. I'm still hoping to see an SE of the original Babe though. All in all, if you haven't seen Babe, rent (or buy) that one instead. Sadly, the DVD release of Babe which is currently available is pan and scan only, but from what I've heard, we can expect a "real" DVD release in the near future. Babe will be an all-time children's classic. Babe: Pig In The City will be forgotten. Ken Pierce Dvdken@home.com Contributing Editor, www.dvdfuture.com |
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