Wall-E (Two-Disc and BD Live) [Blu-ray]

I have loved each Pixar film so far, and I bought this film without renting it or seeing it in theaters. That was a big mistake.

This movie is pretty to look at, but boring as hell. I can't see how any one, particularly children could sit through this film.

This film is not even the same ballpark as Finding Nemo or Toy Story or any of the other Pixar films for that matter.

There is barely any speaking and the movie is not even funny. Where is the entertainment value? I still get laughs out of all of the other Pixar films but not this one.
Like I said, it sure was pretty to look at, but overall the worst pixar movie yet.

Wall-E may just be Pixar's absolute best movie to date, although also by far most subtle. If you go looking for Shrek, or Looney Toones, or other hyper-active cartoons you probably won't get it. No dialogue for much of the first section, vast, bleached out landscapes, no story laid out in the first five minutes. All of what it makes it more difficult at first serves to make it that much better! And repeated viewings only make it more amazing and fun. But don't let anyone make you think it's not absoloutely FUN, and funny, because it's great from start to finish. I took my two-and-a-half year old son to it this last summer in the theater and he LOVED every minute, including the very creatively done end credits. Since then he has loved watching the Blu-ray DVD we got and gets the big messages (take care of the Earth, help each other, work together) and of course loves the sheer visual spectacle. He loves Wall-E and Eve and enjoys all of the funny things the story sets up for them. We also have the excellent sound track which we all enjoy- a great Peter Gabriel track plays in the credits and it's one of his better songs in recent years.

I'm not go to give a plot synopsis since Amazon does a good job of that already. As back ground, let me say first that I own all the Pixar movies, including the shorts, and most of the "making of" books, so you can safely say I am a big fan and educated viewer of their work. I also am a professional animator (not films but technical/educational work), but I love their films from the "kid inside" first, and the adult second. And that's what makes them so good- to paraphrase John Lasseter- "before and after all the sights, sounds and wonder of it all- do you care about the characters?" That's what makes them different than any other animation studio. They use very little irony or pop culture references, and often skip using big name actors to push their marketing (Wall-E has almost no big "stars" to drive it). They make stories of wonder that have characters (whether it's a fish, a one-eyed monster, a race car or a cowboy toy) that you truly love and care about. Wall-e is no different.

From the beginning you like this little guy who works tirelessly to clean up a mess his makers left behind, and by the end you love him for wanting more than anything to connect to others and find the love he longs for. Along the way he teaches both humans and other robots that sometimes you need to defy your programming and reach out beyond what is safe to really be alive. As the captain says in an argument with the controlling Auto (Otto) pilot: "I don't want to SURVIVE, I want LIVE!"

Visually, it's a tour de force whether on the Earth section or the space section. The environments, although somewhat fanciful and stylalized, are incredibly detailed and realistic. Every time I watch it more things come out and their is more to see in the story.

Personally, I have yet to watch it with anyone who has not liked this movie- grandparents, sitters, my wife, etc. As an adult, more of the larger implications will come through obviously. But the heart of the movie is simple: take care of beauty, reach out to others, what's of value can't be bought, only shared.

Let me 1st say the picture quality of the blu ray version is phenomenal and I would say the overall quality is the sharpest ever for an animated movie. I would look closely at certain shots like at the beginning with Wall E at Earth cleaning up b/c its far by the best looking garbage I have seen.

The 1st time I watched it with my three and a half year old and my twenty month old and they watched about the 1st thirty minutes and they were done never to look at it again. They simply did not care for this movie and I think they enjoyed the beginning b/c the music and whats going on plays together and Wall E has a certain silliness at the beginning. That is kind of where my three stars come from since my kids really didn't enjoy it that much and neither did I. I would say it was cute but not great. I would say rent it just to see it on blu ray and who knows maybe your kids will like it.

As I watched it I am pretty sure there are a few political themes in the movie as well as parts that I said "hey that might offend sensitive people" not me though b/c I really didn't care. That kind of stuff doesn't bother me but I found myself wondering why humans would create robots that would have emotional responses to each other than again I could be thinking to much since this is a kids movie.

I did like hearing the robots speak though and Wall E had that funny kind of stuff like you would see a kid do like put a bra on their face since they don't know what its for.The emotional response of the robots was conveyed pretty good simply by their eye work.

I guess this movie is good as long as you don't think about everything too much like me since it is a kids movie.

I meant to give this movie 3 stars and I went back to fix it from the 5 but I can't so thats my explanation.

My husband and I eagerly looked forward to receiving our pre-ordered copy of Wall-E from Amazon as the trailers had given us high expectations for another excellent and entertaining PIXAR product we could share with our grandchildren. Instead what we received was a computer animated forum for advancing today's political agendas! We wanted entertainment and state of the art animation for ourselves and our grandchildren, not hackneyed political whining and attempts at mind control and thought policing of the very young and impressionable people who will watch this movie.

If those of you considering buying this movie have grown steadily weary of Hollywood and the government attempting to dictate your value system through every possible venue you should definitely avoid this movie. If Disney is compelled to politicize their movies then the movies should be provided to the public at no cost as is the case with other political media.

Also, are we the only ones who recognized the plot to be interestingly close to that of the Movie "Silent Running" starring Bruce Dern? And how about the names of Bruce's little robot buddies, "Huey, Dewy and Louie" and that look a lot like Wall-E?

-Some Spoilers-
Ratatouille, Cars, Finding Nemo; movies that fans and critics enjoyed, but I found to be forced, awkward, even insulting. I took my 7 year old niece to see Wall-E expecting more of the same, and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Instead of bombarding the audience with noise, jokes, explosions, loony behavior, etc, we are treated to subtle (for Disney) behavior and emotion. The two protagonists technically can't even speak (though they manage a few words) so their thoughts are expressed through "body" language and "facial" expressions. Yes, very ironic for two machines, hence the quotes. The love story that develops between them was far more moving than the majority of movies, including live action movies. (The embarrassing excuse for a love story in Matthew Vaughn's "Stardust" for example) Other reviewers have tried to say that the message of this movie is an environmental one, I have to strongly disagree. When you see the movie you'll understand where they are coming from, but any "environmental" message is incidental at best, and not the goal of the movie.

In terms of the Blu Ray transfer Wall-E is very much worth owning, even if you pay a premium over the DVD. Both the video and audio are very good, but strangely I did not find them to be as good as most claim. The extras are a delight. There have been some strong words said about the difference between the two disc and three disc versions; just make sure you know which one you want and which one you are getting.