Genres

Visitors Review

Lynda Spence 2012-05-24 22:19:15

Hits the buttons for all ages

This production hits the buttons at all levels. For the younger kidswho will enjoy it as they would any new animation; the tweenagers whowill enjoy the story and the action; and the teens & twenty somethingsfor all the many references to movies over the last 10 - 15 years. Andfor the rest of us, the vague sense of nostalgia - don't rush outbefore the end of the credits, just for that famous phrase you arewaiting to hear! Robbie is excellent as Dougal, with Baker, McKellenand Broadbent not far behind. The other "famous" artists were out of myrealisation until I read the credits and thought - "so it was". It'snot what you watched just before the BBC news, but still worth theticket, with or without a pre-schooler in tow.

Sagewhoknowsheronions 2012-05-24 03:17:51

Charming, for children of all ages!

I was part of the 40% adult demographic that was was addicted to theEric Thompson version, that went out on TV in the UK years ago, and Ihave a DVD of the Nigel Planer ones too. I was therefore lookingforward to this for another fix, especially Tom Baker's Zeebad and BillNighy's Dylan. It is visually delightful, the main part of the story where the Zebadeerules over a wintry ice kingdom is even prettier than the summeryscenes at the beginning and end! The characters are more animated andbetter able to sustain your attention for the length of a feature filmthough I was surprised initially at the changes, not having seen anytrailers beforehand. The plot is fairly simple but they always were,and so beautifully depicted that I can't see it matters. The loveinterest is as unexpected as it is sweet! The dialogue is as funny asyou would expect from previous versions and the characters are as wealways knew them. I loved Dylan's sudden concern when it was pointedout that grass was under threat! I had forgotten how I had to get used to Nigel Planer's voice afterbeing used to Eric Thompson's and this happened again. Once I hadadjusted though it was delightful. The songs are nothing special andnot as catchy or charming as the original tune but they fitted in justfine. I LOVED Ermintrude's opera singing! I had forgotten thatattribute of her character! Probably one I will enjoy more on dark winter nights when I needcheering up, accompanied by a mug of hot chocolate, sugar almonds andmarrons glacés rather than popcorn, much more than than in warmweather. A film you can happily watch with children too. Just keep diehards and cynics at bay!The DVD is excellent with a lot of extras and a an interactive twolevel quiz for youngsters when they have seen the film a few times andwant a bit more involvement. All in all, I recommend this to children of all ages.

xshadowhawkx 2012-05-22 23:07:32

Nice!

My friends dragged me to see this with them for a joke. The cinema wasfull of kids and I was really embarrassed! But I definitely don'tregret seeing it.The plot was, unfortunately, the weakest part of the movie. It was justso Saturday-morning-cartoonish (complete with evil twins, magicdiamonds and walking skeletons) that anyone in the cinema over the ageof nine is unlikely to be interested. But anyone under that age will bedelighted from start to finish.It's the cast and music that really did it for me. Robbie Williams,despite his complete lack of experience as an actor, pulls off his roleas Dougal with natural skill and emotion, which is pleasantlysurprising. Jim Broadbent and Joanna Lumley seem to have great fun intheir roles (as Brian the snail and Ermintrude the cow respectively)and Bill Nighy, well, lets just say there's no one else in the worldwho could've done Dylan the drug-addled bunny like he did ("no way man!I'm in, like, a higher state of unconsciousness..."). Kylie Minogue didwell enough, but she only has about three lines. Tom Baker and Sir IanMackellen also seemed to enjoy giving very camp performances as thearch rival jack-in-the-boxes Zebedee and Zeebad (though Sir Ian soundeda little too much like Gandalf). The music, which seems to includevocal performances from Kylie and Robbie, is fantastic and well aboveaverage for a kids film today. If you've seen the film, I think you'llagree the soundtrack is a must-buy! But still, it's not all great. Theplot is full of gaping holes, and while it mostly works with a veryyoung audience in mind, the jokes aimed at adults are notlaugh-out-loud funny, they just raise a knowing smile. There are somerather strange movie references too. It features references to PulpFiction, LoTR, and The Matrix (courtesy of some unexpected kung-fufighting on Dylan's part) and I'll be damned if I saw a Dragon Ball Zreference in there! (Watch the scene where Zebad fights Zebedee for thefirst time - then again maybe it was just cheesy...) I never saw enoughof the original 5 minute episodes to be a fan, but really, it seemsvery different from the original, so old-time fans may be disappointed,or maybe they'll appreciate seeing their old favourites in some newaction-packed situations. It's up to them.Yes, it falls flat in MANY places, but it's also got a childish,endearing charm that may make you wish you were seven again.

experim626 2012-05-22 10:30:30

They don't know who they made this film for !

This seemed to me like the perfect example of marketing gone wrong !It's a pre-school property, but they want to get as many viewers ashumanely possible, so they age it up to try and get 9 year olds, andadd in jokes tailored for adults et al. But without the scriptwritingabilities of a Pixar or even a Dreamworks. Result : my 3 yr-old jumpedout of his seat into my lap from the intro - too fast, too loud. Ididn't even laugh politely at the jokes BUT I saw the original frenchversion, there is yet some hope that it might have gained in thetranslation - that would be a first ! And visually, too bright toocolorful, ends up being downright ugly !I attended the Paris launch event, and after the viewing, few and farbetween were those who went to congratulate the team. Kindaheartbreaking actually as they had put together a really nice event.

matt adcock 2012-05-13 10:26:47

Time for bed for a new generation

All is quiet, it's teatime and before you know it Zebedee says thoseimmortal words: "Time for bed children." But 'Boing'… Suddenly, as ifby magic… Kylie Minogue is telling you that they're "coming to get ya"– a talking sugar addict dog, an opera singing cow, a stoned bunny anda wacky wizard with a spring instead of legs, man I think I've beeneating too much sugar myself… It's true though – just when you thoughtit was safe to take a trip back 30 years to a place of innocence andfun – here comes the super slick all singing, all dancing, all actionCGI Magic Roundabout. Yes, some brave filmmakers have taken on thedaunting task of updating the British teatime favourite (originallyfrom France) which was once the 2nd most popular show on the BBC –behind the news!! How on earth could this work? And who invited thelovely Kylie to not only voice Florence but also knock out a catchyMagic Roundabout single for the soundtrack? A genius team of DaveBorthwic, Jean Duval and Frank Passingham actually – and they've pulledoff a minor miracle here. Aided by the superb voice cast of Tom Baker(Zeebadee), Jim Broadbent (Brian the snail), Lee Evans (Train), JoannaLumley (Ermintrude), Ian McKellen (Zebedee), Bill Nighy (Dylan) andRobbie Williams (Dougal). And there's even a plot of sorts: the MagicRoundabout lies in ruin after an evil ice sorcerer Zebadee has escapedto freeze the world. Step up some unlikely heroes, Brian, Ermintrude,Dylan and Dougal to challenge the chill by recovering three magicdiamonds. Okay, so the plot might as well have been from a computergame and it is all a bit far removed from the genteel original but it'sjust mad to see Dougal and crew trekking over fiery volcanoes, jungletemples and snow-capped mountains. Plus McKellen manages to instill thespirit of Gandalf into Zebedee and even gets a heroic 'fall from a highpass' scene after battling his icy nemesis Zeebadee. This leads toDylan almost quoting Pulp Fiction with "Zeb's dead babe, Zeb's dead";this and some of the original's trippy substance references will keepadults of a certain age smiling. What can I say? I was amazed at howmuch I enjoyed this slight bit of nonsense, maybe it was sheernostalgia but then my son Luke loved it too which I wasn't expecting.

henry-162 2012-05-12 19:13:32

Check your memories at the door.

When I was a kid (in the 1960s) the Magic Roundabout was a charming5-minute puppet show. Zebedee came on at the end and said "Boing! Timefor Bed". And we did. This 2005 movie is a bombastic CGI spectacle thatcontains many of the same characters (sort of), a weak script, averagejokes, and a plot that manages to be predictable as well as incoherent.It is a measure of how tired this is that the character of Zebedee isvery much like that of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films -- andthat he's played by the selfsame Ian McKellen. The starry cast doeswhat it can with a weak and cliché'd script -- Joanna Lumley as poshcow Ermintrude, Jim Broadbent as the charmingly fogeyish snail, Brian,with top honors going to Bill Nighy as stoner Dylan the Rabbit (usingwhat sounded like out-takes from his role in Love Actually.) KylieMinogue (there as a draw for the tweenagers) is passable as Florence,and Robbie Williams (ditto) is a surprisingly good Dougal the dog.OK, it wasn't helped by the fact that the family behind us kicked ourchairs and rustled their candies all the way through, but I give it1/10. So why mark it as 5/10? Well, my kids (aged 6 and 4) loved it --but they'd never seen the original. Are children these days so inuredto spectacle that they can't watch a film without extreme fantasylandscapes, fx and explosions? Then again, how do you expand a 5-minutekids' programme into a feature? It has been done before, of course --'Dougal and the Blue Cat' was pretty weird, too. But this doesn'treally make the grade.

laci-5 2012-05-04 13:39:38

The Great Adventure for Children

Let's get clear with two things first: 1. I have not seen anything ofthe original show so my childhood could not be ruined by this movie. 2.This is a movie for children and children only. Parents may not enjoythe jokes and the plot as much as the children accompanying them, but Isay at least we see a movie that is not too "grown-up" for thosesome-year-old. And with the lively characters they can emotionallyconnect to, surprisingly nice CGI graphics and enjoyable music it'ssure they will not be bored for a second; rather be fully entertainedby the big adventure story that playfully steals scenes from otheradventure movies - but from the greatest ones, namely Indiana Jones andThe Lord of the Rings (okay, and from other movies too). If I was akid, I would have loved this movie. As an adult I see it's a great andspectacular children's movie.

Rachel Day 2012-05-03 23:10:36

A brilliant film

I love everything about this film, it's soo funny and although it's a kids movie adults can appreciate the humour in it too. I would really advise anyone who saw the programmes to watch this movie, with an operatic cow and a brave snail you'll be able to really appreciate this truly great movie, it's one of my favourites.

Gordon-11 2012-04-30 02:01:41

Pleasant animation

This film is about a group of friends trying to stop an evil Zeebadfrom turning the world into ice.This film is for the very young kids to enjoy. The animation is quitepleasant. The soft colours, simple & clean animation, and colourfulscenes make it quite visually appealing to watch. Dialogs are easy tounderstand, and there are quite a few lines that got me laughing. Myfavourite line is "This guy is seriously messing with my karma", whichis something I totally did not expect in a kids' film! The music isquite good, the ending theme song is a Kylie Minogue song that I havenever heard of! Putting the intended young audience into context, Ithink this film deserves more than the current rating on IMDb.

welsh_werecat 2012-04-29 20:40:35

Great stuff

Though I'm not too happy with Robbie Williams as Dougal, I find therest of the voice cast wonderfully suited. Bill Nighy IS Dylan therabbit. Yes, this is indeed a far stretch from the original, but theold show had very short story lines, this required a longer plot. Therewas I, a 21 year old woman, watching this movie on my own...and I lovedit! There were even the old subtle drug hints that made the old showsuch a cult icon (such as Dylan having issues about the grass nevergrowing). They could be seen either as innocent (Dylan is a rabbit,rabbits eat grass) or, to those used to the old show, a hint at oncewas (Dylan being considered constantly stoned). So, yeah, I enjoyed it,a nice, simple movie to look back on old times on.

Mia_Moose 2012-04-26 20:04:37

If you can push the original out of your mind, you'll love it.

On entering the cinema, I did have my doubts. I'd watched the originalMagic Roundabout from a very young age, and one false step could haveruined both versions for good.However, the filmmakers managed to make a perfect balance of "old" and"new" to bring out a whole new film, featuring characters that remindedme of the originals, but didn't try to take their places.The storyline was fun, bearing in mind that it was aimed at youngchildren, and included the token jokes (aimed at both children andadults), teary moments and interesting yet predictable twists. Thegraphics were excellent, and most of the older viewers were "Ahhh"ingthroughout at the sight of the big, sweet eyes. Looking around, I couldtell that the young 'uns were enjoying it too, and that's what reallymatters in a film like this.Overall, a brilliant transition from a simple, sweet television show toan enormous, exciting movie.

andy_the_brave 2012-04-26 06:37:43

Oops. Another triumph for marketing over substance

I thought about giving everyone the long version but, to be frank, TheMagic Roundabout is not worth it.This has a formulaic plot that involves the characters performing somevery unlikely moves.Instantly forgettable.It is a sad day when one has to say that the only reason this doesn'tget a '1' is that the voice ensemble is, generally, very very good.After all, a film is all about visual entertainment - something sadlylacking here.But the class of the voices doesn't make up for the film's seriousshortcomings in plot and sheer audience involvement. It is very, veryhard to care whether the goodies win or not, indeed, as Tom Bakermagnificently voices the villain, it is pretty easy to start rootingfor the rotter's.Children seem to like it, but in that fleeting 'so what' fashion thatis concomitant with a throwaway society.The production ethics of this film seems to have followed the formulaof the Star Wars prequels - don't worry about the film, the name willsell the t-shirts.

guy-drakewilkes 2012-04-26 00:28:41

Fun if your 6, not enough if your 35!

Having grown up with The Magic Roundabout I couldn't wait to see thisnew version but I was rather disappointed unfortunately. The vocal talents are good with Tom Baker excelling as ZeBadDee andRobbie Williams as Dougal has a future in this sort of thing but therewasn't enough to keep this 35 year old fixed on the screen as say Skrekcould. Sir Ian McKellen gave a great version of Gandalf as Zeberdee andLee Evens was good as the voice of the train. Kylie Minogue seemed tohave a small part as Florence and was hardly noticeable, Jim Broadbentprobably had the best lines as Brian and Bill Nighy as Dylan justseemed to be the same character as in Love Actually! Joanna Lumley wasgood as Ermintrude, the opera singing cow.OK, so I have been kind with the vocal talents but where this magic ofthe original was put into 5 minute episodes this falls down with tryingto stretch that 5 minutes worth of fun into 80 minutes.It is for the children and my 6 year old loved it...

ed_two_o_nine 2012-04-25 18:26:50

Round and Round it goes. Please Make it Stop

Well I came in with few expectations hoping to be surprised but in theend unfortunately I was not. What we essentially have here is a CGmovie that I suspect did not have great CG when it was released in 2005and now after I have watched it in 2008 looks even worse, and to makematters worse we have a great British voice cast wasted by a mainlyterrible script holding together a weak story line.The premise of themove is that new character Zeebad  is accidentally released from theimprisonment that Zebedee has had him trapped in and preceded to tryand take his revenge by turning the world into permanent winter (wasthat not done by CS Lewis), So Dougal and his pals have to try and stophim.The movie as is often the case for family orientated animatedmovies where essentially you have a movie containing three or four setpieces linked together by a pot and in this case a very thin one. Allbases are tried to be covered as is the way of these films by trying tothrow in jokes for the adults too, unfortunately this is not donesuccessfully and I can only remember laughing once at one of Dillon'slines.The movie will run out as you expect and if like me you will findyourself wondering why the cast and characters where wasted. I will notbe watching this again.

Ozzys_Babe 2012-04-24 19:56:57

I'm gonna see it for the THIRD time!

When I went to see this movie (the first time) I wasn't expecting to beall that impressed. I'm a wee bit too young to remember a lot of theMagic Roundabout from the seventies, but I did recall it was a bitlacking in the plot department. That hasn't really changed much.However, the jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, the characters lovable(especially Dylan...See if you can keep a straight face when hecatapults Brian into the air), and the soundtrack can get you jiving inyour seat should the mood take you. (Note Dylan and Ermintrude'sversion of "You Really Got Me"...Class!) Okay, so maybe it's not the old stop-motion cartoon of yesteryear, andmaybe the cast has had a makeover and a bunch of big names taking overtheir voices, but there is a lot to enjoy about this film. If you gowith young kids, be ready for the funny looks when you're giggling awayat the jokes that go right over their heads.

Tob147258 2012-04-23 23:28:37

if this is what they're like when not on drugs, then it's the ultimate narcotics advert

SPOILERS In the 1970s, the parents of future main screen Englishactress Emma Thompson, discovered a little French cartoon which theybrought across the English Channel. Called 'The Magic Roundabout' thisanimation was a favourite of many people over the years it was shown.Entertaining and light on plot with audiences constantly joking aboutcharacters being on drugs, it became a mainstay of British children'sentertainment. As a result of it's success, if you skip forward to 2005and low and behold, we finally have a film version. Featuring majorBritish actors plus two famous singers, this modern day version is aCGI extravaganza which suffers from one fatal flaw. It's awful. Weakand unimaginative, it contains multiple film, music and drug referenceswithout ever actually making us laugh. It could be argued that childrenwill love it, and that's entirely possible, but there are just so manylines involved which children wouldn't understand that questions haveto be raised about the chosen market audience. All in all, 'The MagicRoundabout' is a turgid affair.Dougal the Dog (Robbie Williams) is attempting to steal candy when heaccidentally releases the evil ZeeBad (Tom Baker). Turning the world toice, ZeeBad requires three crystals to turn the Sun to ice. With Dougaland friends also after the crystals however, this soon becomes a raceagainst time.It's hard to know where to start when chastising this abomination ofmodern cinema. Whether you choose to condemn the mediocre unimaginativevocal acting (only Bill Nighy as Dylan deserves any sort of acceptablefor his role here), the terrible jokes which are hideously unfunny, orthe horrendously bad soundtrack (rescued only briefly by 'Mr Blue Sky')there is enough to be able to criticise for hours.The film is just so twee too. In cartoons aimed at young children, youdo have a degree of this sweet natured garbage, but 'The MagicRoundabout' just surpasses all acceptable levels. It's cheap, it'snasty and it really is so sickening that you find yourself wanting tovomit for the full eighty minutes.Drug references are consistent too. In the original series, thecharacters were not actually meant to be on drugs. These constantspeculations came afterwards and were forever denied by the Englishwriters. In the film though, it's like the writers know about thisgossip and intentionally put in references. Whether it's Dylan wantingto save the grass or Dougal's sugar addiction, the presence of drugsnever seem particularly far away. These links, whilst in a way slightlyimpressive in a tribute sort of way, are far too overplayed and wouldpass over anyones head who had no idea about the original series.Ironically despite the constant references, nobody ever really showssigns of being high (except the forever stoned Dylan of course). Whilstthis is obviously a good thing since this is a children's film, it doesserve as an interesting dilemma. In the 1970s when the characters wereall drugged up, they were fun to watch, now after the Millennium,they've cleaned up their act and are remarkably boring. If anything,this film serves as the ultimate advert for drug usage. You certainlywish they'd take something to make them more entertaining.Broadcast in the 1970s, the original 'Magic Roundabout' was acornerstone of children's entertainment. It stands there proudly tothis day. Updated to the 2000s though, the entire premise fails to holdwater in the modern world. Awkward and unfunny, badly written and badlyacted, this film is really not worth your effort. A horrible waste ofeighty minutes, it should never have been made and it is an abominationof the genre of animation. Avoid.

judegeuk 2012-04-20 01:36:28

Disappointing for nostalgia fans

This is very much aimed at younger children - I think those up to about7 would enjoy it, but my 10-year-old was really too old. Quite a fewadults went along on their own to the showing I attended, probablyhoping for nostalgia - however this was in short supply, as the CGIversions of the characters look nothing like the much-loved TV show.The film also doesn't have the wit and charm of the original. AlthoughSir Ian McKellen is wonderful as Zebedee and Tom Baker as his eviltwin, to me it all seemed very thin. Also, with Robbie Williams andKylie Minogue among the voice cast (Dougal and Florence respectively),it's rather a shame that the only person who does much singing isJoanna Lumley, warbling horribly as Ermintrude! Years ago there was another Magic Roundabout film, Dougal versus theBlue Cat, which, as I remember, was much funnier than this offering.

bob the moo 2012-04-19 07:46:33

Very little in common with the original but will be OK for under-sevens (but no-one else)

When Dougal tries to steal a cartload of sweets, he accidentallycrashes into the roundabout, releasing the evil ZeBadDee and scatteringthree diamonds across the land. Free after thousands of years, ZeBadDeeplans to not only free the area but capture the diamonds and use themto freeze the sun. With Florence and her friends trapped in the frozenroundabout, Dougal, Brian, Ermintrude and Dylan set out to uncover thediamonds first and return things to normal.First of all let me get rid of the "what have they done to theoriginal" argument because, in my mind, this film bares so little incommon with the original 5 minute TV show that it is unfair to reallymake this complaint. The characters may be the same in name and invisual presence but the film is totally different to the originalseries in terms of plot structure, intelligence, humour, animation andtone. So to me it is like a whole new film without any baggage and Itried to view it as such. As a colourful computer animated children'sfilm it just about works and it did please the children that were inthe audience who were mostly younger than seven. The plot is nothingmore than a series of colourful adventures but they are noisy enoughand funny enough to please this target audience even if it is hardlythat good.Adults who do manage to get over the fact that this is trampling ontheir memories will find little to keep them amused. The adult jokesare spread pretty thin and really aren't that clever – drug referencesare lazy, poorly delivered and just smack of a script trying to pushthe easy buttons – worse is that they are not funny. The filmreferences include The Matrix Revolutions, Lord Of The Rings, PulpFiction and a few others but they are only amusing, not funny. A fewlines here and there did make me laugh but they were the exception notthe norm. The animation was of course going to be different from theoriginal but I had hoped it would avoid the soulless sort of stuff thatis kicked out for the Saturday morning schedules and in fairness itdoes look quite good but I would have preferred a bit more personalitybehind those computer-generated eyes than I could see. The voice talentis mixed and is sadly better in the smaller roles than in the mainones.Robbie Williams is so different from the character of Dougal that Iexpected that I was sorely disappointed. He is just a cheeky chappyvoice and he had no emotional range at all. Minogue is the same butluckily is in a very small role. Nighy is OK but I couldn't be sure ifhe sounded lazy because he had chose to be or if it was just because hewasn't putting much effort into it. Broadbent is better and suits Brianthe snail and Lumley is pretty good as Ermintrude. Minor roles are mustbetter (maybe for that very reason); Ray Winstone is expressive as Sam,Baker is great fun (and has plenty of good lines) as ZeBadDee, LeeEvans is funnier than he has been for a few years and McKellen wasalways going to be good with his voice.Overall this is an OK film for kids under seven because it is noisy, abit creepy, funny and colourful. However the jokes for adults mostlyfall flat and I only laughed a couple of times. Those looking tocompare it with the original series should just avoid it totallybecause there is no connection other than the name and vague appearanceof the characters; as a version of the original it is a terribletravesty, but what did you expect? As a film in itself it is still notthat good but will do for young children.

howard-dickins 2012-04-15 08:14:38

New for old?

OK, I loved it, and yet I was (slightly) disappointed too. Tom Bakervoicing the part of the villainous Zeebad was absolute genius. Hiscrazed, maniacal lines were wonderful. And Dylan was brilliant too -Bill Nighy was just the right choice. But I missed Dougal's cynical,world-weary quips from the original Magic Roundabout. And Ermintrudewas disappointing too.The animation is certainly very good, although again I missed theoriginal 'cardboard cutout' feel of the garden backdrops. (It was verygood, but just not like the original!) I'm glad they kept the train thesame! The 70's soundtrack was very welcome. It's not entirely obviouswhat music would work well, but I think they got that right.Generally, the original show's short format is not an easy task toexpand upon, and I think they did pretty well really.

Michael Jacobs 2012-04-14 22:18:39

Not the Magic Roundabout at all!

Aside from the title and the names of the characters, this movie hasnothing really in common with the charming TV series which I grew upwith, and which my two boys (aged 5 and 3) love on video. Thecharacters have all been "re-imagined" as is the current trend, andre-voiced, as one might expect in the absence of Eric Thompson.But why does the Magic Roundabout have to change so much? Dougal andthe Blue Cat was still a "real" MR movie, complete with all the charm(and, it just so happens, the voice of my 2nd cousin, FenellaFielding). It was as long as the new movie, but it still looked andfelt like the real McCoy! The white abstract background of the "MagicGarden" is gone, replaced by pretty but not very original CGI whichactually took away more than it added. I don't know why they had tointroduce the Magic Village, which makes it obviously French - the oldgarden was no particular place except in the imagination. And as forthe new use the Magic Roundabout is put to at the start of the movie,why oh why oh why? It was just a magic roundabout, why did it need tobe anything else??? I think that Mr. Rusty must be turning in his grave(storage box/display case?) at the very thought of it.My greatest complaint is that the whole thing has lost the wonderfulinnocence of the original. Yes, it contained much political satire andsocial comment, but there was no need to refer to smutty or sexualinnuendo. Why did Ermintrude's concert have to include a song with thelyric "girl, you really got me going..." which is obvious as to what itmeans. There are plenty of other rock songs they could have used.The best part of the movie was Tom Baker's characterisation of Zeebad,who is the best over-the-top villain of recent years. He has all thebest lines, and his sense of irony is wonderful.I bought the special edition DVD (British, zone 2) and loved theextras, but I wouldn't have bought it at all if I'd seen the moviefirst. If I could have given a negative number of stars, I would have!