Picked this DVD out a bargain bin. Just watched it with my four year old who liked it so much she immediately watched it again.

[video]http://youtu.be/DWOFLtsDvbw[/video]

Aardman animation so lots of jokes for the grown ups.
Features a Flight of the Conchords song and a Brian Blessed cameo. 😀

Recommended.

Oh and we also did some practical kitchen experiments with vinegar and baking soda (for reasons that will become obvious if you watch it). 😉

Awesome film. Time for Ham Night.

the books are some of the funniest things I have ever read….

Kip Jr loves it too, and I don’t mind watching it over and over as well. Avoid Arthur and the Invisibles like the plague though…it’s rubbish!

And someone in The Guardian review’s comments called it a “sexist atrocity” and said “I worry for the future generations, and will look to these film producers as the guilty.”

So they clearly did something right 😀

GrahamS – Member
And someone in The Guardian review’s comments called it a “sexist atrocity” and said “I worry for the future generations, and will look to these film producers as the guilty.”

So they clearly did something right
Eh? Where?

Here is another gem from Aardman Productions, adapted by Gideon Defoe from his children’s book. It is effortlessly and unassumingly funny – and terrifically smart. Some people think you can improve children’s minds by playing them Mozart. I think you could treble the IQ of any child, or indeed adult, by putting them in front of an Aardman product like this. Hugh Grant provides the voice for the Pirate Captain, a rather hopeless cutlass-wielder whose dearest wish is to win the Pirate of the Year award: Grant’s self-deprecating self-doubt is a return to the glory days of Four Weddings. When his crew accidentally boards the Beagle and captures Charles Darwin, our hero is pitched into an adventure involving Queen Victoria herself. The film is bursting with fun and packed with gags, often of the incidental, visual kind. When the DVD comes out, judicious use of the pause button will allow us to savour them fully. An Easter holiday treat.

Sorry, my poor English skills. I meant in the Comments section, not the reviewer’s comments.

This one in particular:

OliviaJessica – 05 April 2012 12:32am

Raise your child’s IQ?!

The Pirates! Certificate U. Expect a fun filled family friendly comedy, delivered with a sexist atrocity.
Certificate U endorses that this film is appropriate for anyone over the age of 4. Not only does this include highly impressionable young children, but also highly impressionable men. The women in this film come in three categories:

1. The sexual object – the cooing ladies luring in ‘the Pirate Captain’ One of whom actually turns out to be Jane Austen, with breasts alluring him and him dribbling over them. This is hardly an example of intelligent respectability. The constant referral to women by the male characters solely as sexual objects especially Charles Darwin who “never got to second base” and has “never had a girlfriend”. The only female character in the ‘pirate of the year competition’ is a booty swinging, scantily glad girl, great role model.

2. The manipulator – Queen Victoria uses the attraction she holds over Charles Darwin to her own advantage. What lesson is this teaching young girls? What lesson is this teaching young boys about the dangers of women? This is not a healthy portrayal to a young audience. Queen Victoria is similarly recognised by men with regard to her appearance and even refers to herself as a “just a weak woman” on more than one occasion.

3. The ‘man’ – The only woman to seem happy and ‘part of the gang’ has to by covering up as a man. The only one who manages to be accepted and ‘fit in’. Her femininity is never officially recognised, even at the climax where all the loose ends are tied up – this subtly suggests she must remain in denial of her gender to remain included.

This is not even mentioning the portrayal of the scientists as ‘nerds’ who don’t have girlfriends and lead boring lifestyles. Exactly the image you want your child to have. I worry for the future generations, and will look to these film producers as the guilty.

To top it all off, the term ‘pile of crap’ is used. Congratulations Aardman, the cherry on top of an inappropriate and highly offensive cake.

I seem to be the only one to take time in properly reviewing a film, don’t under estimate the consequences of sexist undertones.

😯

I notice she doesn’t seem to object to the “categories” that the men in the film come in : hapless bumbling fool, loyal but stupid and greedy backstabbing rival etc.

Nicely balanced argument, there! Feminism 1 – 0 society.

Internet ranting aside, we all really enjoyed the film! Watched it at the cinema when it came out and everything! Living life in the fast lane!

Marvellous film. I now understand the Victorian obsession with developing the airship. 8)

Loved the film, saw it with my 12 yr old daughter at the pictures when it came out, both of us crying with laughter. I will keep an eye out for the dvd.