Coraline

Neil Gaiman's book, an attempt at doing a good old fashioned scary story for children, comes to film via the medium of stop motion animation. There are a few changes to the book to bring it up to film length and make it work as a movie, but they were done with the writers blessing. Which he says on the making of documentary.Coraline is a teenage girl whose parents have just moved to an old house in a remote area. Both of them are totally preoccupied with their work, which leaves her plenty of time to roam around the house and the area outside looking for something to do. In the process she meets a variety of eccentric individuals who are now her neighbours. And finds a passage into another world. A world not unliks the one she knows. But everyone and everything there seems to be much nicer and much more fun.If you can overlook the fact that they have buttons for eyes.But when Coraline discovers that her mother in this new world has plans for her, the old phrase about being careful what you want because you just might get it becomes very true indeed.As mentioned it tries to be a traditional scary story, and in that respect it succeeds superbly. Because there very frightening monsters for coraline to face and a real sense of jeopardy as she does so. All told by a master storyteller who succeeds in creating a character you can root for and situations that will keep you gripped. And in addition this is a work from a talented director who succeeds at bringing it to the screen, making it work as a movie, and giving you a visual treat to go with it.There's also a very talented voice cast who all bring their characters to life.Quality storytelling and superb animation make this a treat for those of all ages who love a good story. Although parents be aware that this is a pg rather than u certificate as there are scary moments that whilst some children may love others, especially the very young, may find a bit too much.The dvd has language tracks in english hungarian and dutchAnd subtitles in english arabic danish dutch hungarian icelandic norwegian and swedishThere's a commentary from the director and the composer of the film's musical score.Eight minutes worth of deleted scenes. All are good but dont serve the story that much and were cut for pacing reasons. You can only watch these all at once rather than one at a time and as each has an introduction from the director it does get a bit repetitive.There's a thirty six minute long making of the movie documentary. This can be watched all at once or in smaller sections of roughly six to eight minutes each. Covering all aspects from voice acting to puppet making and puppet costumes and how stop motion animation works this is very interesting viewing and well worth a look.The second disc in this two disc edition has a 3D version of the movie and the box contains several pairs of 3D glasses to go with it. I'd refer you to the other reviews here that talk about the quality of the 3D because they know far more about the subject than me and my eyesight isn't great so I'm probably not the best person to evaluate it.But all in all a great bit of film making and a dvd well worth getting. The only extra thing in the two disc version is the 3D copy though so if you can live without that you'd be okay with the single disc edition.

Great film. Not suitable for children under 12

Where to start? Coraline is a film about a girl who discovers a new world after moving into a new house, and later regrets ever finding it. The film is mysterious throughout: You're not sure where she's going to end up or what is going to happen. The characters are all well resembled and easy to relate to, such as the part where Coraline is telling her mum about her poison ivy rash, whilst her mum replies with the sort of sound someone would make when they're not really listening to you. Each character plays a big part in the film, all with different personalities. The film has a moral which is 'appreciate what you have, because when it's gone, you'll wish that you still had it' This is resembled with the relationship between Coraline and her parents. Now for the negative (would have given it 4.5 stars but it wasn't possible). Although this was my favourite film before Frozen, there were some parts which I believe could have been improved. One example is how appropriate the film was to fit PG. At one point, Coraline walks down some stairs and stands there with a tool in her hand. Then, one of the strange characters jumps down from a high balcony, landing with their legs spread apart and the point of the tool nearly touching the part between their legs. This was not necessary. Nor was the part where the 2 old ladies (which turn out to be young ladies, but anyway) perform a mermaid theme play. One of the sisters is not too bad, with seashells worn like Ariel and a mermaid tail. However, the second sister is hardly wearing anything at all, which was definitely not appropriate. The only other thing I could think of is that from some people's perspective, this film could seem depressing, dark and scary. I actually have to agree, and with this said, it is definitely not one for those under the age of about 8 or 9, or if you/your child is sensitive, or easily scared. There are many dark and scary parts in the film, especially when the fake mum's button eyes are ripped off by the cat. Although I do not at all find this scary, others might, and therefore dislike this film. My overall advice: If you like fantasy, adventure and most of all mystery, and not easily scared then this the perfect film for you. If you are the complete opposite to this and like funny, bright films (I like all sorts of films, but I was just using these examples as a reference) then please, do not watch this film!