WATERSHIP DOWN (Theatrical Release USA 1978)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.4|5.0 Stars ììì

Watership Down, a British animated feature, is not a simple story, nor a story that can be lightly followed. It takes attention, thinking, and involvement to follow the storyline. But, while not well received in the United States, the movie is a completely, not-to-be-missed, more than interesting, good rendering of the importance of perseverance, instinct, and fight necessary to find, establish, and keep a safe home. Told through the eyes of rabbits, the film thoroughly and creatively explores life, death, the importance of females to the continuation of species, and the link to higher forces to successfully navigate even the most difficult of situations. Even though this film has all these good things, there is a down side to this film. It has little to no character development and the plot is a a little hard to follow as the story moves from warren to warren.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

A colony of rabbits needs to find a new warren.

Additional Thanks

Good work for Director and Producer Martin Rosen. Casting includes: Fiver (voiced by Richard Briers), Hazel (voiced by John Hurt), Bigwig (voiced by Michael Graham Cox), Captain Holly, (voiced by John Bennett), Blackberry (voiced by Simon Cadell), Silver (voiced by Terence Rigby), Pipkin (voiced by Roy Kennear), Dandelion (voiced by Richard O’Callaghan), Cowslip (voiced by Denholm Elliott), Cat (voiced by Lynn Farleigh), and Kehaar the Gull (voiced by Zero Mostel).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. The film may have little character development and the story may need a better plotline, but the upside is: the movie has 'impact' in that it is memorable, multi-layered, and appeals to the intellect due to its depth and value. The movie easily earns multiple watches because of the intellectual storyline.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers