Customer Reviews

The Brothers Grimm [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In response to Allyson's review, the scotch-tape commercial could not be fast-forwarded on my spare (cheapo) DVD player but could be fast-forwarded on my DVD recorder. However, if I fast-forward it to the very end, the ad repeats itself. This ad is admittedly not as evil as the one I came across in Finding Neverland, but it is still definitely what they call a Prohibited User Operation ad.

I encourage everyone to boycott this DVD before all DVDs become infested with PUO commercials (just rent it). I believe this DVD and Finding Neverland are initial tests to see how much advertising crap movie-lovers will put up with. I like movie-previews on DVDs, but scotch-tape ads??

As for the movie, the acting is great and the cinematography excellent, but by the end I felt there was something missing. I'm a great fan of Terry Gilliam's Python movies and Brazil but his emotionally-detached style and his breakneck pacing seems out of place for a script like this. I felt the slapstick should have been toned down a little to let both the brooding atmosphere and the triangular romance between the Brothers and Angelika breathe a little.

I couldn't stand the movie OR the DVD.

I wanted to love the movie - the visual elements were fantastic and it had the makings of what could have been one for my favorite movies.

Unfortunately, it has nothing else going for it. The blatant french racism. The characters that make Jar Jar Binks look GOOD in comparason. The bad accents - NONE of which were German - in Germany! The direction was atrocious, the scenes were stitched together by what seemed like a high-school editing staff.

Normally I can accept when a bad movie is bad - but what made me so mad about this movie was that it was so close to being awesome - only to be butchered by the director.

As if that wasn't enough, they make you sit through a Scotch Tape commercial at the beginning of the movie. What a joke - AVOID AT ALL COSTS. If Alliance-Atlantis are going to pull monsterous DVD releases like this in the future, I'll never be buying - OR - renting another one of their movies again.

I felt obligated to write this review. The movie itself is very enjoyable. It's a cross between "Plunkett and Maclean" and "Sleepy Hollow". Dark and disturbing but also funny.
Now, concerning the commercial that was mentioned in the other review, it is for double sided tape and yes it can be fast forwarded in a matter of a second.
It's a shame that someone who can't use their DVD player would rate a movie badly for their own stupidity.

This movie is a must see, it is extremely funny, and full of visual effects. The picture clairity is excellent and the sound definatly benefits from the uncompressed 5.1 soundtrack. The movie is definatly an upscaled version of almost all the classic grimms fairy tales, perfect for the halloween season.

The Brothers Grimm travel through Napoleonic Europe at a time when paranoia and superstition pervade society. Preying upon the fears of villagers, they stage elaborate hoaxes in an effort to win themselves fame and fortune by saving the townsfolk from evil spirits. Jacob (Heath Ledger) is the serious scholar who believes in fantasy and magic. Wilhelm (Matt Damon) is the womanizer who believes there is a "rational explanation" for everything. It is not until children start disappearing in a gloomy forest that the brothers (cowardly ninnies in reality) must find the courage to battle a real demonic witch.

Though not a biography of the real Grimms, the clever premise suggests the inspiration behind the legendary fairytales they penned in order to preserve Germanic myth. One can easily recognize elements from "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Frog Prince", "Rapunzel", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Snow White". Yet, their dark fables did not often have happy endings and were, indeed, grim.

Terry Gilliam, then, would seem the ideal director for a film such as this. But the end result has no focus, as Gilliam can't decide whether The Brothers Grimm is a horror, comedy, fantasy, love story, or action-adventure. Ehren Kruger's screenplay tries to weave together so many elements that it becomes an assault on the senses, without the true terror Kruger employed so successfully in The Ring.

Shot in the summer of 2003, primarily on a soundstage in Prague, the film is so dimly lit it seems as if you are watching it through a pair of sunglasses.

Lena Headey, who looks like a young Catherine Bach, plays the love interest with little aplomb or impact. Swedish actor Peter Stormare, as one of the Grimms' goofy antagonists, is so annoying he ruins every scene he's in. Though usually likeable, Ledger and Damon have little chemistry as a comedic duo and are stuck with inane dialogue -- the film is such a dismal production it will be a low point in both their careers.

Excruciatingly long, The Brothers Grimm solidifies 2005 as one of the worst in movie production. And to think Hollywood executives are wondering why audiences are staying home... Rating: 3 out of 10.

Every so often, a movie comes along that seemingly defies any and all explanations. Let's face facts; the concept of this whole story is just plain weird. Here's the pitch: you know those two brothers who wrote all the children's fairy tales? Well, we want to take these two guys and turn them into con men going around saving villages from "ghosts," "demons," and the like. Then, we'll have, oh, let's say the French army, maybe, take them into custody, threaten to kill them, and then send them out to this Germanic village where kids keep disappearing into the forest. Oh, and we'll throw little scenes of fairy tales in there at random moments - of course, it won't make a whole lot of sense, but we just can't pass up the opportunity to throw Little Red Riding Hood into the mix somewhere. I'm telling you, man, this baby is going to be huge - that's why we need eighty million dollars to bring this utterly ridiculous story to life.

I have to ask: did anyone actually believe this oddity of a film could possibly pay for itself at the box office? The whole movie was just one ridiculous thing after another. It's strange, though - the weak plot actually becomes a strength of sorts, as it keeps you on the lookout for whatever twisted fairy tale concept they could possibly throw in the mix next. I almost hate to admit it (and I certainly don't understand it), but The Brothers Grimm was actually fairly entertaining - largely thanks to Heath Ledger and Matt Damon. I had no idea this was even Matt Damon until I looked at the credits following the film. I usually don't care for the guy, so the filmmakers did a great job making him hard to recognize. The script itself is rather ridiculous; I don't see how anyone inside a film production company could have taken this project seriously. Someone did, though, and secured a huge budget right along with it. The money wasn't wasted, as most of the special effects are more than acceptable, but that's just a huge amount of money to spend on a moderately entertaining film destined to have audiences laughing at it as often as they laugh along with it.

I must say that they definitely got one thing right in the movie, though. A mere gust of wind is enough to send a large party of French soldiers into a panic-stricken retreat. That one satisfying moment isn't enough to make up for all of the time we have to spend with prissy, arrogant Frenchman as the story plods along, but it's by far the most memorable scene for yours truly. Overall, I would have to give The Brothers Grimm 3.5 stars (which I have to round down to 3). This could have been a pretty impressive film, but the necessary focus and vision just never came together. The Brothers Grimm is good for a few laughs, and that's about it.

I don't know what Terry Gilliam was smoking. But he really should switch back to the good stuff. It makes me think of a really bad homage to the Hope/Crosby road movies. The premise had such potential. Worth waiting for the movie network to play it.

I loved the movie, it was fast paced and kept you glued to the screen. Anyone watching Once Upon A Time or Grimm will love it!!

i watched this movie free on video on demand,and i still feel
cheated.this movie is all over the map.i thought the acting was
dreadful,which is surprising given the fact that Heath Ledger and Matt
Damon are the two leads.these two can usually be counted on to give
good performances,but not this time.i tried three times,unsuccessfully,
to finish this thing and just couldn't do it.it was a total incoherent
mess.i had heard that the filming had been troubled from day
one,resulting in many delays.that should have clued me in.i believe
this movie was released a year later than planned.they shouldn't have
bothered.this is very close to the worst film i have ever tried to sit
through.a dismal 1/5.