I saw the premiere of the movie on TNT last night, and I have to say I was quite impressed. You could obviously tell the animatronics from the computer-generated characters, but the story line fit the book pretty well. I am a George Orwell fan, but I believe this story was behind the times. It should have been made 15 years ago, but the technology just wasn't there. The producers, however, tried making the ending more modern by talking about the fall of Napoleon's (the main character, a pig) reign, but I believe young viewers - those that are not familiar with the paranoid associated with the spread of Communism throughout Europe and Asia in the 50's to the 70's -may miss the point of the whole movie. The book was wonderful - I read it 6 times - and the movie conveyed every major point Orwell was trying to get across in his 1948 political satire. But it was hard to make a 2-hour movie out of a 125-page short novel. The first 15-20 minutes of the movie before the oust of Mr. and Mrs. Jones were obvious filler, and had no bearing on the rest of the movie. Can anyone tell me WHY in the beginning of the movie, Mrs. Pilkington seduced Mr. Jones while her husband was awake downstairs? ANYWAY, I digress. In summary, the movie is for those that knew and understood the American fear of the spread of Communism, and has little bearing with the under-20 viewers. The animatronics and computer graphics were top notch for a TV movie, and I'd recommend seeing it; this is, AFTER you read the book.
Review of Animal Farm
