- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: Dec 23, 2018

- Summary:
- Genre(s): Animation, Drama, Movie/Mini-Series
- Show Type: Mini-Series
- Season 1 premiere date: Dec 23, 2018
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 5
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Mixed: 2 out of 5
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Negative: 0 out of 5
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It is rigorously intelligent, absolutely thrilling, and--unless the kids are about 17--definitely not for children. ... One of its virtues is its fidelity to the source material—dark, filled with dread, marked by stinging indictments of fascism, fundamentalism and cruelty. Being so true to itself, it’s utterly absorbing--once you get past the fact that the principal characters are rabbits. ... All the performances are convincing.
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Despite cheap computer-animation, director Noam Murro (“300: Rise of an Empire”) and writer Tom Bidwell (“My Mad Fat Diary”) evoke a strong sense of empathy for the animals while crafting a stirring limited series built on big, frightening themes of life and death along with more humble thoughts on love, friendship, and socialism.
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Allowing for the sweetness in Adams' original work to come out in this modern take is part of what makes the BBC-Netflix version of Watership Down work best. The conversations and character development of the rabbits are the bricks that build the story. And while the animation is at first a downside--seemingly retro, too saturated with brown and black tones, making many of the rabbits indistinguishable from one another--that limitation allows the voice work to shine, which of course relies heavily on Adams' lovely descriptions.
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Emotional but blandified adaptation. ... If the Netflix Watership Down fails its potential, it benefits from strong voice performances (Boyega is expressive as the bluff but loyal Bigwig) and a solid central story. Even this easy-listening version, which lays on the romance, jokes and limp dialogue (“They may not have wanted a war, but by Frith, that’s what they’ll get”), has moments of grandeur and the sweep of a fantasy epic.
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Luckily, the story is so good that it shines above the shoddy animation, but the 1978 adaptation is still a better bet and the original story itself is still the best. Give this one a watch only if you can stomach the visuals and the visceral material.
Score distribution:
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Positive: 2 out of 8
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Mixed: 3 out of 8
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Negative: 3 out of 8
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Dec 23, 2018
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Dec 26, 2018
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Jan 2, 2019This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
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Dec 27, 2018
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Jan 27, 2019
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Dec 29, 2018Needless remake by the BBC, with a lesser cast. Watch the original with John Hurt which is far better.
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Dec 31, 2018The CGI looked terrible, just show the original it's so much better! I swear Toy Story had better visuals in the 90s...
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