Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #275 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-19
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
There aren't a lot of choices in a bee's life: a bee attends a few days of school, graduates from college, and chooses a job in the hive that he'll labour at for the rest of his life. Barry (Jerry Seinfeld) is different from his best friend Adam (Matthew Broderick) and all the other bees: he wants to see the world outside the hive and can't begin to contemplate doing the same job for his entire life. Naturally, the life of the "pollen jock" bees appeals to Barry because it's the only job that takes a bee outside the hive and into the larger human world. Once outside the hive, Barry breaks the most sacred bee law and speaks to a human named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger) in order to thank her for saving his life. A relationship quickly blossoms and leads Barry to the discovery that humans are stealing honey from the bees and selling it for their own profit. Vowing to hurt the humans the one place they’ll feel it, Barry brings a legal suit against the honey industry and the courtroom drama begins. There are some hysterical moments in the film, as one would expect from a Seinfeld production, and an abundance of one-liners, double-meanings, slapstick humour, and innuendo-laden dialogue that will keep adults guffawing throughout the show. Still, the whole concept of seeing the life of a common pest through non-human eyes is getting repetitive thanks to films like Ratatouille, Flushed Away, Open Season, and Over the Hedge. It should be noted, though, that this first foray into animation by Jerry Seinfeld was four years in production due to its collaborative nature, so its theme may actually have well pre-dated all of the aforementioned films. More than just a comical film about the life of one very different honey bee, Bee Movie is a social commentary that pokes fun at human behaviour while stressing the importance of doing even the most menial job well and championing the power of working together toward a common goal. There's even a lesson to be learned from the bees about controlling one's temper. --Tami Horiuchi

DVD Description
Bee Movie is a comedy that will change everything you thought you knew about bees. Take a close look at the world through the eyes of one bee in particular--Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld). A recent college graduate, Barry wants more out of life than the inevitable career that awaits him and every other worker in New Hive City--a job at Honex... making honey. Barry jumps at the chance to venture out of the hive, and soon encounters a world beyond his wildest dreams. When Barry inadvertently meets a quirky florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger), he breaks one of the cardinal rules of beedom--he talks to her. A friendship soon develops, and Barry gets a guided crash course in the ways of the human race. When he shockingly discovers that anyone can purchase honey right off the grocery store shelf, he realises that his true calling is to stop this injustice and set the world right by suing the human race for stealing the bees' precious honey.

Synopsis
After a nine year hiatus, comedy maestro Jerry Seinfeld (SEINFELD) returns to our screens with the sweet-natured comedy BEE MOVIE. In it, he voices Barry B. Benson, a young bee who refuses to accept his fate as just another faceless worker in a colony of millions. Despite being warned never to venture outside the hive, his curiosity gets the better of him and he goes off in search of adventure. What he finds, however, is nothing short of scandalous: human beings stealing honey for their own consumption! Outraged by this seeming injustice, he convinces a kindly florist (Renee Zellweger, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY) to help him file a lawsuit against the entire human race for 'honey laundering' offences.
Helmed by directors Steve Hickner (THE PRINCE OF EGYPT) and Simon J. Smith (a member of the SHREK creative team), BEE MOVIE lightens Seinfeld's notoriously stinging humour for a family audience, while staying true to its inherent New York-bred quirkiness. This leaves room for the film to feature impressive (if anatomically incorrect) bug-oriented CGI animation and a solid supporting cast that includes Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Chris Rock, and Ray Liotta (who plays a honey-peddling animated version of himself). Although it inhabits some of the same insect-populated territory as A BUG's LIFE and ANTZ, BEE MOVIE also nods to THE GRADUATE (admittedly a Seinfeld favourite) in its restless protagonist, resulting in a playful and thoroughly entertaining film that even manages to work an environmental message into its colourful palette.

Customer Reviews

A nice blend for adults and children
I liked this film, my wife likes this film and so do my children (5 and 3 at time of writing).

For me its success is that it is well made, has a simple plot line my children can follow and enough detail and humour for us grown ups not to get bored. It doesn't matter if the little uns don't get (all) the jokes, they're not meant to.

One star off for the predictable plot line.

I Expected More From Seinfeld
Penguins, Toys, Cars, Monsters and now Bees have their own light using the brilliance of computer animation and when hearing that Seinfeld, THE Jerry Seinfeld was himself writing and voicing one of the characters I was sure this movie would not fail to amuse. I have to admit that watching this film I was very disappointed, and that was simply because a man who can be named by many as being one of the greatest comedians of our time had stooped so low as to use Bee puns in order to get a laugh. During the movie things changed however and when Barry Benson entered into the court case when suing the humans, we are given some genuinely funny gags that can be attributed as funny yet true.

The story revolves around Barry Benson a Bee who's graduated from Bee University and is now forced to make a choice as to which job in the hive to take that he will work for the rest of his life. He isn't happy with that and decides to go out one day with the pollen jocks who are the bees who go out and collect the pollen to help make the honey. While on this trip he's accidentally lost and meets a human who saves his life, he thanks her and they become friends (Although she's freaked out by a talking bee). While out with her one day shopping he discovers the honey shelf and finds out the humans kidnap bee queens and hold captive bees in order for them to make honey in artificial hives. Because of this, Barry decides he must punish the humans and sues them.

Although the comedy does lack, it picks up towards the end and actually becomes quite intelligent. During the court case itself you can't help but notice the racial undertones when talking about bees being taken as slaves in work camps etc. John Goodman plays the stereotypical southern lawyer who is in favour of the bees being taken as slaves in work camps. The movie itself is quite intelligent especially when touching on the subject of lawsuits and the true repercussions a lawsuit can have. It's an enjoyable film but if you're expecting a hysterical Seinfeld classic then you will be sorely disappointed, it's good but be warned.

The girls said 4
You would think that a film such as this could only be aimed at children, but I have to say that I considered some elements of the tale, and some of the countless funny lines, seem to be better suited to adults. Seinfeld, never my cup of tea at the best of times, takes the leading role and partly wrote the script too, so to me it seems hardly surprising that it's not as childish as the marketing suggested. But it's what my primary-school-age children thought that really matters, and they gave it the sums up. They said it was funny and they must be telling the truth as they were laughing quite a bit throughout. It's interesting though that unlike other animated films like this of the past decade or so, they didn't ask to watch it again immediately afterwards, and in fact they didn't ask at all until I suggested they see it again a few days later. They said they preferred it to Wall:e, but they enjoyed Kung Fu Panda and Ratatouille more.

So although they gave it 4 stars, having watched it myself I'm not sure it deserves a 'very good' rating. I'm sure that hundreds of people worked passionately to produce and create it and they are doubtless proud of it, but as a consumer I think it merits only an "Above Average, worth a try" label from me : 3 stars. Three and a half if I could. It's good, but there are better children's animated films than this one.