Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4176 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-02-12
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Dutch, Hindi
• Dubbed in: Dutch
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 83 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Reviews
Open Season - Growing up can be a confusing journey fraught with difficult choices. Boog (Martin Lawrence) is a domesticated grizzly bear who leads a perfectly happy life inside of Park Ranger Beth's (Debra Messing) garage, but a chance meeting with an overly energetic mule deer named Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) quickly changes everything and lands Boog high in the forest a few days before the opening of hunting season. Devoid of even the most basic survival skills, Boog and Elliot stumble through the woods and find themselves at the mercy of every forest animal from skunks to chipmunks as well as an evil hunter named Shaw (Gary Sinise). After unintentionally inciting and endangering an entire forest full of clever animals, Boog and Elliot come to the realization that only by banding together do the forest animals stand a chance of outsmarting the hunters and ensuring their own survival.

Open Season is the first animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, and takes its inspiration from cartoonist Steve Moore (In the Bleachers) and features animals with human-like intelligence, a vibrant colour palate, and skilled animation that makes everything from the wind blowing Boo's fur to the animals' wild trip down the falls simply breathtaking. While it doesn't quite live up to Over the Hedge, Open Season is an entertaining production that explores the difficult process of maturation, the universal need for acceptance, and the true value of friendship. --Tami Horiuchi

Synopsis
OPEN SEASON, an animated action-adventure, follows the fortunes of two forest-animal misfits. Boog (Martin Lawrence) is a gentle and domesticated bear; Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) is an absentminded and accident-prone deer who has been shunned by his herd. Together, they struggle to adapt to the ways of life in the wild and on their own. Boog longs to return to the cushy conditions he had with Beth (Debra Messing), an animal-loving park ranger who rescued him and raised him as a pet from the time he was a cub. Desperate to please his new friend, who spared him from an overzealous hunter (Gary Sinise), Elliot tries to help lead Boog back to the mountainside town, but instead they are met with hostility by their fellow forest creatures, including a combative squirrel, McSquizzy (Billy Connelly); a perfectionist beaver, Reilly (Jon Favreau); and a machismo-fuelled deer, Ian (Patrick Warburton), who is Elliot's nemesis. Now, with hunting season upon them, they must all align to defend themselves against the hunters that annually plague their domain. While obviously geared toward kids, OPEN SEASON covers quite a few adult themes, including the comparison of man and beast. By pitting animals against hunters, the film operates from a pro-animal and pro-environment stance. It also conveys the importance of getting along with those different from ourselves, and encourages teamwork and acceptance of others.

Customer Reviews

Supposedly for children but an all-round classic
Amazing how they manage to make films that appeal to everyone from age 3 to 103. Great animation as we came to expect, and a cracking story. The central character is a bear and theres some terrific misbehaving, lonliness and rejection, then some excitement before an ending as good as any I've enjoyed for a long time.

The pace of the film is perfect and the end sequences make wonderful viewing. Characters and animation are top notch too. Children's film making has become a science of perfection, and this is a great example.

Fab!
This was the most enjoyable animated movie of last year; although it didn't get half the publicity of Over the Hedge, Happy Feet, etc.... in terms of actual laughs, it's in a league of it's own. OK, so it's not particularly original or intelligent, but you can do a heck of a lot worse with a bag of popcorn and a couple of hours...

The flying bunnies are adorable!

'Open Season' was not so memorable but acceptably funny
The family and I went out to see 'Open Season' at the theater and thought it was okay. The film was very entertaining for the kids because of the two lead characters but as for my husband and I it was bearable. I have to admit I did doze off a couple of times but only for a few minutes. I have noticed that this is the first completely computer-generated motion picture to be created by Sony Pictures Animation (SPA).

Boorg (voiced by Martin Lawrence), is the lovable bear who was rescued by a ranger and raised basically like a pet dog, has gotten too big and is now released into the wild during Open Season, which is the time when the humans come into the forest to hunt the animals. Boorg must now typically adapt to his surroundings, including using the bathroom outside (which is hilarious), finding food, among other things. His side-kick Elliot (voiced by Ashton Kutcher), a down-on-his-luck deer who has been kicked out of his herd and is being hunted by The Big Bad Hunter. Elliot just wants some friends, and wants Boorg to be his friend. The whole time I couldn't help thinking that the character of Elliot was a direct rip-off of the Donkey from Shrek. However, Donkey and Shrek are themselves a rip-off of every buddy-film of all time.

The supporting characters are hilarious, but perhaps a tad underdeveloped. Honestly, the movies' best lines and jokes were in the previews that I've seen many times. I hate when that happens! My main complaint about the film was the pacing of the story. The story itself left something to be desired, because it was very predictable and filled with clichés. However, something was off in the end. For all the build-up, it was a disappointing end, almost like it was too easy. The end needed some tweaking, that's for sure.

The animation was pretty impressive. Boorg the bear was done very well, especially with his fur, which looked completely realistic. When you don't notice the fur and it becomes part of the character that is when you know that you've done a good job.

'Open Season' is not even close to the Pixars of the animated world due to its predictable script. Nevertheless, it's entertaining enough, the animation is of course stellar, and it will definitely entertain the kiddies. I just wish the story would have been more thought out.