Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone on Ciao! many thanks for all the r/r/c's I've received ...
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone on Ciao! many thanks for all the r/r/c's I've received throughout the year! RIP Holly, Christmas wont be the same without you...
Member since:27.07.2006
Reviews:241
Members who trust:90
About the Movie
Night at the Museum stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a guy who goes from job to job and who's son he wants to impress. When he goes to the job centre, he gets offered a job at the Natural History Museum as a night watchman. Sounds like nothing exciting? you'd be wrong, as its during his first night on the job that he makes a rather larger than life discovery... that being that all the exhibitions suddenly come to life at night and unfortunately for poor Larry, its up to him to keep them all contained in the museum or, if they end up outside the museum when the sun rises the next day, they'll disintegrate. All he has to help him figure out how to keep everything inside is an old set of rules given to him by the previous night watch men.
Among the characters Larry has to deal with are Rexy the Tyrannosaurus Rex (actually a skeleton of an old T Rex dinosaur), who acts like a pet dog and loves playing a good old game of 'fetch' with one of his own bones, Attila the Hun, an army of miniature roman soldiers and cowboys and Teddy Roosevelt. Suffice to say, he has his work cut out for him.
This movie features a number of good, well known actors, from Ben Stiller to Robin Williams (who plays the wax figure of Teddy Roosevelt) and Owen Wilson (You, Me & Dupree, I Spy,
Wedding Crashers etc., he plays one of the miniature cowboys). Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney also feature in the movie (as the old night watchmen) and so does Britains own Ricky Gervais and Steve Coogan though they don't have a great deal of screen time (Dick Van Dyke's dancing during the end credits is well worth a watch for a laugh!) I don't have any kids personally but I'd seen the movie advertised and I decided I quite wanted to get the DVD, to see what all the fuss was about I guess and I quite like to purchase the odd genuinely well made family movie once in a while. This is definately one. The film isn't one of those that feels like it relies purely on the actors, ie the story itself is interesting and entertaining too, though the actors do play their characters, in my opinion, very well. Ben Stillers performance in this movie is particularly good, he interacts with the various other characters (in CGI or not) very well, scenes featuring him with a particularly cheeky monkey that steals his keys and with Rexy the T Rex are particularly entertaining. Robin Williams also again does well in his portrayal as a wax figure of US President Teddy Roosevelt. The actors put a good amount of believable emotion into their roles, even if you don't believe that museum exhibits can come to life!
Content
There's hardly any violence, only as it says on the back of the DVD box, some comic scary moments. There are some laugh out loud moments, though its fairly long at about 1 hour 44 minutes (104 minutes). Partly because of this, I would say that its maybe more suited for slightly older kids, 7 or 8 plus (its PG rated, due to the 'comic scary moments' as already mentioned).
My Verdict on the Movie
It definately is a good all around family movie, where the kids will enjoy the slapstick comedy provided by Stiller interacting with the many 'real life exhibits' and trying to contain them, adults can enjoy the cameos from Ricky Gervais (from BBC shows Extra, The Office etc.) Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney. The story in principle I think is one that alot of people of various ages can relate to, I know I, as one, used to imagine when I was a kid that when I left my room, my toys could come to life. The CGI is pretty good, especially when it comes to Rexy, the T Rex.
If you buy this expecting a movie that makes perfect sense and expect all the details in the movie to be correct (not that anyone would believe exhibits in a museum magically come to life at night - or do they?, but rather that the details mentioned in the movie about certain historical exhibits/characters), then this isn't for you (I believe there's mention of when Attila the Hun was around which isn't factually correct and its more likely at that time to be Genghis Khan(?)) but its not really about that. Really this should be viewed as a fun and entertaining family film that can keep you and your kids amused for just under 2 hours and that gets the imagination going.
Apparently after the movie was released, the number of people visting the Natural History Museum (in New York, which is where the movie is set) went up. I guess its a good thing if it gets children interested in learning more about history and wanting to see local museums and so on.
Whats on the DVD?
As well as the movie, the 2 disc special edition of the movie also includes a number of special features. These include 8 deleted and extended scenes (some are pretty good), a McFly music video, a blooper reel (pretty funny), 2 featurettes (one on the making of the movie and one about the CGI and bringing the exhibits to life), a set top game where you have to assemble Rexy and the theatrical teaser and theatrical trailer. The DVD box also has a pretty cool holographic cover on the front.
Last Thoughts/Conclusion
This may not be the most factually correct and educational movie around but you can't deny that its good fun and im sure can capture childrens imagination. Its an entertaining movie that, for the adults, might make you think back to when you dreamed things like this really happened.
I watched it (me being in my early/mid 20s) and enjoyed it, I think its a good general family movie and that both kids and adults can enjoy it.
The DVD is a good value for money buy as it offers a pretty wide range of extras, the featurettes are pretty informative and the blooper reel and extended/deleted scenes are also pretty entertaining. The McFly music video will appeal to teen fans too, hence I reckon there's something for nearly every age here.
Now that its been out on DVD for a while, I say look around for a good price (I got it for £10 brand new from a powerseller on Ebay) and keep it as a movie to bring out when you're all together and wanting to put something on that will entertain your whole family.
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![Night At The Museum (2 Disc Special Edition) [2006] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78098156.jpg "Night At The Museum (2 Disc Special Edition) [2006] [DVD]")
Jun 3rd, 2007
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