Product Details

• Actors: Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd
• Directors: Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson
• Writers: Catherine Dingman, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Todd Alcott
• Producers: Aron Warner, Brad Lewis
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Dreamworks Video
• VHS Release Date: February 9, 1999
• Run Time: 83 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (204 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000I7Q3
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,965 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Woody Allen as a worker ant with an inferiority complex? Sylvester Stallone as an affable soldier ant who discovers that digging tunnels is cool? The animation playground we all knew so well is turning into a theme park full of in-jokes for grownups. Antz explores age-old topics (one person--err, insect--can make a difference, individuality and social responsibility must exist side by side, war is hell) with comic asides and Woody Allen's funniest quips this side of PG (adults will chuckle at the socialist slogans bandied about as he campaigns for workers' rights). Sharon Stone voices the rebellious princess with a fun-loving streak that doesn't quite overcome her royal bearing and court training, but she can learn. Gene Hackman is all teeth (ants have teeth?) and menacing grins as the Army general plotting insect-icide. This bug's-eye view of life on Earth gives Allen's neurotic nonconformist an epic adventure of microscopic proportions: a devastating war with a termite colony, an odyssey to the fabled land of plenty (a picnic ground), and a race to save his fellow workers from certain death. Other voices include Anne Bancroft as the Queen, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Lopez, Danny Glover, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and John Mahoney. The computer animation isn't exactly realistic but feels as solid and contoured as puppet animation with the smoothness and slickness of traditional cel cartoons, and the character designs and animation offer a marvelous range of expressions. The PG rating includes a gritty battle sequence that may frighten youngsters. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

A funny children's (& adult) cartoon movie.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't find these Antz in yer Pantz!, May 8, 2000

By 

P. Dua-Brown "patchdb7" (Harrow, London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Antz (DVD)

The Film: [Rating: 84%] Dreamworks challenger to the Disney ant favourite A Bug's Life arrives on a feature packed DVD complete with a truly sumptuous transfer. Ok, so it's a cartoon - but don't be put off since this one is loaded with far more wit and style than your average kiddie flick (isn't he in a A Bug's Life?) and features the vocal talents of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Dan Aykroyd, Gene Hackman, Danny Glover, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken, Anne Bancroft and a shed load more fine actors. Imagine this many actors in a live-action film, the fees, the makeup, the trailer size contests - I guess doing animation must be a welcome bit of fun, allowing dress-down days too!

The story follows loner ant Z (pronounced zee, not zed!) who feels there should be more to life than his lot as a worker ant. Allen plays the lead, supported well be his best friend and soldier ant Weaver (Stallone). Z's path crosses that of the bored Princess Bala (Stone) whom he desperately wants to see again. Following a little persuasion, Z manages to trade places with Weaver for a place in the soldier's parade - held in front of the royalty! I don't want to give too much of the plot away since you're better off watching but Z's adventures to win the heart of the Princess, battle fierce termites Starship Troopers style, and his all round save-the-day antics are a treat for young and old alike. Kids will love this great cartoon but only adults will catch all of the humour and admire the truly stunning computer animation.

It's a pity this was released only one month before Disney's ant based film and the subsequent press scrutiny they both received in the 'Ant Wars'. They are very different films, just both animated and about ants. Personally I rate Antz slightly higher but I also think that from a kid's point of view the adult nature of much of it's humour may put A Bug's Life out in front as a point decision winner. Take the easy route and give both pride of place in your DVD collection!

The Picture: [Rating: 93%] Gob smacking! Awesome! Breath-taking! What more can be said about this 1.85:1 original aspect ratio transfer from an all digital source. Colours are to die for - see the Trash-topia sequence to see what I mean, black levels are spot on, detail is truly amazing, and there's not a single imperfection noticeable anywhere. There was some reported moans that the film was based underground too much, resulting in a too dark, earthy look - maybe an issue with a VHS copy but not here. This is what DVD and widescreen were made for!

The Sound: [Rating: 82%] Again, absolutely awesome (do I have to add the word DUDE to truly convince?). Some have mentioned the drowning out of vocals during some of the terrifically loud action sequences but this didn't affect me, even on (or maybe because of) my 'pantz' audio set up.

The Extras: [Rating: 70%] Directors Tim Johnson and Eric Darnel feature on an informative full-length audio commentary. There's a production featurette running under 5 minutes that is more interview soundbites than anything else. Much more revealing is the 11 minutes on The Basics of Computer Animation - focusing on the dance sequence and the water droplet, showing build up from storyboards to the finished, lighted & shaded animation. Brief but nice is the one minute on the Antz Facial System. Last of the documentaries is 10 minutes 26 seconds worth of wonderful hand-drawn art work showing the development of the Antz Character Design. There are four TV spots, along with the theatrical trailer, but the usual filmo's are blown away by a simple cast list. Finally there's also eight pages worth of production notes. Packaging the whole thing together is a fantastic menu system, fully animated with great transitions from one selection to another and all fully scored. Selecting the scene index from the front page (by moving the giant magnifying class!) will drop the 'camera' through the earth, taking you down to the Antz homeworld before displaying the four individually animated clips that represent four of the twenty six scenes available - top stuff!

And Finally... [Overall Rating: 86%] Superb presentation - more meat on the extras would have been nice, but this is nit-picking since everything here is gold-plated!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First thing-this is not a kid's movie!, October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Antz (DVD)

I'm a college student who happened to see this movie at a friends a few days before classes started, and I was quite surprised with the movie. The story isn't exceptoionally ingenious, but I laughed out-loud a few times. Some of the complaints about this movie would be expected: the language, the violence, and even a few sexual refrences. Like I said before, this is not a kid's movie. Also, the complaint about all the brown tones is annoying, the brown is ment to be drab because it is only seen in the scenes with the worker ants. It's symbolic, but anyone who thought a movie with Woody Allen would be a kid's movie wouldn't understand that either.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thought it was for kids - thought wrong, April 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Antz (DVD)

I just bought this video because I thought it would be a good one for my son. He does like it, but I don't think it was necessary to have any four letter words in this movie. It would have been much better without them. I know any day now my son is going to start repeating Bala's Dammit! My son is also asking me what happened to the guy(Barbados) in the ant vs. termite scene. Big disappointment, I will know better to just rent next time.