Customer Reviews

Inspector Gadget

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I know that the movie didn't do as well in the box office and that critics bashed it. The question is why I bought this DVD. I have a few reasons actually. #1) I was a big fan of the animated series as a child. #2) I like Disney films #3) It was on sale. Three major reasons and yet I even struggled to watch it because it was bashed on so much and it was only 78 minutes long.

So, I was expecting a bad film but you know what. I enjoyed it. I actually liked the movie. It's definitely not below average.

Matthew Broderick is actually a good Inspector Gadget. I think with the way movies are, many people tend to want to see a different Inspector Gadget, perhaps someone more violent. Well, if that's the case...there is the Criterion edition of Robocop with the added gory scenes that you can buy. This movie was made for kids as was the cartoon and I'm a kid at heart because I grew up with the show.

One of the things you'll notice is that it's a Disney DVD with extra's. Yes, it's a miracle isn't it. The majority of all Disney DVD's don't have squat in them. This one has a 30 minute featurette on "Go Inside Inspector Gadget". It also has a music video from Youngstown and the trailer. Not bad Disney...keep adding more! Also, the sound is well done with the 5.1. Good use of the rear channels!

One negative was the layer change. It was during a so-so important scene and that was not good to place it in that area of the movie. They could of put it somewhere else.

Otherwise a good movie for the young ones. Just a little warning for parents with younger children: Seeing Broderick with his head backwards or seeing him get blown up may frighten your child.

So, all in all an enjoyable movie for the family.

I was expecting a bad film but you know what. I enjoyed it. I actually liked the movie. It's definitely not below average.

Matthew Broderick is actually a good Inspector Gadget. I think with the way movies are, many people tend to want to see a different Inspector Gadget, perhaps someone more violent. Well, if that's the case...there is the Criterion edition of Robocop with the added gory scenes that you can buy. This movie was made for kids as was the cartoon and I'm a kid at heart because I grew up with the show.

One of the things you'll notice is that it's a Disney DVD with extra's. Yes, it's a miracle isn't it. The majority of all Disney DVD's don't have squat in them. This one has a 30 minute featurette on "Go Inside Inspector Gadget". It also has a music video from Youngstown and the trailer. Not bad Disney...keep adding more! Also, the sound is well done with the 5.1. Good use of the rear channels!

One negative was the layer change. It was during a so-so important scene and that was not good to place it in that area of the movie. They could of put it somewhere else.

Otherwise a good movie for the young teens. As for little children, not sure...seeing Broderick with his head backwards or seeing him get blown up may frighten the little children.

Otherwise, this DVD is worth purchasing.

Inspector Gadget offers more than you'd expect from a superhero blockbuster with dazzling special effects and a well-written script. The casting is the true strength of the film. Matthew Broderick has always won critical acclaim, due to his superb acting versatility in films including War Games, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Cable Guy, and Godzilla. In his finest performance, Broderick transforms the two dimensional cartoon character made famous by Don Adams, from a security guard into a compassionate, crimefighting cyborg, made up of equal parts of "MacGyver" and "Robocop" with tear-jerking results.

Like most of us who heard about this movie, I was expecting great things when I went to see it. Oh, if only I had known better. Sure, I was mildy amused at times, but I found quite a few disappointments. First, the movie doesn't even follow the cartoon all that well. It has the names of the characters, but that's about it. Not to mention the characters were played by the wrong people. Good acting... but it doesn't fit the cartoon, dang it! -- There were some very nice special effects, but the movie's already pretty short and it doesn't show very much of what the Inspector can really do. I really wanted to see him utilize his capabilities. Lastly, being a Disney movie, they just had to throw in a ton of slapstick humor. Kids eat that up all the time, but it really isn't that funny. -- Overall, Inspector Gadget was a very promising film, but Disney spoiled it with all their inaccurate "gadgets."

I grew up watching Inspector Gadget in the 1980's, and was always fascinated by Penny's computer book. Since I only had to make do with a now obsolete Commodore 64 computer system, I thought that one book was the coolest part of the show.

Sure, living with an uncle who you were smarter than would occasionally challenge the nerves, but Gadget (whose first name was never revealed) also seemed like a genuinely nice guy who tried to do the right thing.

Before she ruined Buffy, Michelle Trachtenberg defamed Penny. In this movie, she appears as a brunette who lacks a computer (book) or otherwise to help Uncle Gadget---and basically save the day. In fact, Trachtenberg is not doing much of anything during this screenplay.

Matthew Broderick's Gadget in contrast, is a ladies man. He meets up with Dr. Brenda Bradford (Joely Fisher) who ultimately is Robo Brenda. Since this is a family film, nothing bad happens but the idea of Inspector Gadget attracting anybody is really hard to take. He's SUPPOSED to be a bumbler who does not get the woman, the anti-James Bond for kids.

Chief Quimby's (Dabney Coleman) appearance also poses some problems. He is too old and too thin in this movie. Chief Quimby is supposed to be a rotund person with light brown hair.

Finally, the crucial part of Dr. Claw's sinister persona is that the audience only sees his hand. Rupert Everett is not supposed to show his face or have an actual claw for a hand. The studios could have saved bundles of their precious money (and made this screen play more authentic) by hiring a literal nobody to sit behind a chair and speak into a voice distorter while an animatronic MAD cat was giggling in agreement. According to the cartoon, Dr. Claw actually had a metal gloved hand with a spiked gold bracelet.

Since Andy Heyward oversaw production on both the earlier cartoon and then this movie, I am really shocked by the large discrepancies. If he cannot exercise product control over his own cartoon product, I really have no sympathy for this film's poor returns. The people who would have incentive to revive their franchise with a great live action film, blew it instead.

Growing up, one of my favorite cartoon character was Inspector Gadget. One of the reasons why is because I always compared Inspector Gadget to the sci-fi movie "Robocop", a movie I still enjoying watching to this day. Because of this, I found myself liking Inspector Gadget even as an adult, primarily because I saw a lot of similarities between "Robocop" and "Inspector Gadget". If you have ever seen Robocop you will know exactly what I mean and if you have not, then consider these comparisons after watching Robocop: 1) both Robocop and Inspector Gadget were human beings before they became cyborgs. 2) As human beings, they were both law enforcement officials(if you consider a security guard a person who lays down the law!). 3) They were both "killed" by a criminal genius whom they were trying to arrest and then brought back from near death as cyborgs who take down every perp they encounter. 4) They both cling to what humanity they have left in them, mainly through the loved ones that they had in their human lives. 5) They both wind up combating the same man who tried to kill them as human beings and eventually bring him to justice. 6) They both have to deal with a heavily armed robot before they are able to take down their primary adversary. 7) They both come to terms with their existence as cyborgs. All in all, Inspector Gadget is nothing more than a child's version of Robocop, since there are way too many similarities for a movie watcher to miss.

Just from the opening music, you know you're going to get something wacky and fun.

Matthew Broderick plays the character to perfection and Rupert Everett is deliciously hammy. Everybody else gives good perfomances too.

The movie was absolutely hysterical, with plenty of in jokes for the adults to appreciate. The gadget effects will keep the kids (and the adults) entertained.

Definitely one to see and own. Here's hoping for a sequel.

This is the second best Disney I've seen. (After Toy Story 2.) Usually I don't like Disney movies, but I liked this one! There are only about 7 Disney movies I liked, and Inspector Gadget was a gem! I don't get around to seeing Matthew Broderick in movies much (only in Godzilla), or rupertt everet (However you spell his name!) One of my favorite parts was in the end credits, at the "Henchmen Anonymous Recovery Group" (Or whatever it was called.) Thanks Disney for making a great movie!

I saw this movie with my son. Although I thought the movie was mediocre, my son really enjoyed it-it was his first movie at a theater. Inspector Gadget has gotten him away from more violent movies-like Small Soldiers and Power Rangers. I know my son will watch this video over and over again!

This live action film is based on a popular and fondly remembered 1980's animated television series about a bumbling bionic police inspector who is aided by his young niece and their dog, the architects of his success.

All I can say is...wow, this remake was a disaster of epic proportions. Horrible, just ghastly. The problems, in a nutshell:

1. Somber content in an allegedly lighthearted film. A scientist is killed, a security guard is seriously injured and possibly dying, and neither event is treated with the gravity it deserves. No mourning for the dead scientist, and the serious injuries are played for laughs, as we see the security guard encased in a whole body cast, utterly helpless as a dog licks his mouth. Ugh.

2. A disturbing lack of ethics. Said security guard is surgically altered WITHOUT HIS CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE and changed into Inspector Gadget. And we're not talking about The Six Million Dollar Man here---this isn't a maimed human being who is enhanced by powerful, but otherwise normal appearing, prosthetics. This is a normal human being who is turned into a FREAK!

3. Awful casting. Matthew Broderick is not funny, charming, or even remotely sympathetic. And the film goes straight down the toilet when Matthew Broderick fights his evil double in a seemingly interminable battle sequence.

4. A changed premise. The original conceit---a bumbling adult secretly aided by a brilliant girl and dog---was altered in the live action version. The niece and dog have token roles, and Inspector Gadget is such an imbecile that he's painful to watch.

5. A wisecracking, jive talking car. Need I say more?

6. Commerical advertising unsuccessfully disguised as product placement. The scenes where a Yahoo billboard fell over (accompanied by the company's signature yodel) and carload of Skittles tumbled onto a sidewalk were as subtle as a sledgehammer.

Eye-gougingly awful, recommended only for your worst enemy.