Customer Reviews

Racing Stripes

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Just when you start thinking they don't make movies like this anymore, they go and make one. Racing Stripes is not only one of the best films of its kind, it's one of the best movies I've seen in the past few years. Animal movies always get to me; they suck me in emotionally more than any other kind of story. You may well shed tears of both happiness and sadness as you watch this film, but I can pretty much guarantee you'll laugh and be thoroughly entertained - and more than ready to go back and watch it all again as soon as you reach the end. This is an inspirational film full of the kinds of truths kids need to learn and adults need to remember. It may well be the best family-friendly movie thus far of the new century. The keys to its success are a great story, a great cast of both animals and humans, and an indomitable spirit that few movies can convey over the course of 103 minutes.

It's a sad beginning, as we see a young zebra accidentally left behind by a circus on a road in Kentucky; luckily, Nolan Walsh (Bruce Greenwood) finds the little guy and takes him home to his farm - where his daughter Channing (Hayden Panettiere) instantly falls in love with him and names him - what else? - Stripes. Stripes is also welcomed by the other animals on the farm - and it is here we learn that these animals can talk. Talking animals is a bigger risk than you might think - it can easily flop if done poorly, but there are no worries here: the cast of voice actors is superb. Dustin Hoffman plays a miniature horse named Tucker, Whoopi Goldberg is Franny the goat, Jeff Foxworthy is good for many laughs as Reggie the rooster, and the list goes on. The farm lies adjacent to a horse track, and Stripes immediately decides he is a race horse - no one tells him he's a zebra. It just so happens that Nolan is one of the best horse trainers around, but he left all of that behind some years earlier when his jockey wife was killed in a racing accident. That doesn't stop Channing from wanting to ride, however, and Stripes is determined to some day prove himself on the track. He takes a lot of abuse for this - the horses in this film, with one exception, are incredibly arrogant, hateful creatures that constantly make fun of Stripes. Luckily, though, a pretty little filly named Sandy (Mandy Moore) befriends and encourages him. I should mention the fact that Frankie Muniz supplies the voice of Stripes - and even Snoop Dogg contributes as the voice of Lightning, the world's laziest dog.

The odds are against Stripes. No zebra has ever raced with horses, and Nolan is adamantly opposed to letting his daughter race at all. That's where Stripes' animal friends come in. Even the newest addition to the farm, a Mafioso pelican named Goose (Joe Pantoliano) does his part. The only characters who can give Goose a run for his money in terms of comedy are Buzz and Scuzz, two flies featuring the voices of Steve Harvey and David Spade. Wait until you see them dance and sing. A number of physical and emotional obstacles stand in the way of Stripes' realizing his dream. To succeed, he will have to want it with all of his heart, stand up against ridicule and even physical threat (Sir Trenton is not going to sit still for a zebra joining in a race his son is supposed to win), discover who he is and what he is made of. You'll want to stand up and cheer for this plucky little zebra with the heart of a champion. There's so much more to this story, though. Nolan's struggle to forget the past and support his daughter's dreams is quite emotional, the animals are all incredible characters themselves - especially Tucker, the little horse who helps train Stripes for the big race (and is amply rewarded in a very poignant moment). I've always believed that we see the best of human nature through our animals, and that is certainly the case here. The only complaint I have is that the talented animal actors who pretty much carried this film did not get their names listed in the credits. This always bothers me; every human who had anything to do with these animals gets credited, but the animals themselves are snubbed - it should not be this way. The animals make this movie and they deserve to have their own names in lights.

I'll conclude with a warning: parents who buy this DVD for their kids can expect to see a lot of this movie, as kids will inevitably want to watch it multiple times. The good news is that parents should enjoy multiple viewings of Racing Stripes just as much as their kids surely will.

After the crystalline purity of -Million Dollar Baby-, my Hubby & i *needed* a break from Reality. -Racing Stripes- delivers in stripes - er, spades.

The real stars of this film aren't Whoopi Goldberg, Frankie Munitz, Dustin Hoffman, Jeff Foxworthy, Michal Clark Duncan, & all the vocal talent; it's the *way* those massive talents are used. From the start, when a zebra colt is accidentally abandoned & adopted by a racer-trainer-turned-farmer [Bruce Greenwood, 1ce a nasty intern in -St. Elsewhere-] & his daughter Channing, the story is a sweet [but, thank the gods, not *quite* saccharine] tale of a zebra [named Stripes, of course] who grows up to become a racer, to the chagrin of all the 'real', snooty keep-*It*-out-of-*my*-race horses. The CGI are flawless, esp. in the race at the end [sorry Channing, zebras can't run the gruelling full course of a race track!] & the loving support of all Stripes' farm buddies believable ... in fact, this 1 is *better* than -Babe- due to the improvements of CGI.
As Donald remarked at the end, "Ain't Macs wunnerful?" This film also features sweetly-effective Hayden Panettiere as Channing, the perky/pretty/gallant girl who Believes in Stripes. Plus, South Africa makes a *terrific* Kentucky ... speaking as a former Hoosier who still loves/remembers the achingly green purity of that more-Southern-than state.

& also "What a *great* change. A real relief!" For those who believe in the Dream = Winning ... & even those who don't, this is a win in less than 2 hours.

My 7-year-old and I occasionally have the pleasure of a date with just the two of us...and mommy gets the pleasure of the house to herself for awhile. "Racing Stripes" is perfect for this. We may go see it again sometime, and will certainly buy the video upon its release.

Stripes is a zebra who gets left behind in an accident by a circus caravan. He is found by a Kentucky farmer who just happens to have once been a great trainer of race horses and still lives near the track. When the young zebra gets his first glimpse of real race horses, he knows what he wants to do with his life.

The farmer got out of the business when his wife, a successful jockey, lost her life in a riding accident. He has a beautiful daughter who works at the track, and no way will he let her become a jockey. He wants nothing to do with it.

Any parent can probably fill in the rest of the plot from there, with all the expected pieces of this story that is equal parts "Babe," "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," "National Velvet," and "Rocky." But there are quite a few very funny moments. Famous voices like Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Pantoliano, David Spade, and Steve Harvey provide the characters their audio appeal. The underrated Bruce Greenwood stars as the farmer, playing the same kind of role the formerly underrated James Cromwell did in the "Babe" films.

From a parental perspective, it's worth about three stars, but I give it 5 on behalf of my daughter. As soon as the end titles began, she said, "That's the best movie I ever saw!"

I can't make a better recommendation for a family film, although some parents may be wary of its bodily function humor. Flies are seen glorying in horse droppings, and there's a pelican who acts as a hit man by trying to hit objects below him with his own pelican droppings. Grossout humor, yeah, but your kids snicker about this stuff at school anyway and it doesn't go farther than that. Definitely recommended.

Hollywood is not known for its originality. Sure, a new idea comes along and revolutionizes the business, but most of the time, all the movie industry does is sequel, remake, or just repackage existing material. Which is pretty much what "Racing Stripes" is: repackaged material for your viewing pleasure. But in this case, it is not entirely a bad thing.
In 1995, a movie called "Babe" graced the silver screen. It was one of those revolutionary idea things, where there was a lot of publicity because this film was doing something else with the Disney-esque talking-animal-kid's-movie genre, which had been around for a while. But thanks to this new thing called "computer animation" the filmmakers could make it look like the animals' mouths were actually moving in sync with the dialogue, rather than doing it the "Mr. Ed" way, where the animal just randomly moved its mouth. "Babe" was a reasonably big success (big enough, obviously, to warrant a pointless and sub-par sequel), and I remember enjoying it as a kid.
Since then, there have been a few attempts to recapture some of that, and those films were so memorable that I forgot their titles. So now, here we are, ten years later, and "Racing Stripes" shows up. It certainly was a long time coming, but this film is quite possibly the "Babe" for this new generation of little kids.
Not surprisingly, the plot is almost a carbon copy of that movie about a talking pig who wanted to be a sheepdog. A young zebra (voiced by Frankie Muniz) is accidentally abandoned by a circus in rural Kentucky (as if there's an urban Kentucky), and picked up by a local farmer (Bruce Greenwood) and his daughter (Hayden Panettiere). As it turns out, the farmer is a former racehorse trainer, whose horses consistently won the Kentucky Derby. So the little zebra, creatively named Stripes, gets introduced to the racing life early on, and fantasizes about racing in the Derby. Of course it's preposterous that a zebra could win the race, everybody says, but Stripes is out to prove them wrong.
The plot, as you can see, is very "Babe"-ish, with some "Seabiscut" thrown in. But it's okay because everyone who saw "Babe" as a kid is a teenager now, and this film is being exposed to a whole new audience.
The supporting vocal cast is excellent, with Dustin Hoffman as a gruff Shetland pony who helps Stripes train, Whoopi Goldberg as a motherly goat, Steve Harvey and David Spade as wise-cracking flies, Joe Pantoliano as a Mafia pelican, and even rap icon Snoop Dogg as, well, a dog.
But, all is not perfect here. In places, "Racing Stripes" gets heavily bogged down with deep, thoughtful, super-sappy dialogue between farm animals. If there weren't so many eye-rollingly bad soliloquies and heartfelt discussions, this film would get a 5-star rating in my book.

A good movie for all ages. It is a good lesson movie for our kiddies. It teaches them that if they really want something they have to work hard for it. There are also some good lessons teaching-- we are all different and not to judge someone by their appearance. There is major star power, but Spade is the funniest.
I recommend this movie.

You know those cutesy pet commercials with talking animals that have the rather bad CGI moving mouths? That's what I thought the kids and I were in for.-mistakenly, as it turned out. What a pleasant surprise that Racing Stripes proved to be top family entertainment.
Racing Stripes is about a zebra who was lost from a traveling circus as a foal, then rescued by a racehorse-trainer-turned-farmer and his daughter, Channing. They raise him with their other barnyard animals, within clear sight of the thoroughbred farm next door. Stripes grows up dreaming about becoming a race horse, much to the snickering delight of the farm. But some of the other animals encourage him to go for his dreams, even dig up some surprisingly effective training skills to help him out. Through a series of carefully planned manipulations, the barnyard conspires to get the humans to enter Stripes in the big race with Channing as his jockey. The odds are against him, he is often ridiculed about his lack of size and funny appearance, but the plucky zebra proves in the end that taking risks for what's important to you is what makes you a winner.

This movie plot is predictable and formulaic, standard "talking animal" fare - so what? It's visuals are done seamlessly and beautifully. The messages about working hard to achieve your goals, having a good attitude and not giving up when things get tough are very timely for this generation. There is some guilty pleasure in the running gags which involve some potty humor, even for an adult (but I won't admit this to my husband!). I liked all the human actors as much as the charming animals; even the villainess is a personal favorite from her previous roles on television. Most importantly, it was a feel good story that the * kids* loved. Was it the sight of realistic-looking talking animals that enthralled them or the well-choreographed action? Don't know, don't care because IT WORKED.

Don't ever forget, kids can love movies and tv shows that drive you up the wall: but when it's entertaining to the adults as well, it's a real keeper.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

Have you ever heard of a zebra who thinks he is a race horse? In Racing Stripes there is such a zebra. It all starts out when a zebra from the circus gets left behind in the middle of the road out in the rain. Then along comes a farmer named Nolan Walsh and takes Stripes to his farm. Nolan and his daughter, Channing Walsh, take care of the zebra. Throughout this movie Stripes has trouble with two other racehorses. During all this drama, Stripes finds romance and falls in love with a female Thoroughbred named Sandy. There is an upcoming race and Nolan and his daughter decide whether or not to enter Stripes. The duo decides to enter Stripes and the race begins. They both are worried because the race horses are Thoroughbreds and Stripes is a zebra racing for the first time! Does Stripes win the race? Join the barn animals and buy or rent this tremendous movie today!

What a surprise. I had completely looked over this movie, thinking it was something like "Animal House" (probably not the best pick for my three-year-old). Racing Stripes, however, is swearing and crass-free enough, I was comfortable letting her watch it. And she asked to watch it over and over again.

I was convinced that a movie starring talking animals would come off like a low-budget dubbed foreign film. Much to my surprise, the effects are so masterfully done, you begin to believe that animals do, in fact, talk. It's the kind of story that has the potential to reek of cheesy-ness but it's so well written and produced that any cheesy-ness is easily forgiven.

Besides, how can you resist a baby zebra with the spirit of a racehorse? And a story that has soul to rival Chariots of Fire?

Five stars not for best movie ever but for good quality in it's category (clean, family film).

And you get Racing Stripes. While it doesn't reach the charm of Babe, it is still good in its own right. It has a great message about "don't give up. Most focus on the bathroom humor in the film, which is actually a distraction from the main theme. An orphaned zebra wants to make it in a horse race and is encouraged by a mixed entourage of animals at the farm. Included are a Godfather-style hit goose, a love interest with a mare, and other interesting animals, not to mention the human.

But, the one who steals the show is a cranky, gruff Shetland pony named Tucker, played by Dustin Hoffman. He reminds me a lot of Burgess Meredith in Rocky. It is really his victory, which even Stripes admits at the end. He is the one who coaches and encourages the zebra to excel.

If you are looking for Babe, then buy that DVD, and enjoy. This has another message and is good on its own four feet. I really enjoyed myself in this movie, laughed and cried and cheered him on. I think you will, too.

Seems like ever since BABE, we've been intrigued by animals talking to one another and their interminable desire to overcome adversities and become heroes. RACING STRIPES joins the list as one of those films and I enjoyed it very much. Our hero this time is a zebra who is lost by a circus troupe and saved by a young former horsetrainer who has given up training since the death of his wife years earlier. He has a spunky daughter who wants to race the zebra. But the real stars of the movie are the farm animals and their misadventures in aiding Stripes (the zebra) in his quest. Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle) voices the upstart zebra; Mandy Moore is the filly who falls for him; Dustin Hoffman is the crusty little shetland who wants to train the zebra; Whoopi Goldberg, the sassy goat; Jeff Foxworthy the garrulous rooster; Steve Harvey and David Spade steal the show as two flies who figure in the fun; Snoop Dogg is the lazy bloodhound and Joe Pantoliano, the Jersey pelican. They're all fine and add some color to the proceedings. The humans take second banana, and include Bruce Greenwood, Wendie Malick and M. Emmet Walsh, but it's the animals who give us the most fun. Nice songs, too from Sting and Bryan Adams.