VividSimon Simply Perfect

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

seancoleman-62445 As a french student in High School I believe that I am extremely qualified to review this after reading the book and watching the film. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this has to be the most uncomfortable I've felt in school in a long long time. Stanley Donen's vision takes an extreme turn to left-field. The little prince, everywhere he goes is met by some adult who has some disturbing agenda for him. Whether it may be sensually spitting water into Saint Exuperie's mouth, trying to touch the actor who played willy wonka in the original film, or having to listen to a man clad in leather do a tap dance around him about how he wants to kill him. If the little prince had made it out of this movie alive he would have had to undergone severe psychiatry to cope with this molestation. I'm not saying that the events in the story didn't make sense as well. Oh wait, they didn't. Birds can't fly through space and one can't live on an asteroid. This has to be the worst movie I have seen in a long time, and I watched transformers 2 last night.

Jack Should you compare this derivative work to the book it was loosely based on, you would be disappointed. However, if you can put some distance between the two in your mind and see them as distinct works, you just might be delighted with this little film.Others have mentioned that the songs aren't terribly catchy; while this may be true, the lines are certainly memorable. This is an incredibly quotable movie, probably because the messages are so clear and ageless. Yes, there were blatant Cold War references and the metaphors weren't always too subtle (remember, though, that this is a family film), but there were a lot of very subtle delights, too. In "Why is the Desert," the Pilot asks "Why is the desert so lovely at night?" and the Little Prince answers, "Because at night the desert is hiding the sun." There are poetics here, there are subtle postmodern elements. Some have complained about the first several minutes of the movie, but that piece was delightful for its own imaginative reasons and it did well in reinterpreting St. Exupery's original message about the dangers of allowing oneself to become too much of an adult.As for other complaints; no, the movie is NOT shot primarily with fish-eye lens, only the scenes that are meant to go together (that is, those scenes where the Little Prince meets other people on other planets). Yes, the fish-eye can become rather irritating, but the scenes aren't very long and there aren't that many of them---about three in all. The desert panoramas are magnificent.The acting was, all in all, pretty fantastic. The redundancies and similarities among those characters on the other planets didn't bother me because it reinforced the idea that adults are all the same---dull and unimaginative. This is where their actors truly shine; in parts that are very similar, they manage to add just that touch of individuality that makes you know you are experiencing another consciousness.All this being said, there were some terribly awkward moments that were a tad difficult to watch. But if you can put your adult mind aside and view it all with that innocence and imaginativeness of childhood, it is an absolutely magical film with a wonderful, ageless message---definitely on par with Mary Poppins or Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang.

romanhans I'm totally mystified by the previous review. This movie is a product of its time -- 1974 -- so why blame it for that? You wouldn't criticize "Don't Look Now" because Donald Sutherland wears wide lapels."The Little Prince" is a pitch-perfect film, beautifully written and filmed, with an amazing sense of humor. Yes, it's totally dated, and some of the songs are horrible, but it's got an originality even "West Side Story," another classic stylish film, can't match.If you want irony, American humor or 21st century attitude, avoid this film like the plague. But if you can appreciate brilliant little films that wear their hearts on their sleeves don't miss this film.An added bonus: in Bob Fosse's spectacular five minute dance you can see every dance move Michael Jackson ever made.

gmcsourley This is an exceptional movie, absolutely true to the spirit of Saint-Exupery's book; the actors are perfect - Richard Kiley, Bob Fosse and Gene Wilder are superb - and the songs fit beautifully into the film.