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*** Official TOY STORY 3 Review Thread (1 Viewer)

mattCR

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This movie is going to do insane business. I just got out of the midnight showing, which was packed. 4 theaters at the AMC30 in Olathe here in KC, and every one sold out.

The intro to the film and through the middle is a bit slow, and I would consider it a lesser vehicle then Toy Story 2, which I put as one of my top films of all time.


But from about the middle on, this film rolls. Great references to other films, cute asides.. and the moment Barbie expouses John Locke (the US political kind, not LOST) I laughed hard.


But it's the end of the film that has real, incredible punch. I will put spoilers here.



As the toys believe they are going into the incenerator, they turn to each other to find comfort and hold hands. A high school girl next to me broke down in tears, and I admit, it was incredibly difficult scene, but so well played. With no language, just nuance, the characters signal each other that they found comfort in their friendship. And as Woody struggled, and then stopped.. instead, turning to the comfort of his friends, and an outstretched hand.. jeez. There were very few dry eyes around me.


But for that, it was the very end that sold this film. While I love Wall-E, Wall-E had a sensational beginning and a fair end. Up! is maybe the most solid Pixar effort from beginning to end. But TS3 has one of the most emotionally powerful endings I have ever seen in any film.



As Andy walks into the playground of a small girl, he invites her to play with his toys.. his friends. And he asks for her to care for them, and to love them, because he had. But it wasn't just that, he sat and shared his imagination with her and encouraged her to imagine and play. And while she approached scared at first, as they played and shared, he knew he had found them a good home. It was time for him to grow up, but part of him is who he was because of his imagination as a small kid, and he was trying to share that with someone else.

That sequence packed such a wallop that outside of quiet in the theater, there were TONS of sobs. Outside of Schindler's List, I don't remember any film getting that many people outright crying.

I have always said this for a film: A good film will make you laugh, or cry, or think. It will make you root for someone, and you'll think about it later. A great film hits all those bases. TS3 had some great laugh out loud moments. It had some moments that are the kind of thing that will bring a parent or kid to tears. And it makes you think about all the memories you had as a kid, and whether or not you are passing those memories and that imagination on to someone else.


This may not be the perfect pixar film. And it doesn't surpass TS2 in my mind, but when I first heard TS3, I was very afraid this would wreck an amazing franchise. I can say now: absolutely not. This is a great film. A home run of a film. I don't know if I will see a better film this summer. And the end sequence of this film - the last 10 minutes, may classify as one of the most heart wrenching moments ever - it's both joyous and sad at the same time. It's hard to explain how they can pull something off so difficult; how one character can be going through something so sad in a way, and another so joyous, and yet you know it's for the best for all, and both characters are better for it.


Other animation studios, again, I challenge you to this: Pixar isn't making films geared at a tale that sucks parents and kids in. Instead, they focus on a story that remains timeless.


If you had reservations, I'd say: screw it. Go. Now. Immediately. Get a good seat. I watched in Imax 3D. To be honest, I didn't notice the 3D effect at all. So maybe it was minimal. Or maybe it's because I was too involved in the story to care.


A+
 

Chad R

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I hit the midnight show last night. It was quite the experience.


To begin with, we went with my nephew and sister-in-law. Here's the trick: when my nephew was 2 1/2 years old, my wife (then fiancee) and I went to see the original Toy Story with them. Now? My nephew is 17 years old. The same age as Andy in the film.


My wife and sister-in-law never stood a chance. There were sniffles about five minutes in. By the end? Full on downpour. And yep, that included me and my nephew.



It started about the time Andy's mom looked over his barren room as he was all packed for college, and didn't end until after Woody waved goodbye to Andy driving down the road, he and his loyal friends given to a little girl with as vivid an imagination as young Andy had.




Luckily, there were HUGE laughs along the way to cut the bitter sweetness. Ken? Hilarious. Barbie? Gets one of the biggest laughs. Mr. Pricklepants? Love him. Rex? Still love him the most. Big Baby? Creepy yet funny.


The movie does take its time winding up, but when it's unleashed it's just amazing. Some of my favorite jokes are the ones that take time to build. One such joke occurs at the end that has been building since the original Toy Story in 1995 and has one heck of a payoff.


God, I love that movie.I love the sequel equally if not more. And the third film? Well, my heart is both full and broken because of it.


Aren't those the best kinds of movies?


Quick note. I chose to see it in standard 35mm. Why? Because the screens at my theater are much larger in the 35mm auditoriums. I will never sacrifice size for 3D. And I've always felt Pixar's work was 3D, even without the glasses.
 

TravisR

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Toy Story 3 was easily the best movie I've seen this year. I was hopeful for the movie but I was trying to keep my hopes in check. To me, the bar was set incredibly high but they managed to make a movie that matches or maybe even exceeds the other two. I can't wait to see it again.





Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
I'm kind of torn on the 2-D vs. 3-D thing myself.

I'd say to see it in 3-D but I don't think you're missing anything by only seeing it in 2-D.
 

DaveB

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Just saw this masterpiece with my wife kids and I can tell you it struck a major chord with all of us for some of the same reasons, but also some different.


Prevented only by a slow second act from surpassing the two previous entries in the series, it contains some of the most emotionally poignant scenes in any Pixar film to date. And some of the cleverest humor. And some of the most gripping action. The 3D was tasteful and subtle. I also loved the many references to previous Pixar films and look forward to subsequent viewings to try and catch them all.


There is a lot to love here, but the transcendent third act is why TS3 will be remembered for generations. Once again, Pixar demonstrates to other studios (and to us all) what filmmaking looks like at the master-level.
 

Adam Gregorich

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Just got back from seeing it in 2D. I have 4yo twins and my wife and I thought the glasses might be too much of a distraction for them. All of us really enjoyed it and more than one of us shed tears at the end. There were all ages in the theater and everyone gave it an ovation at the end. I could quote just about everyone in this thread, but I'll narrow it down to Matt:




If you had reservations, I'd say: screw it. Go. Now. Immediately. Get a good seat.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Its a great film, 2D, 3D, doesn't matter, just go and enjoy.
 

Brisby

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Brilliant film. Funny as hell (Buzz's "Spanish Mode" had the whole theater HOWLING), exciting, and has some of the most wrenching scenes in any Pixar film. The ending had me crying, yet smiling through the tears, and it just seemed right. Best trilogy-capper since The Return Of The King.
 

Robert Crawford

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This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "Toy Story 3". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an [COLOR= rgb(68, 112, 140)]Official Discussion Thread[/COLOR].




Crawdaddy
 

Todd H

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A powerful and amazing film. Might just have moved to the top of my favorite Pixar movies list. A definite five out of five stars.
 

Patrick Sun

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I liked it, but I didn't love it. In a nutshell, as Andy is about to move on to college, all his toys are a-flutter with an uncertain future facing them. Perhaps I was getting a little tired of all the homages in the film, and I wanted a little more LOL humor, but there are a few, but not enough. The conclusion is rather satisfying, albeit telegraphed from afar, but it doesn't undercut its heartfelt emotional punch.


All in all, I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.
 

Edwin-S

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I decided to take in the 2D version of the film, since it didn't seem like the 3D was worth the extra 3.00 bucks. I also find that I prefer to watch films with the proper colour saturation; however, I might go to the 3D version for a possible second viewing. Assuming this is the final one, it is a fitting close for the toy story series. It is a bit of a feat that Pixar was able to maintain a consistent high quality for the entire Toy Story run. Generally, most sequels tend to get worse and worse in a progressing series. TS3 was pretty good, but I did find that it tended drag a bit in the middle. The film could have been punched up a with a few more funny bits of business. The funniest bit of business in the film was Buzz in Spanish mode. It is too bad they couldn't have had more of that humorous business in the rest of the film. The villain in this installment kept reminding me a bit too much of Stinky Pete from TS2. There were some good homages to the other films in the series and I thought the tip of the hat to Miyazaki was a nice touch. Rating just the Toy Story films I still think number 2 was the best, followed by the first one. Number 3 comes in a close third. I think the first two had tighter writing and were definitely funnier.
 

EricSchulz

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Originally Posted by DaveB

Just saw this masterpiece with my wife kids and I can tell you it struck a major chord with all of us for some of the same reasons, but also some different.


Prevented only by a slow second act from surpassing the two previous entries in the series, it contains some of the most emotionally poignant scenes in any Pixar film to date. And some of the cleverest humor. And some of the most gripping action. The 3D was tasteful and subtle. I also loved the many references to previous Pixar films and look forward to subsequent viewings to try and catch them all.


There is a lot to love here, but the transcendent third act is why TS3 will be remembered for generations. Once again, Pixar demonstrates to other studios (and to us all) what filmmaking looks like at the master-level.


Dave, you took the words right out of my mouth.
 

Stephen Orr

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Saw it with my wife yesterday, when Andy drove away at the end of the movie, my wife was in tears. Our son left for college a few years ago, and is now married and living in another state, but we still have his Buzz Lightyear (from the first movie) standing on a shelf in our home theater room.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Saw the film. I do agree that it's sensational.


However, I can see why some critics took away

1/2 star from perfection....


I don't know why they had to make the film so

dark when dealing with the trash burning sequence.

For me, it felt a little too intense for something you

would take your kids to see and as a whole, not

something I would have expected in a Toy Story film.


However, that's my only complaint. Take that away

and I thought that Toy Story 3 lived up to the
everything I expected from Pixar. The film had a
lot of witty storytelling and it even managed to
pull a nice emotional farewell at the end.


Great job Pixar!
 

aronnn

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aron
it is an amazing story.please share these to all users.really i liked the ideas of yours
 

Chuck Mayer

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Finally saw this today. The reviews in here cover anything I needed to say. Exceptional movie with some emotionally staggering sequences. Jaw-droppingly gorgeous as well. Pixar is still batting 1.000, easily. Can't wait to take my wife next week.

Best film I've seen this year, coming out just ahead of another animated film (How To Train Your Dragon). It is nice to see Dreamworks is gaining ground, but Pixar is still the king.
 

Ron-P

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Good film, not near as good as 1 or 2 but it was enjoyable. Just not as funny which was a bummer. They took the more serious route and that just didn't work for me.
 

Johnny Angell

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I agree with the comments about some slow moments in the film, but for the most part, the film hit all the right notes for me. The incinerator sequence really got to me and I think it was necessary to give Woody a reason to stay with his friends. I think Woody also realized that it could never be the same again with Andy, that they both had to move on.


As I think about it, there isn't another moment in all the films where all the characters are in such hopeless peril. At no other time do all the characters resign themselves to their fates. Very powerful. Yes, this film was darker. It's an extremely turbulent time in your life when you are growing up. Pixar didn't dodge the issue and handled it well with a very satisfying and appropriate ending.


I think this was the most emotionally involving of the 3 films. Both my wife and I had "something" in our eyes at the end. I have to go back to the song in TS2 when Jessie is abandoned by Emily to come close to the emotion I felt in this film.


I'm usually all in for another sequel to a good film, but the story is complete, no need for any further. Thank you Pixar.
 

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