movie based on a history of Hindu culture lacks the depth of emotions and any sort of expressions on face. it was dumb and i felt like, it was a bit too bad. even though the thing loses its track, the movie has some key elements to quickly grasp the audience. the perfect cinematography and stunning camera work makes this a definite watch. all the cartoon pictures, had not been so much visually brilliant. the arrow heading for the attacks and swords slashes and some stunts on board with fused slow motions gave the grip. the climax battle seemed clichéd and was not impressive. looks like the animator has decided to bring upon the king Kong climax. climbing the building look alike of empire states and assaulting the baddie is something joyful, but seriously has done the damage. the initial scene, was confusing and till it was aboard, no one realized who is speaking to whom. until later we get to know it. then onwards things are really different and movie takes a turn after intermission. the last 30 minutes was definite watchable though clichéd was better than the first half. the movie seemed like a 2010 movie. the muscular build up and 6-pack like appearances , are quite funny but not good. it is a classic retold. how can they make such silly mistakes. lack of any emotions in characters and bland expressions and just drops of tears and eye blinking are seen here. looks like the animator has taken to rest for a while and was forced to do it. may be he did not get enough pay. the scenes looked clichéd and movie was way too small. just about 90 min. a classic retold well, not retold , just shown with some graphics and camera movement with some crisp art work and lackluster dialogs is this. take a stroll in the park and think to have a look at it. the previous movie was way better.
13 Reviews
Awful to watch
kashmirix29 January 2016
A lovely epic turned into 90 minutes of torture. Don't get me wrong: there are a couple of nice things about the film: the scenery is actually decent, the colours are rich, and the music is acceptable. But pretty much everything else makes the film unwatchable. CGI animation in this 2010 movie is very poor, unbelievably worse than in the first full-length computer-animated film ever, the 1995 Toy Story - as if the studio was unable to catch up with the 21st century techniques. Characters have no emotions, no facial expression is visible in what one expects to be a rather emotional story. Faces are flat, as if cut out of those colourful kitsch posters sold on Indian bazaars. Storyline itself is chopped and inconsistent, the viewer has to know the fable beforehand in order to get who's who. Awful dialogues, or rather exalted declarations thrown out in the air, do not help in making the characters resemble live beings. As someone familiar with the story, after watching this production I am left with a bad taste. I regret because I wanted to show the film to my kids - but have now decided to wait a couple of years for a watchable production.
This movie hurt my brain.
b-suss7 December 2012
I wanted to watch this movie so I could know a little about this story that I was curious about and afterwards I wished I hadn't, because this is a movie that couldn't instill religious appreciation in even a child. Even by the standards of children's fare it doesn't measure up. He-Man is a more relatable character than Ram, who is essentially a robot of virtue, who overcomes adversity while exerting no effort, ably defeating dastardly villains who pose no real threat and are actually rather pathetic, and we are supposed to cheer him on when the outcome is without doubt. Part of the problem is the CG animation, which it seems they spent the whole budget on some impressive backgrounds, while the characters' faces look like dolls. Dolls don't make good substitutes for actors because they can't emote. The other part of the problem is that it is written as an action movie squeezing out any content that could have a serious religious or educational value. The film built up to a war that seemed to last ten minutes, then a climactic battle between Ram and the demon king, wherein all Ram had to do was aim an arrow at his weak point, and they hyped that ending as much as they could to make it look difficult when Ram could have done that with his eyes closed.
The poorly crafted epic
enigmaticmaniac20 October 2010
Warning: Spoilers
First of all how many times we've seen the same epic on screen and through toons. Making the epic again burdens you with more pressure and you gotta present it in a manner that people forget earlier versions. Sadly it fails. Its meant for those who already know the entire ramayana clearly and if your kid watch it for the first time, he'll be rather left confused. What I dint liked :- # What a poor scripting. Lots of important things committed which were necessary to depict the epic. # Below average direction leads it forward to low scales. # Characterization does not justifies with anyone. # Poor dialogues. # Unnecessary humor used to attract but its ridiculous. # Voice of Ravana. # Face modeling of almost every female character. # No use of hair-fur in maya which gives a fake look in characters. # Extensive use of 2d based graphics merged with 3d makes the 3d look flattened etc
What I liked :- # The Lanka setup which looks great and some other inorganic modelling. # Good use of textures. # Some of the vfx part like when Bali and Sugreev are fighting in rain and when Ravana comes himself to fight. Don't remember anything else good..
So my suggestion is don't watch it until you know the story, coz the movie fails completely to depict the true form of the epic. A movie you forget about on way back home.
What I liked :- # The Lanka setup which looks great and some other inorganic modelling. # Good use of textures. # Some of the vfx part like when Bali and Sugreev are fighting in rain and when Ravana comes himself to fight. Don't remember anything else good..
So my suggestion is don't watch it until you know the story, coz the movie fails completely to depict the true form of the epic. A movie you forget about on way back home.
nicely made !!
nihalsharma12 December 2010
Ramayana-the epic is quite vibrant and colorful movie.Yes,we know the story.We know it better than our first nursery rhyme.But ,this is not what you will go to watch the movie for.Keep in mind that you are there for an animation movie,for which the industry is still preparing.
This movie has got effects better than the earlier animation movies produced by the industry.It reveals the very class that we will be showing in next few years.Many effects in this movie are quite spectacle and funny as well.The Ravana's palace,the sea,the battle and many other things say it loudly that a lot of effort was put up for this movie.
Packing such a huge epic in just 104 minutes is really a tough task,but luckily the director did it very well.I will say that this movie is a must watch if you appreciate bollywood a little.This movie is really nice.
rating - 8.5/10
This movie has got effects better than the earlier animation movies produced by the industry.It reveals the very class that we will be showing in next few years.Many effects in this movie are quite spectacle and funny as well.The Ravana's palace,the sea,the battle and many other things say it loudly that a lot of effort was put up for this movie.
Packing such a huge epic in just 104 minutes is really a tough task,but luckily the director did it very well.I will say that this movie is a must watch if you appreciate bollywood a little.This movie is really nice.
rating - 8.5/10
Yet another disaster of an Epic.
Electric_Sheep9 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Ramayana in the modern world context holds true to the human psyche. Its something that is supposed to give to a new generation of the target audience - the youth.
I don't want viewers to decide emotionally on this review but rather practically. I will not discuss the key storyline of the Epic which is of course,is a classic, but will talk about the animation.
In 2010, with a booming industry, the animators needed to take this Epic to another sophisticated level of 3D but what we have is amazing Scenic Landscapes done with a decent touch and almost bordering great. When it gets to the characters, one can observe there are different teams working on the various subject matters - and the characterizations done in 3d have been a disaster - gimmicky and even unintentionally eerie at times. The eye contact and correlation of the characters with each other is very wooden and one can almost imagine the characters instead being string puppets including their movements.
Another bit, which I found rather disturbing, akin to another "Epic" disaster - 'Asoka' was a song and choreographed dance routine! This is not acceptable, the industry does not need to insert out of place criteria such as that in a serious movie like this.
Im sorry, maybe we might finally have a proper Animated Hindu Classic by 2020 because this one isn't so and I wont be showing it to my kids - they wont take it seriously. No Really.
I don't want viewers to decide emotionally on this review but rather practically. I will not discuss the key storyline of the Epic which is of course,is a classic, but will talk about the animation.
In 2010, with a booming industry, the animators needed to take this Epic to another sophisticated level of 3D but what we have is amazing Scenic Landscapes done with a decent touch and almost bordering great. When it gets to the characters, one can observe there are different teams working on the various subject matters - and the characterizations done in 3d have been a disaster - gimmicky and even unintentionally eerie at times. The eye contact and correlation of the characters with each other is very wooden and one can almost imagine the characters instead being string puppets including their movements.
Another bit, which I found rather disturbing, akin to another "Epic" disaster - 'Asoka' was a song and choreographed dance routine! This is not acceptable, the industry does not need to insert out of place criteria such as that in a serious movie like this.
Im sorry, maybe we might finally have a proper Animated Hindu Classic by 2020 because this one isn't so and I wont be showing it to my kids - they wont take it seriously. No Really.
Ramayana - The Epic
zodge_prash16 October 2010
Warning: Spoilers
One of the best movie in 3D animation I ever watch. Superb Texturing, Superb VFX, Superb Modeling Of character Ravan & other Also. Special Effect r used in very very good manner. Monkey Model's Animation have Done Very Very Good, specially the Monkey Song "Jangal Ke Raja Hum Hai". Congratulation for the group member's who done great work on this Movie which became memorable history in Indian animated world.
Ramayana The Epic is a faithful but dreary retelling of one of our favourite and most familiar stories. Since almost everyone in a theater knows the plot, the pleasure in this animated version can only come from the telling of the tale.
Debutant director Chetan Desai gives us impressive visuals, grand battles and perhaps India's first Lord Ram with six-pack abs. But the plodding screenplay undermines these efforts. Ramayana The Epic doesn't soar enough or arouse the requisite shock and awe.
Thankfully, the animation here is more sophisticated than the average mythological such as Bal Ganesh or Ghatothkach.
Desai and his team of 400 animators have created a richly detailed world – so Ravan is always clad in various layers of gold Armour and lives in a golden fortress perched on the peak of a mountain.
There's also a ferociously etched battle between Bali and Sugreev who try to trump one another in pouring rain. But despite the arduous labour that has so obviously gone into making the film, the characters don't come alive.
Manoj Bajpai voices Ram, Juhi Chawla voice Sita and Ashutosh Rana voices Ravan but none of these fine actors manage to imbue the drawings with any personality.
Poor Ravan, like any age-old Hindi movie villain, is either snarling or laughing. Desai tries to pack as much of the sprawling epic as he can into a 104-minute film. So, the narrative feels episodic, almost like a best of Ramayana, rather than organic. I also wondered why a film aimed at children needed to have severed heads and why the eyebrows of every character, especially the wicked Manthara, seemed to have a life of their own.
Ramayana is an ambitious step toward better homegrown cinema for children. I just wish it had more crackle. I'm going with two and a half stars.
Ramayana The Epic is a faithful but dreary retelling of one of our favourite and most familiar stories. Since almost everyone in a theater knows the plot, the pleasure in this animated version can only come from the telling of the tale.
Debutant director Chetan Desai gives us impressive visuals, grand battles and perhaps India's first Lord Ram with six-pack abs. But the plodding screenplay undermines these efforts. Ramayana The Epic doesn't soar enough or arouse the requisite shock and awe.
Thankfully, the animation here is more sophisticated than the average mythological such as Bal Ganesh or Ghatothkach.
Desai and his team of 400 animators have created a richly detailed world – so Ravan is always clad in various layers of gold Armour and lives in a golden fortress perched on the peak of a mountain.
There's also a ferociously etched battle between Bali and Sugreev who try to trump one another in pouring rain. But despite the arduous labour that has so obviously gone into making the film, the characters don't come alive.
Manoj Bajpai voices Ram, Juhi Chawla voice Sita and Ashutosh Rana voices Ravan but none of these fine actors manage to imbue the drawings with any personality.
Poor Ravan, like any age-old Hindi movie villain, is either snarling or laughing. Desai tries to pack as much of the sprawling epic as he can into a 104-minute film. So, the narrative feels episodic, almost like a best of Ramayana, rather than organic. I also wondered why a film aimed at children needed to have severed heads and why the eyebrows of every character, especially the wicked Manthara, seemed to have a life of their own.
Ramayana is an ambitious step toward better homegrown cinema for children. I just wish it had more crackle. I'm going with two and a half stars.
If you don't know the Religion, you might have some trouble.
Angels_Review27 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
From the first point of this story, we can tell this was an Indian story, more like around India, not America. It's about their religion as well, a story line that isn't really easy to understand. As they first come up, they seem to think we already know the story and so give us limited amount of details, its hard for an outsider to understand.
Even though the story was hard to follow, I figured out that it was the story of three wives, one being rather jealous of the other for her child was to be king and so conspires against the child and mother to have them thrown out for a time. It's a basic story that westerners have except its more like a evil step mother queen who tries to banish the child from the kingdom.
The animation in the beginning only hides the animation within the show. I mean that it's rather bad CG. Characters have rather flat faces and the world around them feels flat as well with the colors they have. I do not think it was wise to place this movie in CG at all. All the skin tones glow crudely and look rather like no one changed the shine. I guess its not bad coming from India but I would of thought it would be done better.
The voices, they were hard for me I have to admit. They were in Hindi instead of English which makes it rather hard for me to watch. In fact, because of this, it took me longer to review this and actually sit down to watch it then if it was in English. They also sound like they are metallic and not really human. I guess its OK for the gods but not for the people.
Even though the story was hard to follow, I figured out that it was the story of three wives, one being rather jealous of the other for her child was to be king and so conspires against the child and mother to have them thrown out for a time. It's a basic story that westerners have except its more like a evil step mother queen who tries to banish the child from the kingdom.
The animation in the beginning only hides the animation within the show. I mean that it's rather bad CG. Characters have rather flat faces and the world around them feels flat as well with the colors they have. I do not think it was wise to place this movie in CG at all. All the skin tones glow crudely and look rather like no one changed the shine. I guess its not bad coming from India but I would of thought it would be done better.
The voices, they were hard for me I have to admit. They were in Hindi instead of English which makes it rather hard for me to watch. In fact, because of this, it took me longer to review this and actually sit down to watch it then if it was in English. They also sound like they are metallic and not really human. I guess its OK for the gods but not for the people.
Never before in India
drmanishadsvv13 November 2019
A Must Watch Movie
bhaskar-joardar20 September 2012
We admire foreign animation movies based on their mythological characters but criticize ours own by saying that the topic is common.
This is the best animation film based on Indian epic till now. The whole Ramayana was described in just 1 hour and 37 minutes. Dialouges were written wisely. Animation is the best as per Indian standard. Characters are created precisely. The war part is not that brief. The story may be common but the way it is presented is really good. Every time I see it, I feel as if I am watching it afresh. Good movie to teach your child "The Ramayana".
I would appreciate if more such movie will be produces in future.
This is the best animation film based on Indian epic till now. The whole Ramayana was described in just 1 hour and 37 minutes. Dialouges were written wisely. Animation is the best as per Indian standard. Characters are created precisely. The war part is not that brief. The story may be common but the way it is presented is really good. Every time I see it, I feel as if I am watching it afresh. Good movie to teach your child "The Ramayana".
I would appreciate if more such movie will be produces in future.
A must watch and with kids. best animation from India
pradeep-sharma-556-91302215 December 2012
Surely it is a must watch even if you do not have knowledge of Indian epic and a must watch never the less for those who know this subject.a collector's choice FOR DVD enthusiast. For me this is the best animation till date from India, nicely directed and giving its unique touch to the narration of the Epic story of good's victory over evil. I have watched it tens of times and my kids too. And get mesmerized every time. Amazing animation, hope there are more such movies made on Indian subjects and mythology or otherwise. It wasn't a box office hit, and I cant avoid and think a lot of kids and parents missed that such a movie was made. Cant get bored of it. It feels fresh every time.
Brilliant!
somuroy10 October 2012
The film has been made on a massive scale and that is reason enough for watching it! Apart from that, I think that it is one of the best animation films ever produced by an Indian studio. You can see the passion that has gone into making it. It has been very well researched. Production design and values are international class. Characterization is good. Unlike many animation flicks, the faces here are more human. All the colors....people, surrounding, backgrounds have been have been used optimally to give the film a rich look. The voices have been selected to complement the characters perfectly. Even the music has been created with care. Everything about the film speaks of opulence! Watching it on the big screen with my kids was an amazing experience. Really grand. A must watch for every movie buff. Deserves a standing ovation.
Best Ramayana ever
chandanahuja-2178714 November 2018
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