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Synopsis
The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It’s lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, or any of the other giants—rather than the BFG—she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that the giants are flush-bunking off to England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!
IMDb Rating 6.2 2,492 votes
Director
Cast
Adam Godley, Andy Thompson, Bill Hader, Callum Seagram Airlie, Chris Gibbs, Chris Shields, Daniel Bacon, Denise Jones, Gabrielle Rose, Geoffrey Wade, Gerardo Barcala, Gintare Beinoraviciute, Graham Curry, Haig Sutherland, Jemaine Clement, John Emmet Tracy, Jonathan Holmes, Julia Torrance, Lucia Ryan, Marilyn Norry, Mark Rylance, Matt Frewer, Michael Adamthwaite, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Paul Barnhill, Paul Moniz de Sa, Penelope Wilton, Rafe Spall, Rebecca Hall, Ruby Barnhill, Shauna Hansen, Simona Hughes, William Samples
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interesting but it could be Great.
This was a fun family movie with a sweet ending.
Me aburrio hasta dormirme
Not the best Spielberg family movie, but it manages to take you on a fantastic ride like nobody like Spielberg manages to. “The BFG” is a magical movie with an awesome performance by Mark Rylance, awesome visual effects and enough entertainment for children that can allow adults to have fun as well. It’s not great, but it’s beautiful!
Visually, this movie is magnificent. But it lacks magic. Dahl’s stories had magic. Spielberg’s classics had magic. But this film? They seemed to think that a classic tale with amazing effects and good vocal talent would somehow equal something beautiful. Unfortunately, the math does not work out…the end result is LESS than the sum of its parts. I would have better served to read the book (or watch E.T., for that matter).
A very huge film, failing a bit when it comes to getting pleased by the audience. It’s development actually took over 20 years and it has loads of other impressive trivia. Spielberg has been wanting to do this film for a very long time and when he finally “gets” it, I’m very pleased with it being done when the techincal features was so strong and solid as possible. Imagine a 2002-version, that would look crap today, right? Well, maybe I will thing excactly that in fifteen years, but I doubt it. The story was adapted to a film with the same name in 1989, though. I have never seen it, but it’s full animation and probably not so impressive.
This film has a solid mixture of real faces and plenty of CGI. I’m not a CGI-fan at all, but the mix here looks swell. I’m impressed with the camerahandling and the presentation. The colors, the scenery, the giants looks splendid. I love the soundmixing and the work John Williams put down here – amazing stuff once again. The story is widely known and for me, Roald Dahl is the greatest of newer times when it comes to storytelling. No doubt. If you are a kid or not, you will be impressed – and quite possibly the kids are blown away, even of they never really know the quality of it. That’s where the true magic is for me.
I won’t go into the story here, it’s not needed, but it’s pure quality and the book Roald was most satisfied with himself. Great casting, cool to see that Mark Rylance was picked up while doing “Bridge of Spies” – pretty close timewise to this film. Rylance absolutely nails it by the way. He is the center here.
I like the way the director finally does somthing for kids again and I feel he really delivered. I don’t like the farting, but heck, I bet it’s the hights for the youngest audience. Farting queens – pretty unorthodox. I don’t really care for the kid or the fact that it’s never a hind of intense of frightening scenes here, neither are funnier scenes often presents. It’s kind of flat. Still very enjoyable and given to make you smile and maybe even shed a few.
Never expect a challanging plot, smart moves or twists. Expect a family film, then let spellbounding fantasy grip you as it appeals to your innocence and liberty to dream.
8.5 out of 10 snozzcumbers.
Slow movie. However, the performances are spectacular.
Mark Rylance is wonderful as the titular Big Friendly Giant, and the film is beautiful to look at, but that doesn’t distract from the slow, meandering plot, nor the wooden acting from the leading child. This is one of Steven Spielberg’s lesser efforts. 2 1/2 stars.
A very well told story from my personally favorite director Steven Spielberg. But the acting in this film lack and to me at times it loses me with making sense. For one thing supposing the 8 mean giants are sneaking in France and eating kids. But when we meet them there loud and dumb. With that being said tho the film is good and is one that children will want to watch over and over.
big friendly giant…a wonderful film from disney about an orphanage girl named Sophie and her giant friend and how they fought bad dreams and bad giants.
I absolutely adore this movie. It makes my soul smile. I wish I could jump right into the screen and latch on to that adorable giant with a ginormaus hug! It brings out even more of the inner child I fight to keep in check.
Taking under consideration it is only a movie for kids with good visual effects, it is not bad.
While the animations are quite good(though the facial expressions are a bit stiff) this movie has almost zero plot, zero story flow and doesn’t understand what it is even doing with itself. The movie is actually quite good until about 20 minutes in, where it then become mainly dialogue that leads no where in terms of plot. Just when it seems the movie is about to make sense, the writers throw in fart jokes and continue own with pointless and time wasting dialogue. If you are not a child, and are actually looking to enjoy a movie, skip this one. It is not worth your time.
I hate to start out with this, but I almost feel like I have to. A person I follow on Twitter, whose handle shall remain nameless, once said that his controversial opinions only involve films. He then said that he thought Christopher Nolan was a scrub, which I disagree with, but he’s more than entitled to believe that. One of his other controversial opinions was that he felt that Spielberg’s film were sentimental tripe. This was a month or so ago, so I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the essence of his tweets. And this one, this one I really got a bit angered with. To the point that I actually muted him on Twitter for a while. Because this is demonstrably false. When you have a career as long and as prolific as Spielberg’s you end up making every type of movie under the sun. It’s the type of ignorant statement that’s the equivalent of saying that Scorsese has only made gangster movies. Let’s just look at a few of the movies in Spielberg’s filmography: Jaws, Close Encounters, ET (the film that I’m assuming inspired the tweet), 1941, the Indiana Jones franchise (all o them), The Color Purple, Jurassic Park (and its first sequel), Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Munich, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies and, of course, The BFG (the film that brings us together now). There are many others on that list, but that’s just some of them. The fact of the matter is that to sum up an entire career, that covers FIVE decades, to just one style of film is ignorant and neglectful of Spielberg’s contributions to the world of films. Say what you will about the guy, and criticize his movies, which I implore you to do as that leads to interesting conversations between film geeks, but don’t say something as ignorant as suggestig that every film in his repertoire is exactly the same and covers the same theme. I really hate that that took up so much of this review, but I really had to say that. I digress, let’s move on to this movie, which is what really matters. Yet another live-action Disney movie that tries to sell you on the bond that is built between a little kid and fantastical creature. First it was The Jungle Book with Mowgli and his bond with Baloo and Bagheera. Then there was Pete’s Dragon with Pete and his, well, dragon. And then there’s this movie with Sophie and the eponymous BFG (Big Friendly Giant). You can bet people switched out Friendly for another F-word. As far as the three movies are concerned, which one does the best job at creating the emotional bond between its leads? Honestly, I thought the Jungle Book, almost by a country mile, was the weakest of the three movies. While I gave it three stars, it’s a movie that I did not like for the most part. Objectively speaking, it had more good than bad, but I didn’t enjoy it that much nor did I buy into the bond. That leaves Pete’s Dragon and this one. I’d say that Pete’s Dragon did a better job by this one (though not by much) simply because of the fact that Pete was raised by the dragon and their connection went deeper than just being best friends. I think the BFG doesn’t come close to that, but that’s not to say that the connection between Sophie and the BFG isn’t there, because it is. But it is missing something that I felt Pete’s Dragon had. With that said, however, this is still a good movie. It doesn’t really surprise me that they went with a more family-friendly approach to Roald Dahl’s darker novel. It’s a movie that was co-financed by Disney, so you better fucking know that they’ll want the film as family-friendly as humanly possible. Which I understand, the film cost a lot of money to make and they wanted to recoup as much of that money as possible. But I just wish the film contained some of the darker elements of the novel. I’ve, personally, never read it and I wish I would have gotten a sense of the darker elements. Like, for example, the orphanage that the BFG takes Sophie away from is run by an abusive woman. You can hint at things without fully showing them, you don’t have to see the kids being hit or mistreated. But I digress, you have to review the movie as it is and not as you want it to be. The film is simple, relatively speaking. Sophie is a lonely girl without any real friends. She’s taken by the BFG after she sees him. He believes that he would tell everyone she knows about him. He then takes her to Giant Country where he lives with other giants (all of whom are bigger than him). These other giants eat human beings (or beans as the giants call them, one of the many things they mispronounce). The BFG is bullied by the other giants and Sophie tries to teach him to stand up for himself. Eventually, things progress to the point where the bad giants are going on a hunt for humans and Sophie decides to use the BFG so they can get help from the Queen in order to stop the giants. There’s nothing about the movie that explores more complex issues. Even Sophie’s loneliness is easily resolved by the BFG and the BFG’s past experience with another child is only touched upon in passing. The film is well-written, and the acting is really good. Ruby Barnhill, this is her first film, is quite good here. She’s a bit rough around the edges, but she’s, otherwise, very good. There’s very few human actors that get any real screen time, at least until they go to the Queen of England, which features Penelope Wilton, Rafe Spall and Rebecca Hall, all of whom are very good here as well. Mark Rylance, who voices the BFG, is excellent here. Not to mention the fact that the actual CG for the character, and all the other giants, is top-notch. The facial animations for giants, BFG in particular, are tremendous. I don’t think the CG is quite as good here as it was in Jungle Book, but it’s still high quality. One of the few problems is that there were parts where, I felt, the film dragged. I thought the scenes with the Queen and Buckingham Palace added an element of surprise, not to mention new human characters, but I felt that it ground the movie to a halt. It’s not that this part of the film is bad, far from it, but it just hurt the pacing of the movie which, to that point, had been quite good. Prior to this, the BFG and Sophie never spent too much time in one location or doing just one thing. So this Buckingham Palace is a bit of a curve ball in that regards. Again, it’s not bad and the new characters are welcome additions, but I just felt that it hurt the story more than it benefited it, even though this part was essential to the narrative. The film gets a little sentimental in its epilogue, but it’s not as bad as it could have been. Not really sure what else to say about this. It’s a good movie, it’s got very good acting, great CG, a strong emotional bond between its leads, but the flaws are too many for me to say that this is a really good movie. It falls just short of that. I’d still recommend it, it’s not perfect, but if you want something to watch with your family, then this will do the job.
Very Slow, I guess good for kids under 10 but not for little kids either. In the neighborhood of Flash Gordon from the 70’s
Never in a million years would I have imagined a movie could so perfectly capture the real magic that is The BFG. It’s a special book, completely in a league of its own, and the movie makes it out before my very eyes exactly how it was in my head as a kid. I remember reading it and feeling how special it was, and watching this movie brought those feelings right back. Everyone should see this movie.
Lovely emotional and heart throbbing bond that the two have.
That so good no, it was great??????????????
As much as I wanted to like this movie, I did. However, the word ‘like’ should not be misconstrued with good.
Beautiful family Movie.
Pretty awful. Rylance is good, but the girl playing Sophie ruined it for me and the whole thing just didn’t hang together well. However my two children loved it, so that’s the main thing.
The original “Inception”. Just as brilliant as the book
Spielberg tries too hard to be Scorsese (for Hugo), yet it is impossible to compare to his children’s masterpiece, ET. Still, it looks great and was mostly entertaining.
Nope. One of Spielberg’s worst films
This is a slow and uninspired film, this feels like Spielberg on autopilot mode. The story may stick to the plot of the book, I’m not too sure on that front, never read the book but the pacing is all over the place. I didn’t care for the anti climatic finale or the misjudged comedy attempts, this was a giant mishap. This never felt like a Spielberg film, the grand storytelling you get from his films just wasn’t there. You must think he should think about throwing in the towel after making this and Tintin, these films don’t have a voice and anyone could’ve made these. This should’ve been made by some up and coming director, even Skull Island had some distinction to other genre films. Giant misstep here. 30/04/2017.
How can you not enjoy a movie directed by legendary Steven Spielberg? Answer, watch this. The story is uneven, the female lead totally unengaging, and the ending (?), well suffice to say that you will be left asking yourself “Really?”, as in a five minute wrap up after an hour and a half of disjointed build up. Whew! The BFG’s labored (cute?) version of English is so distracting that I was constantly asking myself ‘what did he say?’.
The first and second half of this film feels like two completely disjointed stories which should have never been meshed together. I loved this film till I didn’t.
Wonderful. The imagery and cinematography is magical and perfect.
BFG is not the best but it visually beautiful. I like the whole giant idea. However there is no real storyline in this film.
The BFG was a cute playful movie that touched a childhood soft spot. The visual effects were enticing and the story line was one that touched the heart. The relationship built between the characters is heart warming, this is definitely a movie for the whole family to enjoy.
not bad… not good enough
I personally think this is a wonderful selection for family movie nights. Of course it was the classic “good guy beats bad guy” kind of movie but still quite interesting to watch.
Stupid. Simply stupid. Spielberg, what happened to you?
i don’t like movies with farts.It is not funny.It is ridiculous….For me at least …Because someone who makes somebody else laugh, must be clever.Nowadays most comedies are stupid
Uninteresting story filled with unlikeable characters.
Oddly enough, the concept behind the movie wasn’t particularly interesting, and while I would not expect a great deal of realism, the lack of it made it purely a kids movie. With that said, it was well done and entertaining enough.
One of the most disappointing movies of the year.
Well aquainted with the quirky Roald Dahl books from when I was a kid, I enjoyed this and it’s pleasing to see that Disney didn’t water it down. The screenplay was penned by the late Mellissa Matheson (ET The Extra Terrestrial) and the CGI was visually superb and believable. Infact, the warm-hearted giant was rendered very lifelike (looking as he did, like Liam Neeson!) and terrifically voiced.
Bouncy, enjoyable, if not perfect. Mark Rylance is a delight of an actor, too.
slow @ times but visually stunning
As good as the book!!!!!!!
Charming, colorful, and kind of aimless (but the good kind a child would enjoy)
I didn’t think I would like this but I did enjoy it. so don’t judge just watch
The animation is just wonderful. The story is ok but somewhat unrealistic. The acting is ok for this type of movie. Overall it’s an average movie for kids only.
The BFG – Oq dizer? Criado por Roald Dahl, é Roteiro adaptado pela Melisa Mathensonj, Com uma trila sonora do John Williams, Filme dirigido pelo grande Steven Spielberg (Direção Fantástica) Mas com um Roteiro bem mais ou menos, com atuações sem muito envolvimento. O filme é OK.
Nota: 6
The first half is full of child like wonder and makes you smile, though the film could use a few pacing lessons. But it completely falls flat on it’s face it the second half. And when you’re a giant movie, that hurts a lot more.
The animated ’89 version of The BFG was a staple of my youth, so naturally I was excited for a Steven Spielberg redo. Unfortunately, I don’t think the tale lends itself well to the live action format. That, or the hands making this piece were unable to concentrate the narrative to where it went. In either case, the end product is a film with many tiny endearing moments of nostalgia that at no point come together to create a laudable whole.
what the hell is this film?
One of this year’s best fantasy adventure flicks adapted from the mind of the brilliant work of Roald Dahl (Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Excellent and lovely story!
The bar has been set so high for Spielberg movies that anything less than Oscar-level quality is often seen as a failure. However, to judge the BFG along those lines would be a great disservice to a movie that has a great many merits, particularly as a family film. Shed of much of the darkness of Roald Dahl’s source material, Spielberg breathes a healthy dose of his magic into The BFG, though it never reaches to the greatness of ET. Spielberg, however, does get some very strong performances from Mark Rylance as the title character and newcomer Ruby Barnhill as the young orphan who befriends the giant. The real star of the movie is probably the spot-on motion capture that brings the giants to life. If you’re expecting a groundbreaking film like Raiders of the Lost Ark or a crisply directed work like Catch Me If You Can, you’re in the wrong movie. But if you have room for close to two hours (which might be a tad overlong) of sweet, touching fun, you should absolutely consider The BFG.
It’s a sweet movie. The little girl is adorable. The BFG cgi looked good but whenever Sophie was on his hands her movements were off. Plot points were a bit weak. I did enjoy the movie though.
I wanted to leave in the first 30 minutes.
I liked it. Great visuals, magical soundtrack, charming performances. A slow pace, however, caused my attention to waver.
Pretty cute movie with fun characters…too bad they felt the need to add a bunch of fart humour.
very cute and sweet movie, filled with dreams and magic as should be.
IT RUINED MY GIANT FRIEND, A CARTOON SERIES WITH SPECTACULAR PLOT! BFG FAILS APART!!!
Lame and disappointing
I knew very little of this film going in and found that I enjoyed it. I’m always a sucker for British- styled fantasy tales and this did not disappoint.
I loved the book bit I found the movie very disappointing
It was ok, but not that great either. The animation is terrific throughout. However, at times it felt like it could have been a bit shorter than it was. The last 20 or 30 minutes or so dragged a bit.
Not really magical, and not really memorable.
This film tells the tale of a young girl, the Queen of England and a benevolent giant known as the BFG, who set out on an adventure to capture the evil, man-eating giants who have been invading the human world.
I’ll be completely honest. I didn’t know what “The BFG” was so when I first heard about its release, I thought it stood for Big Fucking Gun. I wondered, how could this be a kid’s movie? There’s nothing kid friendly about that. However, then I found out what this film was really about. It made a little more sense but I was still a little less interested. After watching this as part of a movie marathon (spanning as movie #5), it was definitely the worst of the bunch.
I’ll be honest, I thought this film looked really bad. The mix between the young girl and her interaction with the environment looked really bad. I mean, the motion capture was fine, but it looked like she was in the middle of a cartoon. It kind of felt awkward and cheesy and with today’s standards, it felt like I was watching some animation back in the early 2000’s. I mean, the animation itself is good, but I bet this film could’ve been better if it was just an animation. I think it would’ve been more interesting, in that sense.
Mark Rylance’s portrayal of the giant really was the best part of this film. He made the character his own and he made it memorable. I think he made the character what it was and he’s the reason there was a spark of fun in this film. As for Ruby Barnhill, she was fine as an actress, but I didn’t really like her character. She came off as a know-it-all personality, which was more annoying than anything.
I guess the worst thing I have to say about this film is that its a film that will really only appeal for young children. There’s not much here that will appear to audience that are over the age of 13, and that’s the biggest disappointment. There’s simple and easy giggles placed around this film, with visuals meant for a lower budget film and a ridiculous plot. I mean, seriously, the plot / screenplay was pretty cringe worthy at times. It was just another aspect of this film that fell short.
In the end, ‘The BFG” was a disappointment. It’s a film that’s best suited for a younger audience, otherwise, there’s not much you’ll be able to take from here.
The movie was truly incredible 🙂
A good movie that’s it.
It’s definitely not as cute or as funny as it seems to think it is.
A fun family movie that was visually stunning with some great fun moments.
Well, I would’ve expected much more of a Ronald Dahl & Spielberg collaboration however it was very childish and simple from time to time. Some scenes were fascinating for sure but overall it was simple.
I personally would say this is a fairytale movie in some ways but it was not as good as I was hoping I found it to slow and not a whole lot of the action
Wonderful family movie.
Good movie for all ages.
Puts a smile on my face 🙂
Lovely film. Mark Rylance steals the show!
Spielberg has crafted another fine family film.
Pour la première fois, Steven Spielberg s’associe avec Disney pour The BFG, son dernier film en date. Clairement destiné aux très jeunes, The BFG est ce qu’on pourrait appeler une bouillie de CGI dégueulasses (agrémentée de contre-plongées immondes) qui ne fait absolument aucun sens et qui n’a absolument aucune raison de durer 2h. On pensait Spielberg encore capable de raconter des histoires. Ce n’est pas le cas ici, l’intrigue étant inintéressante au possible, se résumant très souvent à des blagues de pets qui, et cela tient du prodige, parviennent à être pathétiques. Certes, Ruby Barnhill et Mark Rylance sont très bons, les seconds rôles comme Rebecca Hall et Rafe Spall expédiés mais sympathiques, mais The BFG est complètement loupé. On to the next one.
I loved this book and this movie makes a mockery of it. The acting is terrible the CGI is bad, the writing is stupid.
Dull and plodding narrative, lacks any sort of heart. Didn’t finish it as I didn’t care what was going on.
One of Spielberg’s best.
Not as good as E.T., but still awesome.
I will never re watch this tedious pretentious film again
I’m not saying I hate this movie. I just see no reason to force myself to endure any more than I have to.
Fun and magical. Made me smile a lot.
The second worst movie i saw for Steven Spielberg… !!!
I’m not familiar with the BFG book. Children would probably enjoy it more. I thought it was “just okay”. The CGI could have been better. Some parts looked choppy. I don’t think it’s even close to being a good Disney movie. And I’m pretty sure I’ll forget all about it in a week.
A sweet charming film.
Very nice,,, ok? The beggining was little boring, but it was ok!
One of my favorite Spielberg movies.
The BFG is a scary looking dude.
It’s a cute family fun drama but doesn’t have the charm as the classic children’s book!
Hear is a Fantasy that I think people will like but not a lot of action it was not up to my standards
Mark Rylance is great in this mediocre portrayal of an excellent book.
I know Roald Dahl was a unique writer who had a different way of creating stories for children, but if The BFG is an accurate depiction of what he wrote, then this book was a low point for him. This story is atrocious, and I’m not just talking about how they devolve into using farts in order to make a sad attempt at a joke. It’s amazing how mundane this story feels when there is something so magical going on. The giant world is approached in a matter-of-fact way so that, aside from the initial shock, everyone adjusts to the existence of giants quickly. They never make a decent attempt to explain how the world works, and the logic of the dream manufacturing is likewise glossed over. So they suck all the wonder out of the film, and leave you to just watch the bad acting, horrible CGI, and boring plot. I always hate criticizing child actors, but so few of them have the natural charisma to carry an entire film on their shoulders, and Ruby Barnhill is not one of them. She plays opposite a cartoon voiced by Mark Rylance. I don’t mind him as a voice performer, but the gibberish language that he uses gets old in no time. I wasn’t sure if they were going for a Mary Poppins thing where it’s clear the giant world is literally an entire cartoon construct, or if we were supposed to think that these giants were realistic. Whatever they were attempting was a total failure, much like the plot. This film is a disaster of storytelling. It is predictable, stupid, and I cannot stand how little agency the heroine has in anything important that happens at the end and how unrealistic it all seemed. I understand that we’re working with some magical things so logic doesn’t work the same with them, but when they interact with the real world, that should function with some logic and it does not. Don’t waste your time on The BFG because there are so many other children’s films that are considerably better.
a pleasantly engaging move, a bit slow off the start, but well done.
this is so cute im so glad I watched it I almost cried
Felix enjoyed this a lot but I’m putting that down to the source novel rather than this bloated Spielberg adaptation. How can you make the B.F.G. seem so dull? Every scene is played out for double it’s natural length, I lost interest a number of times. I loved this book as a child so we’ll be reading it whilst it’s fresh in my son’s memory but I’d be amazed if we watched this adaptation again.
Cute and imaginative. But sometimes weird and dull.
The charming simplicity of the book did not make the jump to the big screen leaving the BFG a big bloated meandering movie. Stick to the simpler (and gracefully shorter) cartoon.
It felt like a slow movie
– E.T.’s illustrious screenwriter makes magic in The BFG –
I loved stories by Roald Dahl growing up – books and movie adaptations alike. I was friends with James and his bug friends. I longed for Matilda’s magic powers. I giggled over Esio Trot and found delight time and again with Charlie inside Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory. There is a marvelous combination of ordinary and magic in Dahl’s stories. Beyond the tricks, Oompa Loompas, levitation, and enchanted peaches lies the most fundamental part of the human struggle: the desire for love, friendship, and family. Especially from a child’s-eye-view.
Screenwriter Melissa Mathison (E.T. and The Indian in the Cupboard) began work on the film in 2014. She and director Steven Spielberg collaborated for many years, beginning with the beloved E.T. Their working relationship was intimate and unique, allowing Mathison to develop some of the most memorable, nuanced aspects of E.T. such as the creature’s ability to feel Elliot’s feelings.
“I think she understood the natural habitat of childhood,” Spielberg shares with Entertainment Weekly. “Melissa was all about discovery.”
During principal photography of The BFG, Mathison was on set every day watching scenes. She occasionally called Spielberg over to suggest changes to her dialog, and often he passed the notes immediately on to the actors. This is an almost unheard-of level of collaboration between writers and directors in Hollywood, but their connection was clearly special. Both Mathison and Spielberg love Roald Dahl, love making magic happen on screen, and know the importance of a child’s story.
One of the things Spielberg knows how to do best is make a movie about boys. He crafted ET, TinTin, A.I. and Saving Private Ryan. He directed Empire of the Sun and Indiana Jones. But now, for the first time in more than thirty years, and with the help of Mathison, his protagonist is a girl. A little orphan girl named Sophie, to be precise.
The BFG takes place in a version of London where Giants roam the street in the dead of night, stealing children and puffing dreams into sleeping heads. Ruby Barnhill plays the cuter-than-should-be-legal Sophie, who needs reading glasses, has insomnia, and is completely, British-ly miffed at being kidnapped by a giant (played by Mark Rylance).
Their adventure takes them to Giant Country (a dangerous place, even if Sophie’s Giant is of the Big, Friendly variety). Once they move past their reservations about each other, Sophie and the BFG team up to help one another overcome their fears and help rid the land of the BFG’s cruel Giant neighbors who gleefully eat hapless humans without remorse.
It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly felt so lovely and comforting about the film, to me. But gosh, I liked it so much. Perhaps it was the simple plot and classic Dahl juxtaposition of realism and the absurd. Maybe it was how lifelike the BGF is, and how every chuckle, frown, and even thought crossing Rylance’s face is reflected in the masterful CGI rendering of his character. Maybe it was the absolutely stunning visuals and cinematography, which made me feel completely immersed in a beautiful, dark new world.
But I have an inkling that it was the smaller things which warmed my heart so thoroughly.
It’s when BFG takes Sophie to Dream Country so she can see the way he captures dreams, and she finds her own dream, glowing golden and full of bright future and possibility.
It’s the scene when they have breakfast with the Queen of England (possibly the most purely delightful part of the whole film) and as they dig into the pancakes, tea, and fruit, you realize that neither Sophie nor BFG has ever eaten a decent meal in their lives until this very moment.
I found something wondrous in the big and small working together. I love light and magic and dreams, and most of all, the hearts of small people. And I found some of that in this little movie, unfettered by the glitz and headache that so often accompanies movies made for children.
The BFG was the first script Melissa Mathison had written in nearly two decades, and it was her last. Sadly, she passed away of cancer before the film even premiered at age 65, not long after being diagnosed. She didn’t write the film as a final goodbye though; she didn’t know she was sick when they began work in 2014. I like to think it must have been the allure of Giant Country, the beauty of Dahl’s adventures, that drew her back into filmmaking in time to tell one final story.
And oh, there is much to discover! Just like I discovered worlds in the pages of Roald Dahl when I was a child, there are treasures to be unearthed in the loving and poignant last cinematic words of Mathison’s adaptation.
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This review was first published on Narrative Muse, http://www.narrativemuse.co/movies/the-bfg, and was written Debbie Holloway. Narrative Muse curates the best books and movies by and about women and non-binary folk on our website http://narrativemuse.co and our social media channels.
“. . . once upon a time, there was a man with heart made of sugar . . . and his heart was as big as the WHOLE WORLD” – and so begins this very saccharine, heavily overproduced fantasy movie that combines a hour or so of Peter Jackson’s moribund Hobbit aesthetic, acres of mangled toddler-speak, fart jokes, MORE fart jokes and brilliantly rendered CGI backgrounds, which I add are quite breathtaking, but over the course of the film lend a sense of placelessness and plasticity. Main problems with the film are that the BFG’s lighting and textures make him look like a large plastic CGI puppet rather than a modern era fantasy character, also the film spends a lot (in fact most) of it’s screen time in a back and forth between main character Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant, but the material lacks hard pathos, gut laughs, grandeur. Big budget cartoons clearly bring out the worst in Spielberg, although the film does introduce the concepts and plot from the classic kids fable, and as I mentioned before the CGI lighting and fake backgrounds frequently look great.
This is a story that hearkens to the days when all we had were storybooks to fuel our imaginations . It is a movie that i have shown my children and will share with my grandchildren. You feel for the characters, which in this day and age of furiously thrown together , is an utter marvel by itself and shows the genius of the writers, animators and the director.
I didn’t have high hopes and it really surprised me. It was amazing. Visuals were stunning. I felt like a little child again.
One of the best Roald Dahl adaptations.
I loved it, Brilliant!
it could have been good it really could, but it missed by a mile
Spielberg plays it safe with this adaptation of the book written by Roald Dahl. The performances shine bright in amidst a story that is simply fine, but not overly-memorable. It has a good deal of heart, and the visuals are stunning. The plot, however, goes places that underwhelms, and as a whole makes the film a bit of a letdown in its climax. But it is a harmless and entertaining family film that should satisfy all ages.
Not quite up to snuff, but I enjoyed the story at times.
Good concept, not exucuted well
Not quite a Giant of a film but larger than life
I’ll watch these animated movie with special effects with my family at home! Using boxxy software.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t read Dahl as a kid, or maybe I didn’t read Dahl for this very reason, but it’s a wafer-thin story, worthy of 20 minutes at best, stretched to nearly TWO HOURS! And the effects and acting aren’t that good either. What a mess.
Why do People hate this movie, It is a wonderful story through a human and a Giant Friend Relationship like They chose the best actors and I’m saying Steven Spielberg did a great job in this movie
This live-action adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel exists in a manner similar to that of the titular character at hand. It’s sweet and wholesome, yet characteristically oddball and strange. And for the “BFG” film in particular, these more peculiar elements tend to come about in the latter half of things, where a very unpredictable narrative left turn ultimately leaves the audience uttering, “. . .huh?” The confusion, on the part of this audience member at least, lasts only a little while, however, with the film’s charm and visual splendor eventually lulling you back into the typical Spielbergian state of genuine entertainment. It’s not one of his better told stories — namely due to the idiosyncratic stylings of Dahl doing him in, methinks — but it still looks and feels good.
I saw the magic … loved it
This wonderful film tells the story of a girl called Sophie and her great friend who goes by the name of the Big Friendly Giant. Together they are out on an adventure which involves catching and bringing dreams, but most of all, making Giant Country safe and friendly again.
From the moment I saw the first trailer, I have been exited about this movie. I was planning on watching it earlier but couldn’t find the time. My excitement and anticipation grew and so did my expectation. This movie lived up to all of them, and not only a little bit. This movie was purely amazing. So magical, so beautiful and so much fun. I adored it. I watched it with my family and it has been quite a while that we watched a movie that all of us enjoyed. The story is so creative and well written and they did such an amazing job bringing everything to life. It amazes me every day again, how many great things can be done with animation nowadays. I will never stop praising it. I can only imagine how much imagination Ruby Barnhill (who playes the roll of Sophie) must posses, acting around, I guess, a lot of blue. She did amazing. Mark Rylance as well! I loved how much the BFG actually looked like him. The way he talked, all the words were so funny. A real pleasure.
The whole movie was just such a joy in general. I think it also tells us quite a imported story about standing up for ourselves and not to be afraid of asking for help. This for sure is an amazing film not only for kids, but for people of all ages.
We all need to have a fantasy. The BFG takes you into another world, and it’s a wonderful, free spirited ride for the whole family. This film is filled with great imagination, creativity, fantasy, & wonderment! And we all need to escape into another world of fascination!
The movie cinematography was great but the problem was the acting and the climax/falling action which didn’t make me feel like it was necessary but I wish they had more signals of this coming up and how it would be emotionally painful to watch and if a movie makes it emotionally painful to watch a sad moment that’s when you know the directors pur their thought into it
The source material is not very appealing to begin with.
I loved this movie. I think it is humorous and magic. Loved the cast. I think it will grow in popularity over time.
zero stars
The BFG is Spielberg’s 2nd outright flop behind Empire Of The Sun. It somehow goes from fantasy to queen worship movie.
I found this movie boring with not that good of a plot.
I love fantasy and this was a beautiful, funny movie. I loved it from start to finish. I bought it.
As to be expected from this director, all’s well done in the production department, but this children’s film lacks charm and fun for most of the time.
I found the little girl a bit annoying. But it was a wonderful movie. Definitely recommend!
Wow, my kid tried to replicate the scene where the girl jumps off the balcony and the BFG catches her. There was no BFG to catch her. She died. Very good movie though.
Heart-warming and fun. Great family movie
This movie was awful. I mean truly terrible. I’m a HUGE Spielberg fan, but I’ll be the first to say this wasn’t his best work. It was boring, but more than that it scared the kids half to death. The humor wasn’t funny, and the special effects were meh. If you’re considering a movie, save yourself the trouble and rent Frozen on amazon for two dollars.
The acting is fantastic especially from the little girl she had lots of talent, unfortunately, everything else really didn’t work for me and the movie left me with a bad taste in my mouth. some scenes are just way too weird or out of place to be cute or charming and the story didn’t make much sense to me I can’t tell you how many times throughout the movie I was genuinely confused about what was going on. this movie is not worth your time and I honestly don’t know what Disney was thinking with this one.
To be honest, I was only half paying attention to the movie while it was playing
This movie was okay it was pretty boring but the cgi and the affects were amazing I would watch again because there some good parts but all in all this movie gets a C+
I’ve embraced alot of slow paced movie in my day but this just unbearably boring.
Visually ok but uninteresting nevertheless.
One of Spielberg’s weakest efforts, The BFG is bland and unexciting. It’s not completely without heart, but it lacks that famous touch of Spielberg magic that made films like E.T. so memorable.
Steven Spielberg’s ‘The BFG’ is a definite improvement on the previous adaptation by Brian Cosgrove, as you’d expect. Mark Rylance is terrific as the Big Friendly Giant, with Ruby Barnhill performing well as Sophie. However, the film lost all momentum with Penelope Wilton & Co.’s arrival – from then until the end, it became rather boring.
Undeniably visually stunning and sweetly adorable, the BFG is an underrated adaptation from the rare collaboration between Disney and Spielberg that many movie goers may unfortunately, unfairly compare unfavorably to his other works when it should’ve gotten a better chance.
BOOOOOOOORRRING. Watch if you need to take a nap. Not much to say because this movie made me feel lightheaded and bored to tears. Decent visuals and actors weren’t bad but NOTHING ELSE!!
It’s a family film that seems to come short of anything even remotely exciting.
The best movie ever! The CGI was great! And it has a heartwarming story. This movie is the perfect movie to watch if you are bored.
The BFG is visually stunning, but sadly lacks the adventurous punch to keep the adult viewer engaged. While my kids thoroughly enjoyed the film, I was a tad bored unfortunately.
Didn’t leave a review at the time so forgot how I really felt, but I don’t think I hated it (and it certainly didn’t wow me).
A great case against the “Spielberg can’t do no wrong” argument, hardly anything works in this rotten movie
A dazzling adaptation of its source material. At its best when it stays focused than when it meanders into contrived peril.
I don’t have much to say about this film except it was super boring. I didn’t like this film at all. 20%
Just a boring remake based on a book. I expected more out of Spielberg. This is his worst movies in years.
Well done digital animation throughout. Not too scary for kids even though some giants ate kids it never showed it. Well done with a happy ending
I’m actually quite disappointed in all honesty. I expected there to be the mouse from the cartoon and the whizzpopper song but neither were in it. I was incredibly frustrated when the song wasn’t in it.
A timeless classic filled with wonder and joy, a must watch.
Such A Beautiful Story
Not too fascinating for a fantasy movie.
a garbage film, a very but very boring script, the characters are boring and without the slightest grace, if you are looking for a 2016 film, avoid this one.
Walt Disney Pictures and Steven Spielberg’s The BFG is the most magnificent family film of all.
I like the look and feel, the aesthetic the movie. The way London looks in this movie is almost cozy. I knew this movie was going to be the type that had a shit ton of CGI, awkward acting and weird human in GCI world animation. That cave of dreams was quite magical and pretty. Reminded me a lot of Skyrim. I liked the concept of putting dreams in a jar. Especially how they physically took form inside the jar. The whole upside down dream world with the big tree was really pretty. The way the giant spoke kind of got on my nerves. The way he mispronounces words.
I honestly didn’t care too much for this movie. The BFG is a big fucking bore. Sorry lol.
First off, I’m not a huge children’s movie fan, but this one was just so charming and cute I couldn’t help but like it. The real star is the BFG. The funny way he talks and the emotions on his face really made the movie for me. The little girl does a pretty good job as well.
This isn’t the kind of movie you watch for the story. It’s simple enough, but does the job. It’s more for the interaction between the girl and the giant, and in that department the movie delivers. Sure there were some childish jokes, but there were plenty of other moments that made me laugh out loud without involving body functions.
I don’t get why so many people hated on this movie. Where they expecting Schindler’s List? This wasn’t that kind of Spielberg Movie. It was more about the interaction of a child and magical friend, akin to ET – and while it may not be quite as good, I still got a lot of enjoyment out of it. If you don’t think you’re going to be a stick in the mud about it, go ahead and give it a watch. You might end up being surprised at how much you like it, just like I was.
This is а topic that’s close to my heart… Best wishes!
Exactly where are your contact detaіls though?