Brave

You just have to be Brave enough to see it. And maybe cast aside the spears and arrows of critics. Why do people put this movie down as a "girls" story? Or a Disney princess story? Or say "While this isn't one of Pixar's finest.." What malarkey! It is one of Pixar's finest. I wonder if the reviewers have fully grasped the horrible implications of goings-on in this film. They are horrifying indeed. This is hands-down Pixar's darkest film yet. If it weren't for the comedy this would be a horror story or a story of 10th-century war. Last night, I realized this is a Dark Comedy. Very dark. And not just in terms of theme -- it's visually dark, as well -- which only makes Merida stand out like a bright flame in a dark alley. At the same time, this movie is laden with human touches. But that dark side this movie has can show without notice. Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk. Why is it Pixar's darkest? Consider this: 1. A 5-ish year old little girl sees a giant, cursed bear attack her and her family. The outcome is grim, and she is implied to have seen it happen. 2. An entire kingdom is laid to ruin, with vivid, visible evidence.. everywhere.. that it was an epic massacre, war, perhaps. Nothing subtle about it. 3. No-holds barred, often fiercely feral combat with hand to hand and with edged weapons, arrows and spears. 4. Choices made often carry severe consequences, for-keeps. No backsies. No reset button. It is also possibly Pixar's most beautiful film yet. It's not so much an animated cartoon, but an animated Rembrandt painting. It has that glowing quality. While it is dark most of the time - except for Merida's torch-like mane - it glistens with vividness. Nature is rendered with such loving beauty it remains with the viewer long after the stinger at the end of the credits fades. And the music.. oh my lord, the music on this movie. It can, on its own, bring tears. This film took an Academy Award for sound, and if the viewer has a proper home theater, the result is enough to pull you into the film, put you in the Highlands. I would like to think as Time, the Ultimate Critic passes, Brave will stand among the Pixar movies people of today consider great. Myself, I think it already does.

I do not know why this story has gotten so many bad reviews. For one, I have to say the scary scenes are not so scary. Both of my girls must just be Brave and Strong young girls, because both of them don't seem to be bothered by the movie. Now we did purchase the book a while ago and have read the story to them a number of times and discussed the scary scenes. We also sat down as a family, made popcorn and watched it all together with our 6yr old and almost 4yr old. I have to say there are some parts that I was not a fan of--for instance how she visits a witch to change her mother and that the food was left around for her brothers to eat. But the hype about the nudity and every thing else...what are we puritans. My girls didn't even seem to notice that the boys were naked. I thought I was a wonderful story about how some traditions should be changed and left behind!!!! Like marrying your daughters off at a young age, making them wear outdated clothing and arranging their marriages. Hence the break from tradition, which all the young men were happy about as well. It was refreshing to have a movie that showed how a girl could be strong and not have to "live happily ever after" and marry prince charming. Or be saved by a man. It showed how she must figure out how to make things right through problem-solving. My husband and I believe our two daughters need to learn to rely on themselves and someday, as I did, find a wonderful man to share their lives. We do not believe that our girls need a man to be complete--nor should a man need a woman--they should be healthy independent persons who are not co-dependent. I thought it was a delightful show that let you see how both mother and daughter were not listening to one another and after mom gets changed into a bear, they spend time mending and bonding together. I have to say, parents sometimes get very hung up in having to have things their way and do not listen to their children. I am also guilty at times--no one is perfect. I liked how the bonds were mended both concretely for young children (with the tapestry), verbally and physically for older children and parents. Both the mother and Merida matured while working together to mend their relationship and change mom back into a human.

"Brave" is a wonderful film that offers both entertainment and life lessons. It’s a perfect movie for mothers and daughters to watch together, as it opens up conversations about independence, understanding, and the importance of family. I highly recommend it for its strong moral values, beautiful animation, and heartfelt story.

such a shocker "not". One set of cleavage and three little bare bottoms at the very end of the movie. To be so shocked about that and try to shame Disney/Pixar is totally reprehensible. There is nothing in this movie that is inappropriate. Felt so bad for the mother when she became a bear and shame on the daughter for even wanting to turn her mother into a bear, although it seems she was conned on that aspect. Mom was kind of a nag but did not see where mom was trying to train her how to live without a man. As far as I am concerned we all should learn how to cope on our own and not to rely on others to much for our survival. Movie scenery was great. I liked the movie and would recommend for all age groups. Language was difficult for me to understand at times with heavy Scot accent but I love Celtic songs very haunting and mysterious.

Blue ray works great

With "Brave", Pixar finally made their entrance into a period and fairy tale setting. After the critical and financial failure of "Cars 2" (which is a film that I personally enjoyed and didn't deserve the massive hate), "Brave" was seen as Pixar's chance of redemption. However, some Pixar fans screamed foul and thought "Brave" was a result of the Disneyfication of Pixar. However, although "Brave" wasn't seen as the definite Pixar comeback, it still was better critically and commercially received as "Cars 2". The feminist aspects were also surrounding "Brave". It was their first film with a female lead after more than a decade of films with male leads. "Brave" got also some buzz of the directorial change. It was Brenda Chapman's lovechild, but she got replaced because of creative differences. Although Chapman herself has stated that her original visions of the tale was fulfilled, the replacements are barely mentioned in the special features. She still got credited as the secondary director, although one can't help to wonder if there was a bigger conflict about this story or if this conflict was enhanced by the media. Either way, although I've always been not so fond of Pixar, they can deliver a masterpiece now and then ("Toy Story", "Finding Nemo", "Up"). "Brave" does come across a one of Pixar's strongest works, but is also hampered by some flaws. And some quite obvious flaws too. Moviegoers has grown to expect more from Pixar and many of them found the film to be conventional. The marketing device also misguided the film, depicting it as a grand adventure, when it really is an intimate, character-driven story in the second half. Where "Brave" really excel is with the animation and the music. The animation is stunningly gorgeous, as is the music, setting a haunting atmosphere and giving the movie a special quality. The wonderful score is by Patrick Doyle, the songs written by Alex Mandel and they work well. "Brave" is a departure from Pixar's previous works, not only because of it's setting, but it's scope. It definitively feels more Disney than Pixar at times, but that's doesn't necessarily hurts the film. I see nothing wrong about Pixar trying to go in Disney's territory and make a Princes movie long you do it with class and subtlety (damn me as much as you want to, Pixar fanboys). However, I still wished that Pixar would make more realistic-looking characters for once and expand their horizons in term of character designs. Where "Brave" falls flat, it's in terms of it's story. It's quite conventional, as the matter of fact too conventional. The story is trite, cliched and really not particularly well structured. The film seems more of two separate stories incorporated into one. However, despite the story problems, "Brave" shall have praise for having a mother-daughter-related story in a fairy tale setting and not having a prince charming to save the day. Another noteworthy component about "Brave" is the choice of having an all Scottish cast into the movie. It's easy to give Pixar some good points about that, although the Medieval Scottish would probably be not understandable for todays audiences. However, most of the voices are fine. Billy Connolly (who previously was in "Pocahontas") brings the warmth and joviality to King Fergus. Emma Thompson (who was in "Treasure Planet") brings dignity and subtlety to Queen Ellinor. Less successful is Kelly McDonald as the protagonist Merida herself, making Merida more grating and whiny than she needs to be. Otherwise, Julie Walters makes a fine witch. Steve Purcell makes a fun crow. Kevin McKidd makes a good Lord MacGuffin/Young MacGuffin. Craig Ferguson delivers some spunk to Lord Macintosh. BONUS FEATURES The film is filled with good bonus features. First up is a audio commentary by director Mark Andrews, co-director Steve Purcell, editor Nick Smith and story supervisor Brian Larsen. The four of them delivers an excellent commentary, covering all the topics of the story and the technical aspects, although Andrew's voice can be a little grating at times. But still another excellent commentary from Pixar. LEGEND OF MOR'DU; A short which enhances the full story about Mor'Du (according to rumors that were around the Internet, the short was supposed to be included in the actual movie). It's a fine short, giving more purpose and weight to the story of Mor'Du and it's nice to see that it's mainly hand-drawn. LA LUNA: A short and sweet Pixar film. BRAVE OLD WORLD: A featurette that talks about the crew's visit to Scotland and the Scottish influences on the film. Although is mostly praise about the land and culture, it's still interesting. MERIDA & ELINOR: A featurette that covers the characters and personalities of Merida and Elinor and their relationship. Chapman herself dominates most of the featurette. A quite engaging topic. BEARS: A short featurette that covers the designs and animation aspects of Mor'Du and Queen Elinor as a bear. Short, but still quite interesting. WONDER MOSS: A topic about how they created the moss in the movie. It's a little too technical, but still interesting. MAGIC: Magic tells us about the magical aspects of the film, like the wisps and the witch and the fairy tale aspect. Quite enjoyable CLAN PIXAR: A featurette that covers the folks at Pixar. A little more jovial and happy talk than what it needs to be. ONCE UPON A SCENE: A featurette that delivers the many deleted scenes (and also indicates "Brave's" troubled production). It's interesting that Pixar decided to have many of the deleted scenes in one featurette, instead of having the deleted scenes themselves. However, it's still interesting to watch. Disc two is also filled with many featurettes. First up is an alternative opening (a few shots that made into one of the trailers). While it's not fully animated, it's still an engaging shot. FALLING WARRIORS: A featurette about the fighting scenes in the movie and how they got choreographed. Short, but interesting. DIRTY HAIRY PEOPLE: A featurette which talks about the hair in the movie. Also short, but interesting IT'S ENGLISH... SORT OF: This featurette talks about the use of the Scottish actors, the Scottish words and phrases used in the movie. Quite fun ANGUS: About Merida's black horse, Angus and how to create the character. THE TAPESTRY: About the tapestry that Queen Elinor makes in the film and how the creative team managed to create it. Overall, "Brave" is hampered by some flaws and might be to conventional at times, but still makes a good movie to watch. It's easily one of the best animated movies yet on this decade.

It’s definitely a family movie to all watch together. Full of jokes, family, and most of all bravery. My daughter is obsessed with the mama bear part and the two little twin brothers. I love this movie as well!

This story should have been hyped up more by Disney in my opinion. It is a great little story of a Scottish girl and I can't wait to get all the little Scottish lassies in my family together for movie night

loved the movie ... very good animation and very good 3D effect if u have 3D Tv which can convert 2D to 3D & more than 400Hz motion @ 1080p the box is very good and sturdy .

Me gusta la película por si imagen, su realismo de los escenarios, es divertida y la música es genial, lastima que canten durante la peli para mi eso la estropea, recomiendo mirar como se hizo, ya que es entonces cuando te das cuenta del trabajo que ha supuesto hacer la película.

Merida ist ein toller Film, der eine schöne Geschichte mit Happyend erzählt. Man taucht ein in eine Welt alter Mythen und gibt sich entspannt der Erzählung hin. Es gibt viele Szenen zum schmunzeln, er ist spannend u auch traurig. Es wird also alles geboten, was das Kinoherz begehrt. Der Film behandelt praktisch eine Zeitspanne von 2 Tagen und das Ende ist vorhersehbar. Dies möchte ich jedoch nicht als Nachteil aufführen, denn so mancher Streifen zeigt einem schon sehr früh das Ende auf. Trotzdem ist die Gestaltung sehr gelungen und das eintauchen in eine Welt, als man noch an die Natur und deren Götter glaubte, Sitten und Mythen, Rituale alter Zeiten, lassen einen ohne weiteres verzaubern. Zum Inhalt des Filmes möchte ich nichts weiter angeben, da ausreichend der Film beschrieben worden ist. Unzählige Rezessionen haben sich damit ausgiebigst beschäftigt. Ich möchte jedoch anführen, dass dieser Film mehr für Alt statt Jung geeignet ist. Die Geschichte ist teils düster, dunkel und nicht für 6 jährige erzählt. Warum einige Leute sich derart zerfleischen, verstehe ich allerdings nicht. Man darf nicht vergessen, das die FSK nur eine Empfehlung u keine Aussage in diesem Sinne ist. Jeder entscheidet selber, wer diesen Film sehen darf und wer nicht. Pixar u Disney haben lediglich eine Geschichte erschaffen, die einem gefällt oder auch nicht. In den Bewertungen sollte es daher um den Film gehen und nicht um erhobene Zeigefinger, die Maßregelungen erfahren. Jeder Mensch kann daher selber entscheiden und sollte hier nicht von Erziehung anderer belästigt werden. Wer mit FSK 6 ein Problem hat, kauft diesen Streifen nicht oder setzt sich mit der FSK selbst auseinander. Ok, weiter.... Der Hauptteil des Films ist etwas *erwachsen* erzählt. Er beschäftig sich mit den Ängsten der Menschen von früher, die sich Geschehnisse der Natur u deren Zauber, nicht erklären konnten. Wer also mit sehr kleinen Zuschauern unterwegs ist, sollte sich zeit für anschliessende fragen nehmen, etwas bewandert in Geschichte u Natur sein u Tempos zur Hand haben. Keine Angst, denn ein Epos an zeitgeschichtlicher Erzählung, ist es dann doch nicht :) Mit einem spidermann jedoch, der von Haus zu Haus schwingt und der Nachwuchs: cool sagt, ist dieser Film nicht zu vergleichen. Hier gibt es etwas mehr storry, die mehr als für nur cool reicht. Trotz allem, ein sehr gelungenes Werk, welches ich jedem empfehlen kann. Volle 5 Sterne vergebe ich!

I like the movie it’s funny and enjoyable

Brave (2012) es una de las películas más bellas y subestimadas del catálogo de Pixar. Su historia, centrada en la princesa Mérida y su lucha por forjar su propio destino, combina aventura, humor y una poderosa relación madre-hija que le da una profundidad poco común dentro del cine animado. Más allá del clásico “cuento de princesas”, Brave trata sobre la valentía de ser uno mismo y de entender que la libertad también implica responsabilidad y empatía. La edición 4K lanzada en 2019 es una auténtica maravilla técnica. La remasterización resalta cada detalle del paisaje escocés: los bosques, la niebla, las piedras antiguas y, por supuesto, el inconfundible cabello rojo de Mérida, que luce con una naturalidad impresionante gracias al HDR. El sonido Dolby Atmos ofrece una experiencia inmersiva, especialmente en las secuencias con música celta o cuando se escuchan los ecos del bosque.