Went to an advance screening of BHC last night. I was pleasantly surprised. It is a lot better than the trailers make it look, there are some geniune laughs, and the storyline is pretty easy to follow.
All of the voice-overs are recognizable, and they fit the character they are doing the voice for. All of the dogs are very lovable and you want to go right out to a shelter and take one home.
After all of the nay-saying, I want to be the first to say that I will be adding this to my Disney DVD collection in a few months when it is released.
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I second that- I was a pleasantly surprise. And the Delgado's lines (Andy Garcia) made the movie for me. They did a great job with his character - very humorous to adults too.
I think it did what it set out to do; entertain kids and give an equal amount of good laughs for parents. Fast paced and cute movie!
Just got back from seeing the movie and doing my part for the crumbling economy (I spent way too much money on Halloween decor)...I must say, the movie was much better than expected. I did laugh quite a bit. Sometimes for the obvious joke and a few times for the in-joke as a former chihuahua owner. I was also shocked with some of the things they dealt with in the movie. The issues they talked about and showed. It was almost scary to see it there, but I am glad they added it. (More about it in my spoiler section). There is a pretty lengthy disclaimer at the end of the film, BEFORE the credits. It was done well. First, because they put it before the credits, rather than after when most people are gone. Second, they did it right when they have your attention. It said something about researching any breed before you get one and to choose adopting over buying. VERY pleased! Doesn't mean a few morons won't impulse buy anyways, but if the message sunk in with ONE person, it was worth it!
The movie had a slow start for me. The grooming part was cute, the clothing thing got old quick, except the Jackie O part made me giggle. I liked how they dealt with the stereotyping of Hispanic Americans when the girl (Rachael?) was giving the landscaper crap and assumed he couldn't speak a lick of English and he played along. Once in Mexico, I was floored that they dealt with the issue of dog fighting. Chloe was essentially used as a bait dog. Thrown out there for kicks and laughs. Stuff like that really happens. Stray dogs, even family pets are stolen, and thrown into a ring where its not a fight, its slaughter. I was really surprised they did that to Chloe, but they did it well. It was a bit scary, but no so much to traumatize the poor kiddies. Delgado was a great character too. I can see they took a bit from Trusty for his whole, "losing his sense of smell". Papi was cute, and surprisingly a secondary character. It was cool that his owner mentioned he got him from the pound. And the other two dogs, the pit bull mix and the mastiff mix who escaped from the dog fighting ring, found homes. That was REALLY nice. Especially that they used all "dangerous" dogs throughout the movie. German shepherds, mastiffs, and pit bulls are all often typecast as evil dogs. Granted so are Dobermans, so that breed still got typecast. The rat and iguana reminded me of Timon and Pumbaa. And when Chloe "died", isn't her line to Papi "don't stop now...", from Jungle Book when Baloo "dies"?
In all, a better movie than expected. I'd give a 8/10
Of course, it wasn't Academy Award material or anything - but this movie was charming, heartwarming, and reminiscent of Disney live-action movies of old like Homeward Bound. I was near tears several times during the movie. A great story, and we will be first in line to buy the DVD. A valued addition to the Disney Collections.
Forget your first impressions, listen to the good reviews for this movie and go judge for yourself.
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You know, with the surprisingly warm reception the film is getting I think Disney released a bad teaser trailer ON PURPOSE...
Raise your hand if you knew about the movie long before the teaser trailer...
*Waits for response, only a few raised their hand
I certainly didn't know anything about it. It wasn't till after the infamous teaser that I learned that Ultimate Disney had covered something about it.
Now, raise your hand if you suddenly knew everything there was about BHC AFTER you saw the teaser...
*A giant tsunami of hands and arms adorn the audience
See what I mean? Had they done the traditional teaser trailer (lasting no longer than 20 seconds, says something like "Coming soon" and either leaves the audience uninterested or curious) BHC would have been forgotten completely, and if these user reviews are to be believe the film was going to be better than the norm. So what better way to capture your attention than to release an intentionally cheesy teaser?
I admit that at first I thought it was a big mistake as I had never seen a Disney film get so much flak from people before release. But looking back, I think that's what they wanted. They wanted us to think that this movie was going to be one awful mess, and worse, encourage people to blindly adopt dogs.
But they knew that once the finished film was out people would go out and see it, even those that bashed the teaser out of morbid curiosity.
When these came out of the theater, they will be saying "Wow! This was a surprisingly good movie!". So this person tells their friends, the friends tell their other friends and soon enough to have a decent hit in your hands.
Looking back even further, I've seen this sort of stunt pulled before, by everyone from musicians to videogame makers. They set their standards so low that people start to talk about it, driving people to the product unconsciously and giving it high marks.
Its a bold move, one that could prove fatal if done wrong. But it seems to have worked on Disney's favor...for now at least.
Box Office Mojo estimates that this movie made $29,000,000 this weekend, easily grabbing the #1 spot!
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Yeah, it's official, Beverly Hills Chihuahua swept the box office ratings this weekend. Over $29,000,000, and that is not dog food.
This is really surprising for me, because like a lot of other people, I was turned off by the teaser trailer, and wasn't going to go near this film. But then I saw a longer trailer and saw the special on the Disney channel, and now I am a full-fledged support of this film.
I encourage everyone, please go see this movie. Don't wait for the DVD, you will be very sorry that you didn't see this film on the big screen.
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Yeah, the fact that it nearly made 30 million in its first week on the off season is surprising to say the least.
But like I said earlier, I think Disney intentionally released a bad, cheesy trailer that said NOTHING about the final film just to capture people's attention.
Humans have a morbid sense of curiosity. When they see and hear something that is supposedly or downright bad they NEED to see it for themselves.
Its the opposite of, say, "Cloverfield". From what I hear the teaser shocked and surprised people, they wanted to see what was going on in the film. In the end, people felt disappointed by it and the movie was pretty much forgotten by the time it was released on DVD.
I think lowering the audience's standards have become popular in nearly all mediums. When they see the finished product they are pleasantly surprised by it and thus would likely give it higher marks, and better recommendations means more business by the end of the day.
So who's with me? Does anyone else agree that Disney deliberately released a bad teaser just to get people talking? Did all of those "I hate this movie!!!!" rants on YouTube actually drove people to see the movie?
I enjoyed the teaser trailer more than I should have, lol. I thought that it was really cute, and every so often I'll sing the song. But I wished that the teaser trailer showed more of the film, since you couldn't even tell what the movie was about based on the teaser trailer.
I saw BHC on Saturday, and I really liked it. I laughed, I cried. It's a really cute movie, very heartwarming. I think that some people might just expect a lame comedy, but it really is a comedy with heart. I definitely recommend it!
I thought the teaser trailer was cute but there was a full length trailer as well- that gave more insight into the plot. You know with the whole adventure and the human actors involved. I am so glad that it did well in the box office- from what I have read other people were very pleased with the movie.
I laughed a lot, my kids loved it!! We were a party of eight anr we all enjoyed the movie!!! 8.5 out of 10!!! I'm buying, baby!!!
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C'mon Pap64, the trailer wasn't as bad as you were making it be. It was designed for a younger audience, and I think a younger audience enjoyed it (well, I did, and I'm a cynical 16 y.o. )
I see what you're getting at but... I just think it was good old word-of-mouth rather than bad trailers that compelled people to see it.
not interested. The trailer was a huge turn off to me (especially after seeing it several times -- different times over the summer with different movies) and none of the voice over actors interest me.
I'll be seeing BOLT, then the non Disney movie Madagascar Escape 2 Africa. but that's about it.
Disney Channel died when they stopped airing movies with Haley mills (Parent Trap and Pollyanna) and fun adventure movies like Swiss Family Robinson. R.I.P. the REAL Disney Channel. Date of Death: When the shows became teenie bopperish.
yukitora wrote:C'mon Pap64, the trailer wasn't as bad as you were making it be. It was designed for a younger audience, and I think a younger audience enjoyed it (well, I did, and I'm a cynical 16 y.o. )
I see what you're getting at but... I just think it was good old word-of-mouth rather than bad trailers that compelled people to see it.
I'm sorry, but I've never seen a teaser trailer, much less a teaser for a Disney film, cause so much negativity in people before. Yes, I know the teaser was intended for children, but I think even kids thought it was stupid.
The teaser inspired hatred of biblical proportions. Everything from smartass internet types, to people truly concerned about people buying dogs. Again, when was the last time a teaser did that?
Read what I said one more time: there's no such thing as bad publicity. The bad word of mouth compelled people to see the movie, turning it into GOOD word of mouth, and thus more moolah for Disney.
From what I've seen, the movie has done MUCH better than films that have gotten generally warm reactions. Of course, many factors play into the film's success (the declining economy, heated politics etc.), but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people that went to see it went only to laugh and mock the picture, only to be genuinely surprised and pleased.
Long story short: Disney pulled a bait and switch.
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