The young owl Soren is kidnapped by the evil owls of St. Aegolious who want to turn him into a soldier. He escapes with some of his friends and warns the mythical guardians about the evil pl... Read allThe young owl Soren is kidnapped by the evil owls of St. Aegolious who want to turn him into a soldier. He escapes with some of his friends and warns the mythical guardians about the evil plan.The young owl Soren is kidnapped by the evil owls of St. Aegolious who want to turn him into a soldier. He escapes with some of his friends and warns the mythical guardians about the evil plan.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 4 wins & 23 nominations total
- Soren
- (voice)
- Noctus
- (voice)
- …
- Digger
- (voice)
- Gylfie
- (voice)
- Otulissa
- (voice)
- Marella
- (voice)
- Eglantine
- (voice)
- Metal Beak
- (voice)
- Barran
- (voice)
- Strix Struma
- (voice)
- Bubo
- (voice)
- Kludd
- (voice)
- Twilight
- (voice)
- Nyra
- (voice)
- Echidna
- (voice)
- Boron
- (voice)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
"Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" is a very impressive animation. The story is only reasonable, with the eternal conflict between good and evil inspired in the Nazis in a scenario that recalls Avatar. However, the awesome quality of CGI and the voices (Eglantine is delightful) deserved a better story. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "A Lenda dos Guardiões" ("The Legend of the Guardians")
The quick answer is yes. Guardian's is a film that takes the liberties 3D and photo realistic CGI have to offer, like Avatar, to make a world and characters larger (or smaller) than life to let your mind be soothed into something beautiful, mystical, and most importantly, entertaining.
The story takes the classic yet reliable fable of good versus evil. To put it simply, an army of Evil owls who have obvious horrid intentions of ruling the Owl Kingdom must be stopped against all odds. The only creatures powerful and wise enough to defeat the army are the legendary Guardians of Gahoole.
The film follows main owlet Soran, voiced heroically by Jim Sturgess. Soran is kidnapped by the army of the Evil Owls. After being exposed to the armies wrong doings, Soran knows the only hope in defeating the baddies are to warn the Guardians. From there, the film takes flight into an epic adventure of action, companionship, and beauty.
Guardians is a rare treat in computer animated cinema. While Pixar is always reliable, Guardians is a very different film that strives to be an epic while appealing to a mass audience and succeeds in doing so. From the fantastic action scenes, to the articulate directing, spectacular animation, smart 3D, and top notch voice acting, Guardians is a film that will leave you mesmerized days after it's viewing.
There will be complaints, like every other movie. Some will call the story unoriginal. Some'll say it's childish because it has talking animals. Some'll say it's stupid for the exact same reasons. I say, so what?! It's a family film, meaning there's something for both kids and those who are kids-at-heart! People go to the movies to be entertained, especially families, and with that this film delivers in spades.
First we have a superb, outstanding cast consisting of Australian/British actors of both the young and highest caliber. There's too many actors to say here, so I'll just say this: the voice acting is terrific. The owls speak in accents (for obvious reasons) making them sound as far and away from being "Hollywood-ized" as possible. There's depth, determination and heart to these characters. The villains of the film are really menacing, a feat considering that almost every character in the film are owls.
Story-wise, it's obviously unoriginal, but it is told very well. This is due to the animation, which is absolutely, spectacularly stunning. There is a great amount of detail in the film, especially on the owls, you can see every feather, every movement they make, every gust of wind that brushes that pass their feathers. Director Zack Snyder (finally using his talents for the kids) puts his signature style to terrific use here, using the "ramping" (frantic slowing down and speeding up repeatedly) technique from his "300" and "Watchmen" for the action sequences, that will make one forget he is watching an animated film, let alone a movie that has talking owls. It's absolutely breathtaking to see it in 2D alone, I watched it in 3D and had a hard time closing my stuck jaw afterwords!
The film looks and feels like it's a lost "Lord of the Rings" film. There's the armor, and the swords (talons), and then there's the big bad (Metal Beak) and the young hero (Soren) who is destined for greatness. It's set in a fantasy, far-away world where 3D is put to terrific use. Not since "Avatar" has 3D been used so efficiently and effectively that makes it an essential part of the story instead of being distracting and gimmicky. Likewise, the cinematography and the orchestral score is great and puts you into the film more. The owls look painstakingly well- rendered and they don't look too-clichéd-cartoony or too-frighteningly- realistic. It's just right. The only gripe I had with the film is the insertion of an Owl-City (because he's practically the most famous artist today with the word "Owl" in his name) song in the middle of the film which is distracting. But apart from that everything else was great.
In short, it's one of the best animated films of the year. It's the perfect movie to bring your family (and maybe friends as well) and enjoy. Have no worries, sit back, and enjoy the ride. And seeing it in 3D is a plus, no matter what anyone else says. The ending also hints at a sequel. Hope that's a possibility as Warner Bros. has a potential new family franchise at their hands. And I hope Snyder returns as well.
Overall value: 74/100
If you young children are easy impressive, you might not like them asking you "but why is the pretty bird doing those bad things?" and stuff like that, just imagine an epic movie, you know: knights, kings, queens and battles, but for children and adults alike, it depends on how much your kids know about epic stories and the implications of war.
The visual designs are awesome and the music is beautiful, it is a great story.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe animators went to an owl sanctuary to learn how to properly depict owls in flight and the ruffling of their feathers, as well as owl behavior and their dietary needs.
- GoofsSeveral of the owl species featured in the film are not found in Australia, where it is set. This is because the original books were set in North America.
- Quotes
Soren: Why didn't you tell me?
Ezylryb: What difference does it make what I call myself?
Soren: Because Lyze of Kiel was my hero.
Ezylryb: Yes, well, fancy it must be hard meeting your hero and seeing that he's real, not a myth.
Soren: You're just, you're just not...
Ezylryb: What did you expect? Some Tyto Alba with gleaming armour and battle claws, the moon rising behind him?
Soren: Uh...
Ezylryb: Well, this is what it looks like when you've actually fought in battle. It's not glorious, it's not beautiful, it's not even heroic. It's merely doing what's right, and doing it again and again, even if someday you look like this.
- Crazy creditsAt the very start of the film Soren's father, Noctus, is shown flying through the sky at sunrise passing through the Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow logos, before diving under the film's title.
- Alternate versionsAlso released in a 3D version.
Everything New on Max in May
Everything New on Max in May
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Ga'hoole: La leyenda de los Guardianes
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $80,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $55,675,313
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $16,112,211
- Sep 26, 2010
- Gross worldwide
- $140,073,390
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
- 2.39 : 1
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