The Road to El Dorado [Blu-ray]

The Road to El Dorado is a delightful animated movie that tells the story of two con men named Tulio and Miguel, who stumble upon a map to the legendary city of gold, El Dorado. The movie is set in the 16th century and takes the audience on a thrilling adventure as Tulio and Miguel set out to find the lost city. The animation in this movie is stunning, with vivid colors and detailed backgrounds that bring the story to life. The characters are also beautifully designed and full of personality, making them instantly lovable and relatable. The voice acting is top-notch, with Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh bringing Tulio and Miguel to life with their comedic timing and chemistry. The movie's soundtrack is also worth mentioning, with songs composed by Elton John and Tim Rice that perfectly capture the spirit of adventure and discovery. From the upbeat "It's Tough to be a God" to the stirring "Someday Out of the Blue," the music is a highlight of the movie. But what really makes The Road to El Dorado such a great movie is its heart. It's a story about friendship and trust, and how sometimes the most valuable treasure in life isn't gold or riches, but the relationships we build along the way. Tulio and Miguel's friendship is at the core of the movie, and their banter and camaraderie make for some truly hilarious moments. In conclusion, The Road to El Dorado is a wonderful animated movie that is sure to entertain audiences of all ages. With stunning animation, memorable characters, and a heartwarming story, it's a movie that will leave you feeling uplifted and inspired. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. It's a hidden gem that deserves more recognition.

I really enjoyed this cartoon as a kid, it was really nice to watch it again and remember my childhood.

Today at the tender age of 23, I woke up with one of the songs from this movie stuck in my head ("Without Question"), so I rented it, and since I'm a screenwriter and really enjoy studying scripts from my favorite movies, I thought I'd try to follow the script along with the movie as I watched. When I did some research, I couldn't find the script anywhere, but I found a page on TvTropes.com talking about how disastrous the film was for the creators. Not only was it the first Dreamworks film to NOT make a profit (they lost millions of dollars), but from the tidbits of the original script that I could find, the writing was absolutely atrocious. The creators had such a headache making it, it doesn't surprise me how even though it has a cult following, the creators still consider it to be one of the worst movies they've ever worked on. They even changed directors part of the way through because the guy either had better stuff to work on or just couldn't stand working on it anymore (apparently he "still has nightmares about it"). To give you a taste of the original, not only were Miguel and Tulio supposed to be lovers, but even after they changed that, it was clear the writer didn't know what he was doing, constantly including inappropriate dialogue and then breaking the fourth wall to apologize to the audience (who were supposed to be kids?). In the scene where Cortes finds them on his ship, in the original script, he says, "The two of you will be flogged. Then flogged some more. Then raped." Then [the film's producer (30s, sunglasses, suit), taps Cortes on the shoulder], whispering something to him. Then Cortes turns back and says, "My apologies. I'm being told this is a family film." And yes, it got worse (at one point, the characters were struggling with their erections). The script was just horrid, too inappropriate for kids, but too simplistic and boring for adults. I'm saying all this to make the point that it's a miracle the production crew was able to turn this into such an enjoyable movie in the end. No, it's not for small kids, but it's entertaining, and being someone who grew up on anime, a little nudity and suggestiveness didn't faze me. Years later, I still think it's a classic that both adults and mature children can enjoy. Thank you production crew for sticking with it to the end, and thank you voice actors for really breathing life into these characters, despite the utterly bland script. :)

Love this movie. Catchy tunes, great banter, forever a fave.

Good movie

The Road to El Dorado seems to take it's framework inspiration from the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby 'Road to' movies where a couple of guys get mixed up with a gal in some escapade in a foreign land. Here it's 1519 Spain, small time con artists Tulio (Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branaugh) win a map that eventually leads them to El Dorado, the legendary city of gold. Posing as gods (shades of Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would be King), they meet Chel (Rosie Perez), who both aids in their quest and becomes an obstacle between them as they cross paths with high priest Tzekel Kan (Armand Assante) and conquistador Cortez. Directed by Don Paul from a script by Ted Elliot, this is one heck of an entertaining and funny film. The animation is wonderful, a combo of traditional and CGI, with a rich color palette in terms of locations and characters. The cast is simply outstanding, especially Kline, Branaugh and Perez. There are many points it seems this trio were given the script, and allowed to ad-lib at will, coming up with great gags and one-liners which gives the dialog a very natural 'non staged' feel. The songs were written by Elton John, who also serves as narrator in that he sings most of them, other than the rolicking 'It's Tough to Be a God', a surreal number where our heroes ponder being a deity while getting drunk on wine. The score by Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, the Dark Knight films) is as epic as one might think, especially during a couple of scenes involving our guys escaping Cortez and later putting in motion a plan a to seal him off from El Dorado. I've seen a few reviews complaining about nudity and sex. We get a very brief bare butt scene as our guys chase after their clothes, and there is a bit of innuendo in terms of dialog, but all very PG. All in all a highly recommended film for any age. Pop some corn, enjoy.

A fun movie for kids of all ages in great Blue-ray quality!

Great movie, and the item was new too.

bon film

This has been the go-to movie for our family over the years with the unusual use of well known Shakespearean actors in the lead roles. We have the DVD, but decided to get the Blue Ray to pass the movie on to the next generation. The movie sound-track is excellent from Elton John, and for my money much better than the Lion King. Compared to the DVD, on this Blue Ray the animation graphics really "pop" with clarity and colour on our 4k OLED TV making it well worth the extra money. UK compatible New Blue Ray copies are hard to find at a reasonable cost, and in this case the price was cheaper than many second hand offerings in the UK.

J'ai reçu Merci

「プリンス・オブ・エジプト」に次ぐドリームワークスアニメーション第２作目ながら、 あまりヒットせず、国内でもつい最近までＤＶＤ廃盤という、不当に無視された作品ですが、 配給元がフォックスに移転した関係で、めでたく再発となりました。 肩の凝らない、終始気分よく見られる娯楽アニメの傑作です。 16世紀のスペイン、黄金の都エル・ドラドを求めて二人のチャラい詐欺師トゥリオとミゲルが旅立ち、 現地で持ち前の調子の良さと偶然から「神」扱いされてしまい、さて、運命やいかに…という物語。 え～今更？ みたいな内容かと思う人も多いかと思いますが、 とにかく、出てくるキャラクターがいいんです！ 主役の二人など、単なるお調子者かと思ってみていると、結構細やかな心理描写、 絶妙なアニメーション作画の表現で、男の友情の機微をさりげなく演出しきっていて、 見ていて実に気分がいい。 特にトゥリオのほうは、アメリカアニメに登場した男性としては 今までに見た中で、一番魅力的な人物かもしれない。 その他にも、二人の友情に波風立たせる謎の美女、 鈍重なようで時折父性的包容力を見せる族長、 野心に燃える邪悪な神官などなど、分かりやすく描かれたキャラクターの面白さが、 物語全体にしっかり骨格を形作っています。 物語も、シンプルな流れの中に、コメディを基調とした小味の利いたギャグ、 意外に周到に張られた伏線、クライマックスの画竜点睛のスペクタクルなど、 実質８０分の短い作品ながら、「映画」の面白さを堪能できる逸品です！ もちろん、画面の美しさも見事。ＣＧがでしゃばりすぎず、 アニメーターの技量による面白みとして、フルＣＧ以前の表現では最高峰といってもいいでしょう。 音楽も素晴らしく、担当がハンス・ジマー＆ジョン・パウエルということもあり、 ｢パイレーツ・オブ・カリビアン」にどこか似てたりもしますが、 クライマックスの音楽は「パイレーツ」の10倍は格好いいです！ また、この映画の一つの「仕掛け」が、 タイトルをみるとオールド映画ファンの方にはピンと来るかもしれませんが、 50～60年代のビング・クロスビー＆ボブ・ホープのコンビによる 傑作コメディ「珍道中」シリーズへのオマージュとして作られている事です。 （知らない人はおじいちゃんやおばあちゃん（！）に聞いてください 主役二人のやり取り、間に入り込んでくる美女、 他の映画のパロディや、映画技法そのものを逆手に取ったメタ風ギャグなど、その取り入れ方が見事です。 しかも、大抵行き先が「アラスカ」や「アフリカ」など、現地に行かず、 明らかにスタジオででっちあげたセット撮影だったのにあわせて、 この映画のエル・ドラドも微妙に「よく出来たセット」のように感じられる情景に作画されている芸の細かさ！ 個人的には何度観ても飽きないし、小学生の時の子供に見せたら、成人してなお、 いまだに「なんか観たくなるんだよねー」と繰り返し見てます(^^:) なんとなく、ヒットすれば続編も作るつもりだったんじゃないかと思える終わり方なんですが。 それにしても、なんでこんなにヒットしなかったんだろう…。主役二人がヒスパニック系だったから？とか、 思わず下衆の勘繰りまでしてそうになります。 特筆すべきは、日本語版吹替えの台本の生き生きした翻訳が素晴らしく、 キャスト（内田直哉、中尾隆星）のはまり具合も絶妙な事。 主人公二人の掛け合いが、原語版（ケビン・クライン、ケネス・ブラナー）より 歌のうまさも相まって、音を聞いているだけでも楽しめるほどです。 それにしてもですが、 前にも書いたとおり、ドリームワークス製作アニメの第2作目なわけですが、 時期的にはほぼ同時製作だったろう1作目「プリンス・オブ・エジプト」が、 “神はこの世に唯一”が信条の物語を描いた作品であるのに対し、 本作では 「ミゲール、俺は、神様なんか信じないからイカサマやってんだよ」 「そう、我々は神だ！」 「お前、神じゃないのか!? 騙したな!!」 みたいな粋な(^^;) セリフがゴロゴロ(^^;) ドリームワークスの振れ幅のデカさというか、自由さに 呆れつつも感心します。 あと、ラスト少し前、あるキャラクターの映画史上 最高の｢目の芝居」にご注目！ 腹抱えました(^^;)

This is one of the funniest films I've seen in a loong looong time. It far surpasses...well, pretty much ANYTHING Disney has done, and then some. The basic story is of Tulio and Miguel, two spanish con-men who 'win' a map to the lost city of El Dorado. Before they can get there though, they find themselves locked in the brig of Spanish explorer Cortez's ship. They escape, with a horse named Altivo ("well, the horse is a surprise" Tulio) and find themselves landing in the Americas. They manage to find the city, but are accidently mistaken for Gods by the cities head priest (who's name I simply cannot spell) They soon befriend a young native girl, who also turns out to be a con-man, of sorts, and the hilarious outcomes youre going to have to watch for yourself. What really got me with this film was the animation, it was superb, wow worthy. It was so realistically done, but in that unique way that good animation does. Tulio and Miguel's animation is also incredibly realistic, they are fascinating characters to watch, simply to pick out the little quirks of movement unique to each of them. Besides the animation, the story is very well written, of course the idea of a city made out of gold isn't exactly synonomous with history any more, but this film makes you believe. The two lead characters, Tulio and Miguel, are so well written that you just wish they were real men. The voice actors, (Kenneth Branagh: Miguel, and Kevin Kline: Tulio) play off each other so well and incredibly convincingly, you just find yourself laughing constantly.