The Flintstones Reviews

I liked this movie. Yes, the plot is predictable and weak, and in some cases over-familiar. Yes, the script is a bit weak in places. Yes, it is a little lacklustre, and doesn't quite capture the feel good nature of the show. But it is far from the worst movie ever. I really don't know what people were thinking when they gave this film such a low rating. Some of the worst movies I've ever seen, are Home Alone 4, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Cat in the Hat, Disaster Movie, Epic Movie, Pokemon the First Movie and Batman and Robin, but this film doesn't deserve to belong to this category. On the most part, due to the enthusiastic performances of the cast, it was quite entertaining. John Goodman was born to play Fred. He looks the part, and put a lot of much-needed enthusiasm into the role. Rick Moranis is fine as Barney, very like what I imagine him. The prequel is probably better, but Mark Addy and Stephen Baldwin don't quite fit the bill as Goodman and Moranis. I also liked Elizabeth Perkins and Rosie O'Donnell as Wilma and Betty. As the villains, Kyle McLachan and Halle Berry play their clichéd characters more than adequately. I do miss Elizabeth Taylor when she was pretty, but she was game as Wilma's mother, though not quite in the same league as Joan Collins in the prequel. The sets and costumes are spot on, and the design of Dino was superb. All in all, I liked this movie, it's not perfect, but it is far from the worst movie I have ever seen. 6/10 Bethany Cox.

Ah, 1994. Let me name some of the highest grossing movies of that year: Forrest Gump, The Lion King, The Mask, Pulp Fiction, Speed... and The Flintstones, which I am obviously reviewing. If you've watched the cartoon, you'll get the idea. The set designs are really nice, and the CGI on Dino is, too. The cast is... decent, but we can all agree on one thing: Rosie O'Donnell doesn't really work as Betty.

The story is... well, kinda hard to comprehend. Mr. Slate's assistant Cliff concocts a scheme where the highest testing employee at Slate And Co. is made the manager, and Fred Flintstone manages to score the highest (actually Barney switched the tests with Fred's due to his promise), which means Fred has to fire Barney and several other employees, and... yeah, the plot is a bit more complex than what you can bargain for in a movie based off of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

But of course, appealing set pieces that look a lot like in the cartoon don't make up for the occasional sophomoric humor. In particular, after Bamm-Bamm smashes all of the crystal glass at the mall, there is a scene that came RIGHT OUT OF NOWHERE where a giant pterodactyl defecates all over someone's car. Why? ...Well, anyway, despite what I've said before, this is a decent adaptation of a decent cartoon.

My rating: 5/10

As we all know, instead of taking some risk and producing a new idea, the Hollywood film makers would rather make a sequel, a prequel or an adaptation of any known book, tv-shows,... We even get board games adaptation nowadays ('Battleship')! Anyway, this time we get an adaptation of a really famous cartoon and the end result was, I'm afraid, pretty horrendous. Visually, it was not that bad and there was a decent cast (John Goodman, Elizabeth Perkins, Rick Moranis, Rosie O'Donnell, Kyle MacLachlan, Halle Berry, Elizabeth Taylor) but the whole thing was just really terrible. Indeed, the story was just stupid and it just didn't work in this format. I mean, in a cartoon, this kind of humor is ok (I'm not a huge fan either) but in a live-action format, it just doesn't work at all. Anyway, it doesn't really matter as even though it was destroyed by the critics, it was pretty successful at the box-office just because it comes from a famous brand so the Hollywood producers still managed to reach their goal. To conclude, it is pretty bad and it is not worth a look whatsoever, even if you are a die-hard fan of the cartoon.

One of the most underrated family films here and at IMDb, but I understand why. Overall, this movie is a great family film - funny, charming, awesome set pieces, and they stuck (for the most part) true to the TV series. My kid loved this film, which I showed her right after ripping Cat in Hat out of the DVD player and chucking that trash across the room, much to my child's bewilderment. lol

See, my kid didnt grow up on Flintsones like I did, but I did download some episodes of the cartoon and she adores it, mostly coz of pebbles and the catchy theme music. So she was in her glory when the movie started and the same tune starts (although remixed nicely by the B-52s) and was hooked rest of the way. And it's a very watchable film even for the adults.

But coming back to why people bash on this film, i think nobody can ever please the crowd that believes classics such as the Flinstones should never be re-done, and going from cartoon to live action is always very tough to do, but I think the number 1 reason is that fat blob Rosie O'Donnell. Worst Casting Disaster Ever! Fred was perfectly cast as John Goodman, and even Wilma was great. Barney, well, Moranis has the voice, facial features, and height of Barney, but they should've made him put on at least 40lbs for this film or given it to someone else. But Rosie?? what the HELL was that? Both Bettie and Wilma were hotties, based on original series, and Bettie has a much better voice and nicer curves (as far as cartoon goes), so to get treated to Rosie O'Blob playing Bettie was too much for any Flinstones fan to swallow. If you block that out of your mind though, it's overall a great movie.

Who would I have chosen as Bettie? How about Twin Peaks star Sherilyn Fenn?
www.listal.com/person/sherilyn-fenn