The Secret of NIMH Reviews

I will confess I saw this for the first time today on YouTube, and I loved it. I always said that Anastasia and American Tail were the best of Bluth's movies, but I now think that this beats them both.The story is very dark and mysterious but magical all the same. The animation is just stunning, with beautiful backgrounds and excellent character animation. Brutus is a little frightening though, or his animation is, so is the scene with the great owl, which is inredibly haunting. The music by the wonderful late Jerry Goldsmith is phenomenal, very reminiscent of his score for the Eurpean version for Legend (the Ridley Scott film). The song I think it's called Flying Dreams is heart-rending, and just shows the talent the man had, and I am grateful that there weren't too many songs to interrupt the flow. The characters are very well done, the brave yet timid Mrs Brisby, the dashing Justin, the villainous Jenner, the wise Nicodemus and the wise-cracking Jeremy. Nicodemus and Jeremy are very impressive, voiced wonderfully by Derek Jacobi and Dom Deluise, and Jenner while not as sinister and frightening a villain as Hexxus, Chernabog or the Horned King, he is still very convincing. Oh, and the scenes with Mrs Brisby's children and Auntie Shrew brought some fun into a dark story, and didn't interfere too much, and Elizabeth Hartmann gives a sorrowful and poignant portrayal as Mrs Brisby. I haven't read the book in its entirety, but I do remember my year 6 primary school teacher reading the chapter when Mrs Brisby(or Frisby in the book) meets Brutus for the first time. All in all, a beautiful film, and I am sorry it has taken me so long to see it. I advice you to avoid the sequel though, it's awful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Since it has been a while since I last saw this flick, I was quite eager to check it out again. Indeed, I remember it very well, I saw it when I was very young and, at the time, it must have been the darkest thing I ever saw and it had quite an impact on me. At the time, Disney was not doing really well and Don Bluth, a Disney animator, left the company with several colleagues and set up his own studio when Disney didn’t have any real competition. It took some guts and their first production was critically acclaimed because Bluth was aiming for some beautiful and detailed animation instead of the cheap methods used by Disney at the time. So, after all these years (I think it took me maybe 20 years to finally see the damned thing again), it was wondering how I would experience this movie this time around. Eventually, I thought it was pretty neat and definitely something else than your typical Disney feature but, to be honest, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. Personally, I do believe that the people who claim that this feature is amazing feel this way mostly out of nostalgia (like I used to be) but if you watch it 30 years later, as a grown-up, it is basically a solid animation feature but not really an actual masterpiece. Anyway, to conclude, all in all, it is still a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I kept hearing about how The Secret of NIMH is Don Bluth's best film, so one day, I sat down to watch it on Netflix, and... I got pulled into the movie. Besides E.T., how could nearly everybody not see this movie at the time of its release? This is INDEED Don Bluth's best film. Everything in it is perfect when it comes to the man himself. It's dark, but idealistic. It's intense, but it's heartfelt. If you haven't seen this movie, please find the time to do so.

My rating: 8/10

Who knew that such a simple story about moving a mouse house would turn into something so wonderful with a great plot and awesome characters. I remember being scared watching this movie as a kid but now it's just a great movie about a mothers determination to save her family.

This movie scared me so much as a child and to this day it's still capable of that. But, I still love it no matter what and cry everytime I watch it. Usually, if it is on tv I will avoid it at all costs, it's just that emotional :/

The Secret of NIMH a classic childhood classic of mine; yes I owned and watched this movie often as a child through my VHS tape. However, my nostalgic value aside and my professional opinion towards movies today is The Secret of NIMH a good film or a great film?

Well to point out the number one plus about this movie is that it was created by Don BLuth one of the greatest animation Directors of all time. With his classic 2D hand drawn animation you really get a feel of how dark this world can really get. Now I know this is marketed for kids and I believe kids will enjoy this film as well as adults. It has it's touching light hearted moments but can suddenly turn dark and serious. That's what's great about this film it gives us a serious story and because it takes the audience serious we want to watch it and know more.

The voice work in this film is outstanding that's always been a pattern I've noticed with Don Bluth he always seemed to be able to create these characters with perfect voices to match. Trust me when I say this one is no exception. The characters give of each of their own vides whether those emotions be courageous, mysterious, or corruption.

In this story we don't get a tough mainly kind of hero but rather a recently widowed mother Mrs. Brisby who will face her worst fears for the sake of her family. We are also introduced to the leader of super intelligent group of rats known as Nicodemus. All of whom escaped from NIMH (National Instiute of Mental Health). I have to be honest the orgin story of the rats of NIMH aided by the sage voice of Nicodemus (Derek Jacobi) is one of the greatest moments in animation story telling you will ever see. It's truly one of those moments you must see for yourself.

Bottom line my fellow movie watchers this film is one of the most under rated films of all time in animation history and yet to this date I call it Don Bluth's best work that he ever accomplished. If you haven't seen it yet you can easily order or buy the DVD I highly recommend it to people of all ages who are fans of animation. I hope you enjoy it and pass it on to the next generation so they won't forget the classic animation that dominated the past.

Thank you for your time :)

This movie is possibly one of the best pieces of western animation, and also fairly under rated considering its quality. Directed by Don Bluth, a man who has a talent for making a great movie for every bomb he directs.