Red Riding Hood

This is a stylish horror story, a who-done-it mystery, and a young love romance combined. Dark, gothic, and visually gorgeous in parts, it's an entertaining movie that carries you along and keeps you guessing.Amanda Seyfried grows ever more beautiful in her movies, coming a long way from her dim-wit over-rouged Karen in "Mean Girls" in this leading role.Shiloh Fernandez does a good job, looking very much like a younger, less crazy Joaquin Phoenix. Max Irons (the son of Jeremy Irons) is another teen heart throb in the making.Also interesting to see on screen again are Julie Christie and Virgina Madsen, screen beauties in their younger years, playing a hippie grandmother and philandering mother.Lukas Haas, the little boy from "Witness" is in this movie, all growed up, as a naive Father Auguste. He had a small part in "Inception" also.Gary Oldman was great, as always, playing the role of Father Solomon.The music adds to this movie, very new age and pretty. I got the soundtrack afterwards.It's not the usual movie treatment of the Middle Ages. I was glad they finally ditched the standard fake British accents and went with American accents for once. After all, people didn't speak with either modern British or American accents in the Middle Ages.Father Solomon's African and Asian soldiers add to the effect that this is very much a modern fantasy tale - like a graphic novel, a re-telling of ancient times as seen through a parallel universe.All the negative reviews of this movie miss the fantasy and graphic novel style of this movie, miss the fact that this is not the usual gross-out teen horror movie, but very much a warm and gentle romance between two young and attractive leads.I liked this movie a lot, enough to get the Blu-ray and DVD combo after renting it.The Blu-ray has a good number of extras not in the DVD, including an alternate ending (shorter and more abrupt than the theatrical cut), a gag reel of bloopers, a few deleted scenes, and several "making of" shorts about the actors, music, and film making.The best two extras for fans of this movie are the music video of the song "Crystal Visions" (shot as an extended version of the future love affair seen in glimpses at the end of the movie) and a Picture-in Picture commentary track with Director Catherine Hardwicke, Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fermandez, and Max Irons talking about the movie. One brief exchange:Amanda Seyfried: "Do you ever think when you watch me, that it's quite possible for my eyeballs to fall out?"Max Irons: "Best question ever."Catherine Hardwicke: "You do have pretty amazingly large eyes".Amanda Seyfried: "Sometime it makes me want to just close them".

Fairy tales have captured our imaginations for generations. This reimagining of a classic fairy tale will appeal to older audiences but I would not recommend it to younger ones.Everything about Valarie (Amanda Seyfried) has always set her apart from the rest of the villagers. Promised in marriage to the respectable Henry (Max Irons), her heart yearns instead for a local woodcutter, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), who returns her affections and asks her to run away with him into the mountains. Their plans are thwarted when the bell is rung, signifying that a wolf has slain one of the villagers. For over twenty years they have lived in fear, bartering for their lives by sacrificing up their best livestock in exchange for the wolf not entering the village. But now Valarie's sister has been slain, devastating her parents (Billy Burke, Virginia Madsen) and Grandmother (Julie Christie). The men of the community are angry enough to go out and hunt down the beast, led by the resident blacksmith (Michael Shanks), but the village reverend pleads with them to await the arrival of a priest with experience in hunting wolves.Rather than heed his advice, the men take up their swords and torches and go into the wilds. Disaster transpires as a result and confusion, suspicion, and betrayal enter the village at the arrival of Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), who informs them their legends are a lie. The wolf does not live in the distant mountains but among them, a human with the ability to transform....Adapting a fairy tale for the big screen is tricky and many films have tried it, but few can find that delicate balance between the underlining romanticism and horror of the original. This succeeds, at least in the sense that it is both engaging and interesting. Visually, it is stunning, full of haunting woods and a soft, often warm color scheme (in spite of it being winter). The costuming is striking but never overwhelms the actors, all of whom are adequate and in some instances very good. Oldman in particular seems to be enjoying this role, and Christie is quite ominous as the strange and slightly sinister Grandmother. The romantic triangle is a tad contrived but most of the rest of the script is good, if not intentionally misleading as it takes us in different directions with the intention of obscuring who the werewolf really is. It does a masterful job and while some of the plot twists are predictable, I appreciated that the two young men vying for Valarie's attention avoid most of the usual stereotypes.One cannot recommend this too easily because it does approach a fairy tale with a more mature, sensual outlook and at times the acting is painfully wooden, but I really enjoyed it. From beginning to end it was beautiful to look at and held my attention. It may not be for everyone but if you love fantasy and fairy tales stories as I do, if nothing else it will be a diverting way to spend a couple of hours.

Fabulous action, acting. The sets were so perfect. The movie was full of surprises also. Costumes were incredible. The nails were really atrocious for several of the actors. Lol of course it would have been not as good if the gross nails weren't in the movie.

For the first 1/3rd of the film, I wasn't all that impressed with the story, but after the village folk kill a wolf (not the wolfman), things really picked up. There's a wonderful, seductive dance scene with a mesmerizing, throbbing soundtrack after the wolf hunt. I thought, at first, this Blu-Ray was destined for a charity shop, but that ain't gonna happen now that I've watched the film in its entirety! Nothing sexually offensive, some gore, but not over done. The film, also, has a great look to it (congrats to the photographer, and both the art & set designers.) Gary Oldman was excellent as the 'Inspector General': tough, brave, true to his principals, but a bit cruel & obsessed with his mission.

I actually enjoyed the original version of the film, thought it was a great twist to the tale. However the extended Blu-Ray version is better by far. This is an adult story, not for children. Suitable for people who like romantic comedies, dramas and fantasy.I enjoyed the interplay between the characters. They all showed chemistry, especially Amanda and Shiloh. Amanda Seyfried works for me as 'Red Riding Hood', though she is not addressed as such in the film. Amanda is not playing an atypical victim, but a young woman who is comfortable with who she is and what she wants. Shiloh Fernandez was a good casting as the brooding would be love of Red. He doesn't go over the top, but plays the part just right. Max Irons character was also a good casting. He is your typical male lead and a fitting counterpart to Shiloh. All in all the three leads do a very good job and play their roles responsibly. This is not a tale for children to watch but more an adult version of the film.The supporting cast led by Gary Oldman, who is brilliant in every role he takes, are great. We are kept guessing as to who the wolf is with good scripting and acting. I enjoyed the music and ambience of the film. They helped weave the story.Many people have criticised this film, but I enjoyed it and will happily watch it again.

OK, beware, this movie is definitely not for kids. This is a truly scary movie adapted from the book about the big bad wolf. I love this kind of fairy tale gone overdrive. Kind of like the recent Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hansel-Gretel-Hunters-Extended-Blu-ray/dp/B00AZKXZZM/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1414529631&sr=1-2&keywords=hansel+and+gretel

If you can get past the first 30 minutes and ignore the strong American accents in what seems to be an eastern European village, this film is OK. I did initially wonder why Gary Oldman had agreed to appear.I have to say that I nearly switched it off but am glad I didn't - it got so much more interesting after a VERY naff start.

arrived today, complete order arrived for a change, ive already checked out the dvd and the quality is not all that good-really poor, ive not seen the bluray just yet because its broken. soo il have to wait and see how the bluray performs.