Movies

Our family saw Duma yesterday and we loved it so much, I had to place our vote today! Congratulations to Carroll Ballard, Warner Brothers and everyone else responsible for creating such a beautifully filmed movie with an equally as wonderful story! Duma is a must see for children; it sure beats most everything else out today in terms of story quality! The cinematography was incredible and all scenes involving animals were wonderfully done. I hope that big studios bring us more movies of this caliber for family entertainment. I for one, and hopefully not the only one, am tired of special effects carrying a movie as well as heroes and villains that are way too out of the ordinary.

An exquisite film that weaves a compelling tale of friendship and loss of a family member without pulling any punches. The characters all act in a believable fashion and have more depth than in many such films. Each character is driven by their own motives -- not always honorable. The camera work brings alive the scenery and the animals without being overdone. Each shot is well chosen and suited to the story. The direction and editing are crisp and effective. This film deserves a wider distribution as it is far superior to much of the family fare out there and deals with real issues. If its in your neighborhood, get out and see it.

First, it never opened here. No surprise. Albuquerque has only one theater that would show an independent movie of this quality, and for some reason, this one never got here. My other disappointment with the DVD was that there is no bonus material. I would love to see how this movie was made. As far as the movie itself, it's excellent. Both Xan and Rip are compelling characters, and Duma, the cheetah himself, is incredible. You can feel the heat of the African desert, the cinematography is done so well. The soundtrack is perfect; I'm hoping it's available somewhere. It's too bad the studio heads who make these decisions aren't bright enough to see what an incredible movie this is; if they were, they might have given this movie the commercial push it deserved. Still, it might do well on DVD; I know we're going to buy it.