Jason BarryMirrorMask

Do not buy this DVD from RAREWAVES-IMPORTS if you live in the US or use a Region 1 DVD/Blu-ray player. The product will not play in REGION 1 players in spite of the description saying it is in NTSC format. Bought this twice and both times seller sent PAL format even though I contacted and specifically requested they verify sending NTSC format as in the description. Very dissatisfied with the “service” provided. Sending unopened product back for full refund.

I loved this movie! I don't watch a lot of movies so take my review with a grain of salt, but I thought it was a creative and entertaining story line and visually very unique. To contrast with regular big box office cinema, you don't see something like this very often. I think it's aimed at a somewhat younger audience but as a late 20's individual, I still found it very entertaining. The themes were different although parallel to movies like the Labyrinth (a favorite from my childhood). The actors and the characters they play are superb. The main actress did a phenomenal job. My only regret is not having seen/heard of this movie earlier. Side note - The dreamy visuals and script, along with the theme of the good vs. evil in the dreamworld affecting the real world, reminds me of the movie "Ink" which, if you haven't seen it, is an amazing indie movie aimed at a slightly more mature / older audience and also worth watching.

I don't know how this oddball movie became a family favorite. Probably because we love movies like Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. But we actually quote it to each other. It's weird with a smidge of darkness, but nothing too scary. The whole movie is a kind of metaphor for a girl whose mother has cancer, but it's not heavy-handed. More like a weird adventure. Valentine is a fun character who really adds to the charm and humor. Worth watching if you're a bit offbeat and like this style of animation.

Neil Gaiman... Yeah, that's pretty much why people buy this. Since Dave McKean's involved, the artwork is notably weird. If you ignore the art, this has a similar(ish) feel to the other young adult Gaiman movie, Coraline. There's an angsty teenage girl who wants freedom from her parents. There's an other mother who takes care of her. There's a circus. There are people who wave glass balls around, which looks a lot like what the Goblin King did in Labyrinth, possibly because i heard this was intended to be a "spiritual successor" to Labyrinth (no stolen baby or musical numbers though). There are floating giant statutes and flying books and flying gorillas; actually, now that i think about it, a lot of things fly.If you're looking for something family friendly (which i never do), this movie lacks sex, nudity, cursing, blood or anything that makes a movie good. i don't want to give away any spoilers but i'm going to anyway - the bad guy loses, the girl loves her mom and dad, the world is saved. Like a (more recent) fairy tale, there are no tricks, surprises or twist endings, you know who the bad guys are, there are no tragic deaths. This isn't American Gods or even Neverwhere or Ananzi Boys, this is far closer to Coraline or a less-romance laden Stardust. If you're the kind who hates hearing about pagan religions, you can relax knowing that Odin, the Endless and every other god figure is absent, although there is a good queen and an evil queen and they control sunlight and shadows (the main character fights for the light).Will you like it? Beats me. i love it. My wife loved it. My kids love it. The people i know love it, and would possibly love it a bit more or less if the art style were a bit less, oh, stylized, but love it they would.

For those who want to see how surrealism has filtered into current films, see Gaiman's "Mirrormask." Wow, what a visual feast! I'm not a big fan of computer animation and many of the creatures (the ape-birds and spider eyes in particular) are too obviously 3D animations. On the other hand, I loved the environments and the scribbled fog around the margins. Like another amazing visual film "The Cell", I felt a conflict between the entertainers desire to be commercially "accessible" in creating a simplistic genre storyline (a teen girl wanting to run away from home) in order to do what they really want; to create visual feats of imagination. Also like "The Cell", much of the imagery is appropriated from other artists and filmmakers. For example, the sequence with mechanical figures dressing the girl is straight out of the Quay Brother's "Street of Crocodiles" (minus the Carpenters song).

This is a go-to movie for my best friend, and though I'd seen the movie, previously, it definitely rewards repeat viewings. The acting is good, the visuals are stunning, and based on possible expectations, viewers may find that the beginning lags slightly, but not enough to be off putting. Once the alternate world elements of the film come to the forefront, it's a clever, witty, often funny tour-de-force, well worth the "go-to-good movie" with a permanent place in my best friend's movie collection.

A fabulous flick that's chock full of extremely-deep symbolism and metaphor. Very entertaining, thought provoking, and visually stunning. A true work of art that's extremely well written, directed, acted, and cinematically executed. Another fabulous flick from the U.K. courtesy of Jim Henson. After watching "Mirror Mask" on the heels of "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" it's hard for me to return to most American movies that have devolved into mindless, soulless, artless, SFX commercialstrocities (new word). And yes, I AM an American.

If a Terry Gilliam film and Tim Burton film had a baby this is probably what it would look like. A lot of people have heavily criticised the plot and the graphics. On the second point, the graphics style was chosen as these are supposed to drawings. OK, it looks cheap, but it's a stylistic choice they went with and stuck to. The plot is... not straightforward. Neil Gaiman writes complex stuff, considering his audience. It takes two or three viewings to figure out who is who and what's going on and that's no bad thing, I'm tired of movies that you know it after one sitting. This isn't for the very young, there are scenes which are more than Doctor Who hide behind the couch uncomfortable. The cast is dependable, I played spot the actor for some characters and there's a tongue in cheek feel to it all. Over all worth watching, but do it more than once if you want to follow it completely.

This is one of those films you come across only now and again.It is surreal, fascinating, indulgent and wonderful to watch.Neil Gaiman has put his 'comic creating' ability and talent into this film and the very talented director Dave McKean has transformed the script into a wonderful journey of exploration.At first it appears a bit wierd, but as the film goes along it really does make sense.It is basicaly CGI, but one of the best you will see.I would have liked to have viewed it at the cinema to get its full sensual affect.Stepane Leonidas and Gina McKee are superb, infact all the actors add their own talents to this film. It is a well picked and placed cast.This is a film buff collectors must have.Buy the film and enjoy the journey.RJC.

Having been a Gaiman fan for some years now, I have only recently bought, and watched, Mirrormask. Whilst I found he imagery superb, interesting and entertaining. I can't help but feel let down by both the simplistic plot-line and script. I have, admittedly, had Neil Gaiman on a very high pedestal and come to expect a very high standard from his works,of all varieties. I found Mirrormask to be just a simple search and triumph plot. Perhaps it was written for a less mature(d) audience but, after the tremendous tour de force of such offerings as Neverwhere and Smoke and Mirrors (to name but two); I was expecting better. However Dave Mckean's superb scenery and characters helped. I think I was expecting a depth to the film that wasn't intended to be there.

interesting beautifully made on the cheap live acting with gloriously of it's time art work and effectsnice little storyreally 3.5 stars as a little slow to roll and the script at times lost its zip but the humour and quirkiness of new gaiman still shines on with help from the muppeteers and artists

Mirrormask is a movie that I absolutely adore despite the fact that, as a 38 year-old male, I'm most certainly not the target demographic they had in mind when they made it.Nevertheless, the magical tale of an adolescent girl coping with living a life she doesn't know if she wants and with her mother's illness captivated me. It reminds me of both "Labyrinth" and "Neverwhere", yet it's neither as childish as the former nor as dark as the latter. Mirrormask, for me at least, also conveyed more emotions than either of those (no offense, I still love those two).I don't give 5 stars lightly, so believe me when I say that this is a hidden gem.