★ 9 / 10
Balto is an a underrated treasure with memorable
FleshWound
Balto is an a underrated treasure with memorable characters, endearing moments, howling humor, and canine villainy/heroism that rivals movies from Disney's…
Balto is an a underrated treasure with memorable characters, endearing moments, howling humor, and canine villainy/heroism that rivals movies from Disney's golden-age. You'll be rooting for the literal underdog throughout while all of the supporting characters add to the charm. It's a top-tier family movie that has zero foul language and zero religious slurs, with the only near-miss being when one character says "Son of a...", leaving the phrase unfinished. If you like a good sled-dog movie, this is one of the best!
★ 7 / 10
Enjoyable and winning animated adventure based on a true story about a dog faces overwhelming odds to bring life-saving medicine.
ma-cortes
A first-class effect in the animation genre, stars Balto, he is an outcast half-breed - part husky, part wolf- who lives in Nome, Alaska 1925 and is mistreated…
A first-class effect in the animation genre, stars Balto, he is an outcast half-breed - part husky, part wolf- who lives in Nome, Alaska 1925 and is mistreated by all the dogs around, except for Jenna, a pure bred Husky, Boris, a Russian goose, and Muk and Luk, two polar bears. Balto is vying for the affection of Jenna, a beautiful husky belonging to a little girl taken ill. He then gets the chance to be a hero when a case of diphtheria breaks out and the dog team gets lost. He then sets out on a crazy journey with his goose friend Boris and Muk and Luk the polar bears. Jenna then decides to go looking for them. She then finds them and helps them out some she then gets injured and Balto tells her to go back with Muk and Luk he tells Boris to help guid Muk and Luk . When Steele's team , carrying the medicine, get lost. Balto then attempt to find the sled team and helps guide them on another crazy journey. The true story of an American hero !. The true story of an American hero is back on the big screen!. His story became a legend. His adventure is one you'll never forget !. Part Dog. Part Wolf. All Hero.Based on a true story about an Alaskan sled dog who, in 1925, led a team across six hundred miles of Arctic tundra to deliver antitoxin to the diphtheria epidemic stricken children of Nome. Balto is a canine outcast who is half-wolf half-dog, being teased by all the dogs in the town and subsequently undertaking several dangerous adventures in a journey throughout the Arctic. Its' a very amusing and enterteining film in which we live his risked adventures as Balto faces many challenges, such as treachery, an ice cave avalanche, a ferocious black bear attack, cracking thin ice and not the least from Steele, a ruthless and egoistic bully and rival for Jenna affections.The competent animation from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, is magnificent, but more essential, the storyline wrings all the drama out of this thrilling story, without forgetting to inject bits of humor for punctuation , as well as James Horner's emotive musical score. The motion picture was competently directed by Simon Welles. Simon is great-grandson of H. G. Wells. He's a good craftsman who has made , both animated and real image films. Simon is a prestigious director, known for
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), The Prince of Egypt (1998), The Time Machine (2002), Flushed Away (2006), Mars Needs Moms (2011) and Mercs (2015) .The real events in which Balto (2015) are based are as follows: In 1925 , there's a diptheria epidemic, and Balto is the lead team dog on the final leg of the race to get the serum to Nome in time. Balto and the rest of the team dogs becam instant heroes and even journeyed to Hollywood to star in their own silent film,¨Balto's Race to Nome¨. Rating. 7/10. It's a notable animated adventure with much for children of all ages and their parents to enjoy.
★ 8 / 10
A beautifully-crafted animated tale for the whole family
Bumdark
2D Animation has fallen on some very tough times in recent years, with the advent of 3D computer-generated movies. It's not that one is really better than the…
2D Animation has fallen on some very tough times in recent years, with the advent of 3D computer-generated movies. It's not that one is really better than the other is; they're simply two different mediums. It's that one should not suffocate the other one in the market, as they both have their own specialties and peculiarities.One of the last fully 2D hand-drawn movies made was 'Balto', out of Steven Spielberg's Amblimation Animation Studios (which then closed down forever following 'Balto''s lukewarm reception). It was a cruel twist of fate that 'Balto' was released at the same time as Pixar's groundbreaking 'Toy Story', for the latter definitely attracted all the glances and sucked Balto's steam dry. Considering all that 'Balto' is about, that's somewhat of a crime against animation in itself.But enough of the melodrama. 'Balto' is based, of course, on the true story of the real-life 1925 Serum Run to bring back antitoxin to stricken Nome, Alaska, which was overtaken by a vicious bout of diphtheria. Although the real story wasn't quite as stylized as depicted in this movie, the film certainly holds a proud candle to the real men and their dogs that risked their lives against insane odds and became heroes (even though in the end, only one dog was remembered).In the cold winter of 1925, the town of Nome is cheering their dogsled teams as they fiercely compete to win the annual race. One of the onlookers is Balto (Kevin Bacon), a wolfdog with a gentle spirit and a brave heart. However, his half-wolf status results in him being feared by the townspeople and disdained by the other pedigreed dogs (led by the cunningly malicious Steele), and he finds himself depressed and lonely most of the time. His only friends consist of an unlikely trio: a flightless Russian goose named Boris (voiced by Bob Hoskins, and with an accent and mannerisms that can't help but crack you up), and two polar bear siblings, Muk and Luk (Phil Collins), who can't swim.Balto soon falls smitten with Jenna, a beautiful husky who belongs to a little girl named Rosy, who is the only human so far to be friendly to Balto. However, as the infection hits, all the children Rosy included fall dangerously ill, and the town is out of medicine. I'll let you look up the conditions on getting new antitoxin for yourself (this is a review, not a historical paper), and now Nome must send their best and fastest dogs on a dangerous race against time to retrieve the waiting serum at the town of Nenana some 700 miles away or so. The team faces deadly blizzards, treacherous ice and unpredictable climates, and soon, as can be predicted, they end up hopelessly lost. It's now up to Balto and his ragtag team of mismatched friends to battle their way through the Alaskan winter wilderness to try and bring the medicine back home, and save both the team, and the stricken children back in Nome.Being a music aficionado, the first thing that I fell in love with about this movie was James Horner's beautiful score. I would even be bold enough to state it can rival his work on 'Titanic' (1997), though I suspect many wouldn't perhaps agree. The pieces are always moving and magical, and truly bring the scenes to life in ways that couldn't have been accomplished without it.The hand-drawn animation in this movie is excellent, one of the best in many years. The winter scenery is beautiful, and the characters are all well-drawn and animated. The voice acting is largely solid (especially for Boris, for whom I've already expressed my amusement), yet some of them seem to fall a bit short. Kevin Bacon seems slightly flat as Balto, and Bridget Fonda (Jenna) seems slightly dispassionate at times.There are many things to be enjoyed concerning this film. For me, it's that while it does follow a traditional formula seen in animated family movies, it seems to leave out all the annoying bits (such as those irritating sing-along songs, for starters). There are the standard bumbling sidekicks, but they're more akin to comic relief than to actually accompanying the hero through his entire journey, and that's not to mention the humor in this film is genuinely funny and pleasant, not forced or contrived like in most animated movies.Some would be a little surprised to find some of the themes in this film are rather more grim and dark than in most other family-oriented animation films; there's a very real sense of impending mortality, especially towards the children of Nome, as demonstrated in one scene where we see several small coffins being made. In contrast, there are also some truly beautiful scenes, such as a little trick Balto teaches Jenna that leads to a mountainside being illuminated by artificial Northern Lights.If you haven't seen 'Balto' yet, do yourself (and the movie) a favor and grab it while it's still available in some areas (took me weeks to find my own DVD). Sure, it's applicable largely to younger audiences, but any adult capable of connecting with an emotion now and then will likely enjoy the movie to some extent. I for one love it and heartily recommend it to anyone who craves some good and decent 2D animation, those markets being so barren these days.* * * * * For reminding us what traditional animation was like with its magic and beauty, I award 'Balto' 8.5 bottle of antitoxin out of 10.PS Was I the only one who was surprised to learn it was Phil Collins who voiced Muk & Luk? Was I also the only one who totally failed to recognize this legendary singer's voice? So shamed
54%
TOMATOMETER
· 24 reviews
70%
AUDIENCE
· 50K ratings
7.1/10
52.7K
•••
If BALTO is half as good as I think, I may download the followup movies of him