Mulan (1998)

Solid entertainment from a new group of Disney animators. The story source is a Chinese fable about a young girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her country. When the Huns attack China, a call to arms goes out to every village, and Mulan's father, being the only man in the family, accepts the call. Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga) has just made a disastrous appearance at the Matchmaker and decides to challenge society's expectations (being a bride). She steals her father's conscription notice, cuts her hair, and impersonates a man to join the army. She goes to boot camp, learning to fit in with the other soldiers with some help from her sidekick, Mushu, a wise-cracking dragon (voiced by Eddie Murphy). She trains, and soon faces the Huns eye-to-eye to protect her Emperor.

The film is gorgeous to look at, with a superior blend of classic and computer-generated animation. Directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook make the best of it: a battle in the snowy mountains is as thrilling as the best Hollywood action films. The menacing Huns are not cute but simple and bad. The wickedness is subtle, not disturbing. The film is not a full-fledged musical, as it has only five songs (the best, "Be a Man," is sung during boot camp). Eddie Murphy is an inspired choice for the comic-relief dragon, but his lines are not as clever as Robin Williams's in Aladdin. These are minor quibbles, though. The story is strong, and Mulan goes right to the top of Disney animated heroines; she has the right stuff. --Doug Thomas Amazon.com

Mulan

The movie came very quickly and was in perfect condition. I would definitley buy another product from this seller! November 6, 2008

Fun Chinese theme

Forget the armchair critics. If you're a Disney fan. you'll love this one, about a Chinese girl who joins the army to fight maurading Huns. There's a little dragon friend (Eddie Murphy), a romantic captain of the guard (Donny Osmond provided the singing voice), an evil-looking Hun chieftain, an irritating minister and 3 soldier friends. Despite what others may say, the songs are terrific - not soul (ala Hercules) or jazz (ala Jungle Book), just normal. It's not a kiddies' film - it's for the whole family. Frankly, I'm not really a Disney fan and have little patience to watch most animated films. But this one's worth it. October 9, 2008

Pretty Good

Except, they do still sing--as sort of narration for their emotions. The songs are highly unmemorable (as I sit here writing this, I can only remember the line, "I'll make a man out of you," which is from the very worst song ever including in a Disney film. By the way, will Disney ever have a "training session" that will last more than a couple minutes and that isn't put to a song? They did that to this movie, Hercules, Tarzan (who also grew into an adult instantaneously), and Beauty and the Beast (in that Belle changes her mind about the Beast during a song). One more really bad thing about Mulan--Mushu is a total hinderance. I'm not just talking about his pop-culture mouth (which someone should have popped), but that he in fact causes more problems than he solves. Would it really be so much to ask if Mulan could have made the mistake that "gave away our position," instead of having Mushu shoot off a rocket? At least that way, she's redeeming her own mistake, instead of someone elses, which gives no emotional payoff. Better yet, why not have the falcon find the line of troops--after all, that's what the falcon is for, right? It scouted earlier for the general's encampment and brought back the doll, remember? Oh, and the cross-dressing thing at the end was a little too weird--a bit too Fushigi Yugi and not really very intelligent--do you honestly think that anybody would fall for that trick, even if they were really women (especially considering what the Monguls would have done). The best parts of the movie were the references to Japanese cartoons (anime). When Mushu fries the feathers off of the falcon, it looks like a Chocobo from the Final Fantasy series, but is just as likely a reference to the horseclaws from Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (the director, apparently, is a devotee of Miyazaki). Another Nausicaa reference--the doll, which is similar to the one that Lord Yupa finds at the beginning of the Nausicaa movie (it crumbles, and Yupa says, "Another village has died."). Also, Mulan's hair is given incredible attention, which is not usually the case in Disney films (usually they're just pretty and blow in the wind). Just watch her hair when she bows in shame after they find out she's a she! Beyond that, there is a good deal of emotional content, though once the possibility of execution is lifted (a life for a life), it is never mentioned again--even though the overseer, who really hated her, could have had her executed at a moments notice once she caught back up with them. And I'm sorry, but for all their knowledge and art, the Chinese were rather steadfast about their ways and about honor--they would not suddenly become so accepting of women, especially since they are still rather unaccepting of women. September 28, 2008

ONE OF DISNEY'S FINEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILMS!

Mixing CGI and hand drawn animation, Disney bring us one of it's greatest animated films, 'Mulan' is better than half the live action films that have come out in the last 10 years. Beautiful animation, exciting action sequences and an wonderful story make this a must see! The battle on the snow covered mountains in breathtaking and reminded me of one of Frank Frazetta's paintings. Most everything works in this film and Eddie Murphy provides a memorable character as Mushu the dragon in this exciting adventure movie. The 2 disc set is full of goodies and sports a great DVD transfer and audio. September 1, 2008

Review of recent purchase

I recently ordered Mulan 2-disc Special Edition from Amazon. I was thoroughly disappointed because there were no discs inside the case! I had to return it and because I no longer trust Amazon, I went to Borders and bought the dvd. It's a great movie, too bad Amazon failed! August 16, 2008

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