User reviews

Pretty average as far as family films go but it's totally harmless and good for all ages, especially young children. The best part of the film is the scenic shots of China's mountains and forests, and young kids will be delighted to see a cute baby panda bumbling around throughout most of the film. Overall, if you have children and don't want to expose them to more adult-oriented films, this one is a pretty safe and entertaining option.

My Take: Harmless yet decent family entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less.

Think MY DOG SKIP with a panda. Here, the little boy happens to be the son of zoologist with a devotion to a Chinese Panda reserve. What if the boy and his friend, daughter of his father's right hand man, happens to rescue a cute little Panda cub from two Chinese stereotype poachers? This is exactly what THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE is about, and it does nothing else. While it isn't a great effort, and surely not above others of its craft, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE is entertaining, and basically perfect for an evening matinée with the kids.

Newcomer Ryan Slater plays the little kid visiting his zoologist father (Stephen Lang) in a Panda reserve, on the verge of being savaged by officious bureaucrats. He also gets his hands tangled with a plot to save a small Panda cub from the hands of two bumbling poachers, who happen to be Chinese for a change, no less. The movie has very little happening then on, except for mild peril and adventure. Trekking through forests and villages, dodging poachers until reaching into its finale, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE isn't exactly an exciting or terrific adventure, but for harmless family viewing, it isn't a bad shot at trying. The panda, by the way, is a convincing and cute alternating use of a real cub and a realistic animatronic puppet. The settings are also lush and captures the feel of the moments situations.

Regardless its shortcomings and weaknesses, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE is nonetheless harmlessly entertaining. Rent it for the kids.

Rating: *** out of 5.

The boy-hero is a brat. He is American and imagines this entitles him to royal treatment. He is somewhat contemptuous of anything different. He sees the words only through his own eyes, only through his desires. He is selfish.

His father is a work-aholic Panda researcher who repeatedly forgets that his son exists.

The mother is an airhead.

The movie is filmed in China, in places far more beautiful that you would have imagine existed, turquoise lakes, mist-shrouded mountains, gorges. The differentness of China in every respect is just so juicy including the livestock.

I have no idea how they pulled of the special effects without killing someone, falling from creaking wooden bridges, falling over cliffs, being swept downstream in torrents, riding a runaway horse cart... They never let you get your breath before some other calamity overtook our heroes.

Most of the dialogue is in Chinese without subtitles, though sometimes the young female translator gives you a bowdlerised version. You get sense of what they are saying from the tone of voice.

Much of the fun comes from the dialogue between the translator and Ryan. They have such different world views, they are constantly misunderstanding each other. He talks about "bull" and she assumed he had switched the topic to livestock.

Certain things did not make sense. How could a weaning baby panda stay alive for many days without any food? How could Ryan Slater manage to carry the bear mile upon mile. It was half as big as he was. Surely he would have to rest every 10 feet or so especially when climbing. Maybe it was just a stuffed toy. What are the odds a watch battery would be the same as one needed for a tracking collar? What are the odds you could remove a watch battery without tools?

The movie offers a rare glimpse into China's countryside (looks spectacular), and the pandas are pretty cute (when they show the real McCoy, and not the animatronics). Aside from that, this is a slow, almost pointless movie.

The American kid is very annoying, and I wished he'd fall off one of those gorgeous mountains. The Chinese girl is a little better, but her character is weak - they never explain how come her English is so good. The chemistry between both these kids is pretty much nil. At the end, they don't seem to be either friends, rivals, or anything else.

Some viewers may be offended by the way the Tibetian people are portrayed - there's no evidence of the persecution they are under. The poachers are not scary or interesting as well. I grew tired of hearing the same bars of music over and over, and I grew tired of seeing the same shots over and over! I think even kids may be frustrated with this movie.

A nice adventure in a chinese countryside,with breathtaking landscape, rivers and lakes absolutelly in clean waters, amazing Panda's cub, but the plot and the dialogues are boring and doesn't make sense, a lot of standard clichés, childish behavior, just for the kids!!! A little of imagination shall be better!!

Resume:

First watch: 1998 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6

GOOD - There is some wonderful Chinese mountain scenery in here, really beautiful. The pandas are "cute," too, as expected. They are always fun to watch.

BAD - Instead of this being about the pandas, the kids in here (or the screenwriters) make it more about themselves. Included in their scenes are some incredibly stupid dialog. Just as insulting was a big scene near the end where the children physically fend off the adult poachers. Yeah, right. In between, we get the normal plug for New Age "mountain spirits" and the like.

OVERALL - Entertaining but the kids in her are very annoying at times.....too annoying for a second viewing.

Okay, I'll admit that the panda is cute, (although most of the time it's mechanical) but that's about all that this movie has. The story line is STUPID and the kid is really, really abrasive. I was hoping that the poachers would get him. I am a pre-teen (oh god, no!) and I still see several holes in the logic of this story. For example, why is it that the dad is climbing the mountain only a few hours after he got shot in the leg! Basically, no one over the age of three should be ALLOWED to watch this movie. It's demeaning to the entire population.

Boy this was awful. Really really bad. I think the scene that best embodies how unrealistic and moronic this film truly is, would be the one in which the two main characters (who are only about 14) find themselves covered with leeches, and so they spontaneously take off all their clothes and jump in a river, and then look SURPRISED that they've done so. Like they didn't realize that this was a stupid idea WHILE they were doing it. Now we get to sit and watch as the movie awkwardly bumbles its way through the "I'm a guy, you're a girl, we're accidentally naked" schtick. Just shoot me with one of those Panda tranq darts and put me out of my misery. Granted, this film did its job of keeping the kids I was with interested, but unlike most Disney films and other modern flicks geared towards young children, it had nothing to keep the adults even remotely interested. I think the reason that this movie takes place in Hong Kong, is because it's actually a form of ancient Asian torture. Avoid this like the plague. And if you have to choose, take the plague.

Lighten up! This movie IS FOR KIDS! My 9 year old daughter and her Chinese mom really enjoyed this. The admittedly fake storyline (which could have been stolen from any of about nine million family wildlife movies) is overcome by the sheer personality of the panda cub and the terrific scenery. There are very few movies that depict either pandas or the beautiful Chinese panda reserves. The movie also shows the American contribution to the preservation of the pandas; the Chinese government wasn't doing much at all until American naturalists got involved in the 70's.

Kids will enjoy this and you crabby adults will survive it.

Yep, this is reality > Robot Panda....too bad as I love pandas. Plot so simple, it could be a short elevator ride pitch. To producer: "Hey, about a panda flick where two airheads save a panda from poachers". Producer; "Sounds great. You got $500,000. Make it a block buster"

Yeah, right.

I have seen every panda film and documentary and read 6 books on pandas. I thought something was fishy when the panda went over a bridge, down a water fall, and attacked a poacher. Hmmmm..... First of all, there were probably 3 Chinese Panda handlers/keepers on the set and TWO armed guards to prevent any harm to the panda. Messing with a panda brings severe penalties. The panda handlers would NEVER permit a panda to go over a falls, hence the big use of the mechanical panda, which was obvious. Story sucked, and only a few minutes of live action with a panda. If you want a fun film about bears, try Yellowstone Cubs, made in 1964. Director does a fine job of telling the tale (reenacted by two bears) separated from mom. They get into tons of trouble, including driving a boat...It is really fun. AND don't miss BORN IN CHINA...an great movie about snow monkeys, snow leopard and Giant Panda...and beautiful footage of the majestic beauty of China.

I do remember 11 years ago (or so I don't know) seeing the trailer for this film, and I wanted to see it in theaters-but I didn't get a chance. But when it came out on video, I got it as a Valentine's Day gift from my mom. When I watched it, I really loved it, though I can remember having only watched it a couple of times long ago-until now, that is.

The film starts when 10-year-old Ryan Tyler goes to China during his spring break to visit his zoologist dad, Michael, who has been working on a project to rescue the dwindling panda population. But there was poacher trouble and Ryan, along with young assistant/translator Ling, decided to rescue an adorable panda cub, which had been "animal-napped" and they must return him to his mother, whom Dr. Tyler rescued from a trap and brought back to the reserve to care for. As they gain maturity and face unexpected adventures, the two youngsters learn to love and respect pandas as they gain maturity and tolerance for each other, of course.

Like I said (a million times), I was shocked by the negative reviews and ratings I would see on the web. I mean, I love films about human/animal relations; this film has heart and a little humor. And I think films like this one would enlist people's sympathies for the giant panda population.

Ryan Slater is a very good actor.

All the pandas in the movie are very cute.

If you like a movie with both people and animals in you should see this movie.

I watched this movie with friends and we laughed the whole way through. This would be fine, if the movie was a comedy, but instead its a bland and ultimately forgettable childrens flick. You can tell that RYAN only got the part because he was Christian Slaters brother, as he hams up the screen throughout its entirety. LING is certainly no better, her fake asian accent is pathetic, as is her acting ability. I realize they are only kids but there have been good child actors before, and these two aren't up to scratch. The real star of the show is the panda, it shows character throughout, especially in the scene when it attacks Ryan on the bridge. This of course excludes the scenes in which it is played by a robot, did the director actually think that thing looked like a real panda? Overall this film is bad, but watchable Family material. The kids will probably love it, but there are better films around. Rehire E.T., the Goonies, or even Toy story, these films are more sincere and watchable then this movie, and will actually be remembered in time to come.

I am outraged that these poor panda bears were put through so much torture to make this movie. Fortunately, the evidence is caught on tape. What you are about to see done to these animals for the sake of entertainment may shock you! The bears are shot at, dragged off of a bridge, tossed over a waterfall, dangled over a cliff, and virtually starved to death. The makers of this film as well as anyone who watches it should be ashamed of this dangerous and gratuitous exploitation of such poor helpless creatures. I have already alerted my congressman, Greenpeace, Ralph Nader and my Mommy. Hopefully a follow-up movie can be made showing the capture and incarceration of the producers...what? The bears are actually robots? Oops....