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Planet 51 | 
 enlarge | Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $28.96
Buy New: $5.77
You Save: $23.19 (80%)
New (57) Used (38) Collectible (1) from $3.99
Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 3850
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Unknown)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 99
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 91 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 043396321441
UPC: 043396321441
EAN: 0043396321441
ASIN: B001PR0YEE
Theatrical Release Date: November 20, 2009
Release Date: March 9, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
After an astronaut lands on a planet and discovers there are aliens living there, he learns that they are afraid of an invasion and he must find a way
Amazon.com
What if there are creatures living on other planets in other galaxies? And what if those creatures are a lot like us? When American astronaut Chuck Baker (Dwayne Johnson) lands on what's supposed to be barren, rocky planet devoid of life, he gets a big surprise. It seems that Planet 51 is home to little green people who are living in what's basically 1950s Americana--or should that be 1950s Alieana? Chuck bears a marked resemblance to Planet 51's science-fiction comic book and horror movie characters the "Humaniacs," and hysteria breaks out because the little green men think his appearance marks the beginning of an alien invasion. Lem (Justin Long) is a junior curator at the local planetarium and one of the only people on the planet who is awed, rather than frightened, by the concept of a larger universe. While his fellow citizens set out to capture the invading alien, Lem believes Chuck when he declares that his mission is peaceful, and Lem risks his own safety to help him return to his ship and his home planet. With a little help from Rover (an American robot probe that has been sending rock samples back to Earth while ignoring the planet's life forms), Lem's neighbor and secret crush Neera (Jessica Biel), his friend Skiff (Seann William Scott), and hippie protester Glar (Alan Marriott), Lem just might be able to save Chuck. The question is--what will the personal consequences be for Lem? The story is an amusing twist on America's long-standing fascination with the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and the film has plenty of comic moments, but it ultimately lacks suspense and fails to truly engage the viewer. The result is a film that provides some laughs but is ultimately not that entertaining. (Ages 7 and older) --Tami Horiuchi
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 53
 not so great September 9, 2010
Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs)
A fun retro look, but the constant sarcastic tone and unending supply of adults-only jokes will make this hard for kids to enjoy.
1. The fact that the movie is pretty much one extended chase scene gets quite trying.
2. This thing is chock-full of so many references to other sci-fi movies and books it's distracting.
 The Anti-Avatar of Sci-Fi Silliness! September 8, 2010
Scotman (Mt. Shasta, CA)
Watch the Skies -- There are Humaniacs Amongst Us!
What a fun movie! Just don't think too hard about it -- another planet that emulates the 1950s, complete with barbecues (but floating burgers) and flower-child VW Mini-busses (but float!).
This world that is 1950s but alien gets visited by a guy from Earth (complete with American NASA spacesuit) claims the planet for the USA but freaks when he finds a world full of aliens!
Rover (Mars Rover, get it?), our friendly little robot, loved rocks so much that he neglected to say the place was inhabited!
yeah, the adventure did have a lot of potential and there are a few places where the film is really just plain boring.
I loved several references: Rover spinning around a lightpole with an umbrella to the tune "Singing in the Rain!" The "Alien" dog with the acid pee. And so on!
What saved it for me was not only the early sci-fi references (singing the 2001: A Space Odyssey) or the funky music references (the Macarena is painful!) but the lessons learned -- that being different, and facing the unknown, you can either run from it or embrace it as a force for change.
Is the unknown the end of all you know or just a new beginning? Despite the silly hijinx and the slapstick comedy, that theme was really at the crux and I could really appreciate that.
The animation is not the slick & polish of Pixar, but the music soundtrack is hilarious!
So no, this movie is not for the cynical critic who wonders why everyone speaks English or why the planet is a copy of the 1950s. It's a sweet popcorn entertainment pure and simple.
Recommended for young kids.
 Unbelievable Potential but Misses the Mark September 8, 2010
ONENEO (Buffalo, NY)
As far as premises go, it's tough to beat Planet 51's: Take the cliché alien movies of the 1950s and reverse the formula- instead of a good-hearted alien coming to Earth, send a good-hearted human to an alien world (that just so happens to look just like earth in the 1950s) hence making mankind the alien.
There are many layers of brilliance in this structure and after taking in multiple previews that showed a film that seemed to capitalize on all of this cleverness, it was with great anticipation that I went into this one. Sadly it falls pretty short of the expectations I laid out for it beforehand. But more on that later.
The story follows the alien Lem (voiced by Justin Long), a misguided teenage astronomer who works at the local observatory.
Not unlike teens on earth, Lem crushes on his next-door neighbor Neera (voiced by
Jessica Biel), who finds herself rather taken with a hippie protester; the opposite of the preppy astronomer-type if you will.
The small suburban community they call home is flipped upside down when an authentic spaceship from another world happens to land in Lem's backyard. The alien turns out to be one Captain Chuck Baker (voiced by former wrestler Dwayne Johnson in a nearly unrecognizable performance), a slightly egotistical, block headed NASA astronaut with genuine good intentions.
See Chuck, it turns out, along with his robotic companion Rover (who was a dog-like probe sent to the planet prior to his arrival) are stranded on Planet 51 with only a matter of days to return to the landing capsule so they can return to the orbiting mother ship before its automatic pilot activates, sending it back to Earth.
Lem halfhearted helps Chuck with his mission to get home despite the risk of bing a traitor to his planet if discovered by the anti-alien, fear-mongering General Grawl (voiced by the ever-versatile Gary Oldman).
Yes it's a cute premise, yes there is creativity potential just bursting out of every nook and cranny but no, the filmmakers have somehow skimped over these aspects to deliver what could very well be one of the sloppiest animated features of all time.
For starters we have this alien world that is nearly identical to 1950s earth on down to our own musicians playing on their radios! Huh? Did they intercept our radio wave transmissions? If so why not say mention this? Is it possible we intercepted theirs back then? Oh jeez, anyway none of this is explained nor is the timeframe of earth ever presented. Is Chuck from modern day earth or is it the 1950s back here as well? It may even be our own distant future considering, at present, we're unable to travel to planets outside of our own system.
Anyway, this is a kids film after all so don't let me wax poetic about the scientific plot holes. However, it's still got problems even these flaws exempted! The 1950s references (and they are a plenty) will be 99.9% lost upon the intended audience. How many kids these days know that 1950s cars had tail fins or that the pompadour and letterman's jacket was all the rage back then? Half the adults I know didn't get that!
Then there are the movie spoofs- the residents of the planet keep acid breathing pets that were transplanted from the ALIEN films, there's a rover that borrows heavily from Wall-E without any of the charm, there are Star Wars quotes and Terminator impressions.. Not crimes in their own right of course, but the humor here just never establishes any sort of rhythm. The jokes are rather all over the place in terms of intended age groups and complexity but none are really too funny.
Additionally the film simply doesn't flow or wrap-up quickly enough to hold most children's interest. Couple this to references and gimmicks that few, if any, younger folk will understand and you end with an animated film that makes you kind of wonder who in the world this thing is really for.
I wouldn't say it's unwatchable by any means but in conclusion, this is a rather muddled finished product that fails to deliver on the clean animation and clever premise that make it seem so worthy initially. The biggest tragedy is the opportunities missed- this one is fair but it feels like it worked hard to avoid greatness.
Gorgeous animation, predictable but fun story August 30, 2010
Brent Butler (North Carolina)
When we say that Planet 51 has a predictable story, and many reviewers have, we need to take a perspective break. If this movie was solely for adults, then it would fail to do a complete job of entertaining us. However, this type of animated movie is made for kids. They have not seen the hundreds or thousands of movies that we adults have, and so the plot won't be quite as predictable for them. The movie is meant to be watched by families, with the primary focus on it entertaining the kids. To that end, it does a fine job, and throws the adults quite a few bones at the same time.
The human astronaut who lands on a planet which is supposed to be barren, as reported by the robot rover which was sent to scout it, is not overly sympathetic to begin with. However, both he and the planet's inhabitants grow a lot during the course of this story. The positive revelations and character growth in the movie are good role model story for kids without being preachy. That aspect of the movie was well done.
As usual for these modern computer animated movies, this film is a visual feast. Textures are omnipresent and rich. Details of a sideways 1950s type culture on an alien world are interesting and amusing. The smoke trails of the rocket ship launches are unbelievably realistic.
My favorite character, and I am probably not alone, is the incredibly adept robot "Rover", who is still functioning and helpful when the manned mission arrives on the world.
So this is probably not a movie for a "date night" for a couple. But for a family on a Sunday afternoon, it fit the bill solidly.
IF YOU LOVE OLD SCI-FI FILMS... THIS IS A BLAST! August 11, 2010
! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b (TRI STATE AREA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
'Planet 51' is a film that will be most appreciated by film buffs and although the kids should enjoy it, most of the jokes are going to be way over their heads. I happen to love old sci-fi films so this film was a lot of fun for me. The character design is a bit simple, but the animation is striking and beautiful and the world created is wonderful to look at. I loved the soundtrack and the characters grew on me as the film progressed.
Considering we've had two films recently with a sci-fi premise, this film and the other being 'Monsters VS Aliens' I found the creature design to be better in 'Monsters VS Aliens' and the story to be better in 'Planet 51' Although the H.R. Giger Alien dog was top notch comic relief in 'Planet 51' . I enjoyed both films and both were made with sci-fi film buffs in mind.
I bought the Blu Ray DVD combo pack and I hope this is a practice that prevails for a long time. I'm not ready to fully commit to Blu Ray and I like getting a copy of both formats in one package. The cost to add a second disc is very small to the manufacturer and in case I want to watch the film at a friends house who doesn't own a Blu Ray player I have the standard version at hand.
The Blu Ray looks and sounds fantastic, but the DVD is also exceptional. Considering the price wasn't much different I went with the combo pack. I probably wouldn't buy this one for the kids, but if you love old sci-fi films this one is a blast!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 53
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