User reviews

I just got back from taking my 4 year old daughter to see Valiant. She really enjoyed it. It was not heavy or dark even though the movie is set in WWII. The enemy all looked and sounded evil as well as menacing. It was not a bad movie, but not a great movie either. But a point that is worth mentioning. I think movies like Valiant should be supported at the box office if for no other reason than to show support for G rated movies. As a parent, I would really appreciate Hollywood and the film industry to produce more of these light, G rated movies that I can take my kids to see. No overt sexuality, no foul language, no bodies ripping apart, just light-hearted fun. Its just a shame that movies like Valiant are the exception instead of the rule.

Oh boy, Disney has their hands full with this one... a British animated and voiced film about World War Two with death, destruction and rude jokes. Oh, lets hope they don't cut the living hell out of this thing.

This is the story of Valiant, a smaller than normal pigeon, who wants to join up with the Royal Carrier Pigeon Service. With the help of Bugsy, a con artist pigeon he accidentally saves, he manages to trick his way into the service. Training has barely begun when they are rushed off to France to bring back an important message. There Valiant, Bugsy and his squad come face to face with the evil falcon's who'd like nothing better than to make them lunch.

A brief 75 minutes long (reports of 109 minutes must be wrong) this is a good send up of World War Two conventions. We have hateful Nazi falcons (the leader is played evilly by Tim Curry); the do or die mission; Mom's tearful goodbye; Edith Piaf on the gramophone, French resistance, balmy Brits (two of which are John Cleese and John Hurt); heroic sacrifice and on and on and on.

The voice cast is excellent and any Anglophiles out there will want to see this for the great voice cast which includes Ewan McGregor as Valiant, who is a wonderful hero, Ricky Gervais as Bugsy who is hysterical as the slob friend, and then add in Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Curry, Cleese, Hurt and many others others bringing life to the birds on screen. The whole cast is fun to listen to.

The humor is a wide net of British style humor from puns to fart jokes to clever spoof to just about anything. In its way its completely different than any typical American (ie.Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks) film. Its not broad American humor, its quiet British humor with slips into slapstick. Its a Britcom versus sitcom.

Technically this film is a marvel with stuff that will put Disney to shame, and make Pixar and Dreamworks work harder. There are some beautifully rendered sequences, in particular the numerous action scenes. WOW.

The problem here is the pacing which is a tad slow. It un-spools like a British World War Two film from the period. Its not bad but it might prove taxing to American audiences who are used to faster paced comedy. However once they go to France on the mission it picks up nicely with chase after chase.

A friend asked if it was similar to Chicken Run, sort of. Both are Britsh war spoofs, but the style of humor is different and you don't have Mel Gibson bending it in the direction of American nonsense. Chicken Run is probably better but its hard to say fairly since I need to see Valiant again.

Certainly not the be all and end all I do recommend it, especially if you like British style humor.

The reviews on Valiant are horrible. This I find to be a big mistake, I personally loved the film, it's largest mistake is a lack of a good target audience, it is kinda a silly kids animated film with fart jokes and such, but than it has in my opinion three times as many jokes for adults about World War 2. In fact I think I may have liked it more than my brothers who are 12 and 6 did. It has some hilarious cracks on Hitler and D-Day which is usually something that I find impossible to laugh about. The short(76 minute) running time just helps the film because there are only so many jokes it can make without offending someone and it never tries to use one more than once. The plot is filled with holes but is perfect for making all the jokes. The screenplay has some good dialogue and makes all the great jokes. The voice talents are great. The film is well directed but could have been better. The film is perfectly animated.

This film is about a pigeon called Valiant, whom no one thinks he could do anything big. It turns out that he does Britain a great service in World War II as a messenger pigeon.

The animation is excellent. The movements are smooth, and the birds are portrayed in great detail. However, the plot is very thin and totally predictable. The humour is not funny because it repeats itself every 30 seconds. There must have been 30 scenes where birds have mid air collisions and 30 scenes where birds hit a post and falls down. That does not even count the 30 farts and belches. And have I forgotten to mention smelly armpits? Can the filmmakers be more inspired and make less crude humour? I am not sure if kids will enjoy this. The characters are not even likable or cute. It is not entertaining enough.

The idea was brilliant, almost inspired, but it turned into very much of a lame duck (no pun intended) on screen. The Dickin award was and is a sort of animals VC or George Cross. In World War II (when this film is set), homing pigeons more or less cleaned up with 32 out of 54 awarded for displaying conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty whilst serving with British Commonwealth armed forces or civil emergency services (according to Wikipedia).

Now back to the movie. The trouble is that it never really managed to run (or fly) very far with the original immaculate conception. I thought that it pretty much found its level by catering for eight year-olds (of all ages) by copious amounts of burping and farting from the birdie characters, which was more or less the high point of the action. The plot (if you can call it that) was thinner than the wafer on your interval ice-cream, with the eponymous Valiant (voiced by Ewan McGregor), wanting to be a hero in the Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service, which flew messages about enemy movements across the English Channel. Although it may represent a (forgotten) slice of wartime history, it fails miserably to impress at the comedic level, except unintentionally: "We have ways of making you squawk" is possibly one of the worst lines ever in movie history (and I've sat through a few, I can tell you).

There are possible compensations though. Here, I'm thinking of the richest array of vocal talents never to have shown their faces on screen, probably making it one of the most expensive British voiced-over films ever. You name them and there they are. Everyone from John Cleese and Hugh Laurie to John Hurt and Rik Mayall. But then these voices are so distinctive, the problem I had was in attempting to dissociate the cartoon from his real life comedy persona. Moreover, this wasn't helped by the writers apparently trying to recreate their sitcom characters by cunning use of dialogue(certainly with the Ricky Gervais character, who sounded more like David Brent out of "The Office" than David Brent out of "The Office"). In fact, it was so predictable at times, they may just as well have got Rory Bremner to do all the voices. (Perhaps they did - that would account for Hugh Laurie coming across more like his Blackadder character than Hugh Laurie doing his Blackadder character.)

So my advice to you is not to inflict this film on yourself unless you're with (or you are) an eight year-old (of any age) desperate to spend an hour and a half out of the rain. Of course, I could be wrong and possibly this film made a lot of money at the box office. In which case I can only think that the movie-going public were shat on by the film makers from a great height. Final verdict: Bird's Custard.

'Valiant' proudly invalidates the conventional assumption that pigeons are stupid and very limited animals. In this imaginative and fast-paced British animated adventure directed by Gary Chapman, pigeons are heroic creatures stopping at nothing to serve and support their country during the hard times it faced back in the early 1940's, during World War II. The outcome of the dramatic war literally "lies in the wings" of the pigeons, as they help the Allied Forces develop strategic plans by bringing them confidential messages from the French resistance.

Meet Valiant (voiced by Ewan McGregor), a little, hyperactive and vivacious pigeon from the British countryside, whose big time dream is to join the highly esteemed Royal Pigeon Service, a military unit training volunteers as "pilots" and message carriers to facilitate communication between the Allied troops. After reassuring his worried mother that he will do just fine out there on the battlefield, Valiant leaves his home for the RPS recruitment office in London, where he immediately makes the accidental acquaintance of a chubby and clumsy street pigeon named Bugsy (Rick Gervais).

After enrolling and meeting the rest of the team, Valiant and Bugsy are brought to a military base where they have to put up with a merciless Pigeon Training Sergeant (Jim Broadbent), who guides them through a hard-hitting and strenuous training. Although it seems at first as if Valiant were not qualified for the job, his strong determination nevertheless provides him with the required strength to keep on. Soon after follows the day of his first big mission, which consists out of picking up an important message from the French. Only, none of the new "pilots", including Valiant, are fully trained yet to embark the dangerous operation…

Although it may at first sound like your ordinary 3-D animated family film about a bunch of cgi-animals trying the impossible to save the world, 'Valiant' is quite a different, and above all, new experience. It is solid fun for everyone, and finally an animated action-comedy again that provides enough innovation and an appealing, never-before-seen premise. First of all, the story is set in 1944, shortly before the end of the war, which is rather an unusual period of time for a computer-generated kid-flick. Second, the film also creatively emphasizes on how pigeons helped the armies establish better communication with partners or allies.

Also, 'Valiant' clearly diverts us from our standard, negative view of pigeons: the plot shows that a pigeon is not that dumb an animal after all. The "freedom" pigeons in the movie are smart and speedy, courageous and hilarious. The hero of course, is little Valiant, who works very hard to become really big. He values friendship and teamwork, and always comes up with a clever plan when the situation abruptly aggravates. And the situation does indeed get tricky, because shortly after Valiant and co. fetch the targeted message, they are followed by General Von Talon, a deadly and vicious falcon who tries to intercept the valuable "package"…

Diversity is one of the positive words that can be used to best describe 'Valiant': from the opening on, en route for the big finish, the plot is loaded with a lot of fun, suspenseful twists and a globally refreshing sense of humor. The pigeon training, for instance, is a first highlight: instead of using miniature iron weights, Valiant and his compatriots use apples. As dormitories, they use tin cans, and in order to defend themselves against potential enemies, they are trained how to attack with their beaks. The second part of the movie features more action and suspense, as Valiant and Bugsy track down General Von Talon in order to retrieve their message and free a captured pigeon.

With its feature length of only 75 minutes, 'Valiant' is almost too short, giving us the impression that some of the sequences are a little rushed or just too easy. If Valiant for instance, got into more threatening trouble, the plot would have been filled with even more suspense, and some additional, intriguing complexity. Then again, the filmmakers did a very inspiring job on the character development. Besides Valiant, the little one with big plans, Bugsy is another adorable figure, since he will eventually discover that having a true friend is more important than acting on your own. Therefore, the messages are crystal clear.

Sweet faces, vibrant pursuits, an action-packed showdown between good and evil, a considerable amount of slapstick, and lots of flat-out funny dialogues and satisfying effects; these are all elements contributing to the considerable atmosphere of this overall entertaining summer movie. Furthermore, at the end of the screening I attended, I heard a little spectator yelling: "Mom, Valiant was the best one, and the coolest!" Considering that such films indeed intend on turning their main characters the heroes of the audience, I'd say: pigeon mission accomplished! (Grade: B-)

Well, it's certainly enjoyed by some kids. Honestly, if Barney, Teletubbies, Power Rangers, etc. can still turn a profit, quality isn't the number one requirement to make money in the children's genre.

However, adults are another thing. Don't expect something as good as SHREK. This one is not nearly as interesting. I got a little bored, but I didn't turn it off either. I admit, I am a little picky when it comes to movies, so take my review with a grain of salt. I guess I'd rather you expect low and come out a little more positive, than have you start expecting another Shrek, and be plenty disappointed.

Contains no noteworthy music like Shrek did either. 5 stars out of 10 would still be an F in school, so I defend my ranking.

I'm beginning to find a lot of these CG animated movies terribly formulaic (Magic Roundabout's horrendous storyline a case in point)so this movie made a refreshing change when I took my 3 sons to see a preview. Not overly long, basing the story around Homing Pigeons used in WW11 was a great idea and really appealed to the boys. The characters were fun and well voiced (parents can play a game of 'guess the actor')and there were some genuinely laugh out loud moments. Not quite the emotional pull of 'Finding Nemo' but that wasn't the point. To sum it up, my 11 year-old said. 'Great, Mum. About the war without being too violent for my little brothers and not too babyish for me.' Recommended.

I took my 8 year old son to see this eagerly awaited British offering. Whilst the animation is sufficient to relay the story being told, i felt it didn't quite hit all the right spots. It contains all the usual characters now expected of animations; unsung hero, villain, comedian etc; but it doesn't quite have the same polish when compared to the more expensive productions of recent. I also felt some of the characters were a parody of a particular class of personnel associated with the British Airforce. My son really enjoyed it and also found it educational, once i had explained that mobile phones and computers weren't available in WWII and that the pigeons were actually used in the war. Go see it for yourself and decide, it's not a waste of money but it's also not Wallace & Gromit.

Valiant is a fair effort at an animated film. Without the budget of an American movie this British movie does well. It is based on the role pigeons played in WWII. The animations are delightful, the voice cast is talented for a change. Ricky Gervais does a very amusing quite lengthy turn, as ewan mcgregors buddy. Though perhaps the animations aren't as expansive as others like finding nemo, the humour is still apparent. This movie could have been longer, you do feel a bit short changed. Its nice to see a British animated movie with its own unique quirks, I feel this film will be shown repeatedly as a Christmas treat film on TV. There are funny moments and this movie is probably more for kids.

Valiant, in my opinion is a very good movie, that only suffers from being too short and sometimes the humour falls flat. I'm 16, and I think it is miles better than Doogal. The animation actually was very good, colourful and smooth a majority of the time. In particular the action sequences, beautifully done. And the thing I liked most about the story was that it was based on a true story. Lots of people didn't like it, because they felt that the subject matter was uninspired. Can I just say, that the birds looked real to me, and that's what you want in an animation. The script was very funny at times, but I think the bathroom humour got a little too much. It did actually raise a lot of laughs for me. What impressed me most was that most of the jokes were visual. The story was well written and went along at a reasonable pace. The highlight of the movie was the chase of Valiant by Von Talon. The other problem I had was that the overall movie was too short. But I have to mention George Fenton's music, it was outstanding. As for the voice talents, what a talented cast. Ewen Macgregor was likable as the hero Valiant, and the actor even put some of his earnestness into the character. Ricky Gervais was Ricky Gervais, but this is one of the few times when I found him sidesplittingly funny. Tim Curry voiced Von Talon with such menace, that I found it difficult to recognise him, in a positive way (he stole the show for me). John Cleese was hilarious, that I didn't hear everything he said from laughing so much. Jim Broadbent, likewise, and he also gave a dynamic performance that totally suited his character. Very good movie, well recommended! 8/10. Bethany Cox

I can see where this Disney animated feature film really never made it big-time. It offers some really good things but overall, it just isn't funny enough to be a hit.

It certainly has the visuals to be a smash. Man, this is a beautiful film. The colors are bold and brilliant, scene after scene. It's a visual feast. For that reason alone, I give it seven "stars."

Some of the humor is funny and very clever, but not enough of it. The story is a takeoff on old World War II films which kids will never "get." Too much of the gags involve slapstick as one of the pigeons flies into a wall or falls down, making a loud noise or that "Bugsy" belches and farts a lot. That happens frequently and wears thin fast. The laughs come more with the subtle stuff.

Story-wise, it's the usual little guy or misfits-being-heroes story, so common in films. Valiant is the little pigeon who really shouldn't even be in the Royal Homing Pigeon Service because he's too little, but he gets in, along with his aforementioned smelly friend "Bugsy" and then inspires everyone while also wooing a pretty nurse.

Once again, though: hats off to the artists. This is one beautiful-looking animated movie.

Valiant, voiced by Ewan McGregor, is a small pigeon hoping to join the elite Royal Homing Pigeon Service, a group of carrier pigeons serving Her Majesty during WWII. He's finally accepted into the motley "Squad F" crew who find themselves on a dangerous mission to rescue a captured pigeon, voiced by John Cleese.

Valiant tries to appeal to both adults and kids but it ends up alienating both of them. The WWII concept is a nice idea but they really didn't do anything interesting with it. The whole idea will go over the kids since they won't be familiar with it so the film relies on cheap gags for laughs. The usual burping, crashing and lame bird jokes are all present here and only a few of them actually work. Adults and teens will probably not be pleased with the humor since it's very obvious and stupid. Luckily, the film is really short and there isn't too much to sit through. The sad part is that the three credited screenwriters couldn't even come up with enough fresh and interesting material to cover 75 minutes worth of film.

I think the main reason why the film is so lackluster is because of the weak cast. None of the actors seem to be trying and most of the characters aren't very interesting. Ewan McGregor is a pretty good actor when he appears on screen. As a voice actor, he's below average and his voice was all wrong for Valiant. Ricky Gervais gives the only interesting performance as the voice of Bugsy but he can't really save the film. John Cleese was only average and he's barely in the film. Besides for the last two, there really weren't any other notable characters or performances.

Maybe I'm being a little too harsh on the movie but the effort here was very weak. The story was very obvious and predictable. The humor was very lame and stupid. The characters were all flat and uninteresting. The best thing about the movie was the animation and that was only average. Compared to recent films like Robots and The Incredibles, the animation just didn't look very good and it hardly saves the film. In the end, Valiant is mostly a harmless film but it's also a dull one and it isn't worth watching. Rating 4/10

I'd have to agree with what seems to be the general consensus about Valiant: It's a good try but it's not a brilliant film - very nice animation, some quite good acting and a few giggles, but not that much more. Kids would like it but would have to have a degree of patience, it doesn't have a massively driving script. For me, I don't think it was really worth my £6, due to it's ridiculously short running time (little over an hour) and due to it not quite tapping in to the teenage market, despite trying. I'll give it it's due though, it was a very encouraging first attempt at this type of CG animation from my side of the Atlantic, with a much smaller budget than competitors, and I did chuckle a few times and smile quite a few more...there were just a few too many "bird flies into obstruction/other bird" gags to keep me on the edge of my seat. Perhaps go to see it though, if only to encourage British animation of this kind; with a lot of support and development and with the right people on board, a real cracker could be made and give the Pixar/Dreamworks lot a bit of a scare. Overall, it had potential and was quite enjoyable, but the complete film wasn't really the sum of it's parts.

Although this may not tickle the fancy of non-Brits, Valiant is a light-hearted comical little tale (it's quite short) of an even littler pigeon with a big personality who wants to be in the RHSP as a wartime carrier pigeon. The characters are well defined and work together well with a generously simple plot. Bugsy (Ricky Gervais) is hilarious and most of the voices provided were perfect, although it would have been better if I didn't have a constant mental image of the actors while looking at their animated aliases.

Occasionally there are moments of dialogue or actions that are quite obviously meant to be funny and aren't but these are generally glazed over by silliness. A must-see for animation fans/Brits, but perhaps more laughable for the younger generation among us.

This was nothing to write home about, and even worse little kids won't care about anything that is happening. Quite an embarrassment and with one of the shortest running times (a little over an hour) which is actually a good thing. This story has been done thousand times over, and just about always done better. Ewan McGregor is wasted, and he tries his best with what he's given. Just a huge mistake on not using your voice cast to their full potential. It's called a script, and even the best actors can't save it. Don't waste your time or your kids time. Stick to the Pixar or even some of the Disney movies to be actually entertained. Anyone that gives this a high score needs to have their heads examined. Even a novice knows this is how not to make a good animated film.

Five unlikely pigeons band together to deliver an important message to the allied command before D-day. And they save the day. A cartoon that matches great voices to classic British characters: the small guy, er, bird who becomes the unlikely hero; the snooty, erudite who shows guts, the dirty, street smart shell-game bird who talks his way into and out of problems. You know these characters. When you see the sergeant who has to get the rag tag birds together, think: Big Joe (Telly Savalas in Kelly's Heros).

You already know what will happen to Falcon Von Talon, voiced by the devilish Tim Curry. Don't let the predictability and formula stop you from seeing this movie with your kids. And this is a kids movie. Not too scary but you might have to explain why the falcons are "bad".

If you like war movies from the 1940s and 50s and you like really good cartoons then you will like this movie. And so will your kids. Watch this movie on Friday family movie night. Make sure you have room on your couch for the family pet. Take time to give the animals their do.

The Dickin Medal was awarded to any animal displaying gallantry and devotion to duty during World War II.

A very enjoyable light fare for you and your children.

One never knows what will be a hit, until it hits. The reason for this Disney Computer Animation's demise is simple: they strayed from the Disney formula. There were enigmatic characters, a compelling story, and great animation. There were awesome visuals, a great story, and some innovative ideas. But ... it was not fun. Actually, it was neither fun, nor funny.

Most Disney fans are prepared to learn a moral lesson whenever they sit down with the popcorn and the kiddies to view the latest Disney venture, but they are also prepared to laugh, to have fun, and to enjoy the family time. Unfortunately, Valiant fails to deliver in those three key areas.

Honestly, this WWII film didn't even manage to rally patriotism!

The visuals are striking and the story is great, but there isn't enough wit in any form to make this a "good" Disney movie. As it is? It's just a Disney movie, and it's nothing special.

It rates a 4.4/10 from...

the Fiend :.

I enjoyed this film very much. I liked it allot (which is not a surprise because i am a big kid) and the younger kids loved it twice as much. I really do love allot of the pixar films and all that (exept i didn't really like Shark Tale that much,but I don't think it's Pixar ANYWAY), but deep down I really miss the old Disney films. They where meant for kids, kids loved them, adults loved them even if they pretended not to. The Bad Guy, The Falcon(Tim Curry, great bad guy cartoon charachtar voice), was one of the things that really gave away the hint towards the old Disney, I think. Thats Probably why I loved this movie,it reminded me so much of the old ones, just better animation, and no songs. I kind of miss the songs though.

I really think it's worth a look! * 8/10 *

Rice paper thin story and non-existent character development. Despite the fact the story took place in a potentially rich environment there was nothing rich about it. I don't even understand why some characters were even in the film. John Cleese's "Mercury" seemed to only exist to provide shlocky sight gags for Tim Curry's gang of Nazi Falcons. Yoddling is a torture technique, oh my, hilarious, my sides are just splitting.

Sorry, kids are more sophisticated than this. This is entertaining for no one. Oh, and the animation? Dull. Lots of work with a really pedestrian results. Look like a college student's first film. Lotta work and technique, but little inspiration. This is definitely a product of Disney's long trip down the hopper.

I saw this film at the World Premiere in London. It has an incredible all star British cast including Ewan McGregor, John Cleese, Ricky Gervais, Jim Broadbent, the list goes on. It's a simple story of a smaller than average pigeon who decides to join the Homing Pigeon Service. The animation is first rate and the characterisations are excellent. Smaller children may be a little scared of the scenes with the hawks, but this is only a minor foible. It's a thoroughly British story though and there are only English accents and voices. I hope our American cousins aren't put off by this, after all we Brits watch a lot of American movies, be they cartoon, CGI or live action. It's fun and it has a real feel good factor about it and tells a wartime story about animals being the heroes for a change, which is nice. Go and see it, you won't be disappointed.

It's 1944 and the British carrier pigeons are failing to return from their missions. New recruits are needed for the Royal Homing Pigeon Service and tiny Valiant is eager to join. Wing Commander Gutsy is the ace flyer who inspires Valiant to travel to London to join. On the way, he befriends Bugsy who is on the run from thugs.

The animation is weak for its time. It looks more like a DVD movie. The surface work is bad. The story is unimpressive and boring. There is nothing surprising. The characters are unimaginative. This needs some real drama. They could have made the War more personal for Valiant. The story feels very old. The only good aspect is the talents of the voice actors but it is never going to overcome its deficiencies.