फ्लिन्टस्टोन्स

Live-action adaptation of Hanna-Barbera's TV cartoon brings prehistoric blue-collar family man Fred Flintstone to life with the help of John Goodman, exceptional in the role. The world of Bedrock is excitingly captured, all the surrounding details look right, but unfortunately the script is a pale, shapeless mess. Also, who cast Rosie O'Donnell as neighbor Betty Rubble, the Snow White of the Sabertooth set? O'Donnell is far too brash and distracting as Betty, who was mostly around in the TV show as a foil for Fred's wife Wilma (adequately played by Elizabeth Perkins). O'Donnell should have instead played Fred's mother-in-law, although Elizabeth Taylor is game for this loudmouthed harridan. There are some laughs here--although not big ones--while the "plot" is weaker than any of those written for television. ** from ****

A 10 out of 10 for making an exact real live copy of a cartoon. At first I was thinking, why bother? It's like a life action version of the Simpsons. But there were enough good jokes and cheeky little winks to make it acceptable. Kudos for the actors and director to make me forget I was not watching the cartoon.

"The Flintstones" is a film that tries hard to be likeable and succeeds for the most part, but with that said this is only a fair film at best. The cartoons come to real live and the nostalgia carries some of the film. However, the paper-thin plot destroys any chance that the film has to be a complete success. Naive Fred Flintstone (John Goodman) has been promoted and is now a big-time businessman. Of course the villains, Halle Berry and Kyle MacLachlan, are just using Fred to steal from Mr. Slate's company. Wilma (Elizabeth Perkins) quickly becomes jealous of Berry, but overlooks everything because Fred is raking in the cash. Barney Rubble (Rick Moranis) meanwhile is unemployed because he had the lowest score on an IQ test (he actually switched tests with Fred because Fred had lent him money to adopt Bamm-Bamm). Throughout his financial crisis, Betty (Rosie O'Donnell) stands beside him. Fred finally becomes wise to what is going on, but MacLachlan has a devious scheme up his sleeve. All in all "The Flintstones" is a good looking film with high production values, but ultimately the screenplay and direction cannot save this film. The characters play well on television, but are somewhat out of their element on the big screen. The cast is hard-working in spite of the fact the material is just not present. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

I liked this movie. Yes, the plot is predictable and weak, and in some cases over-familiar. Yes, the script is a bit weak in places. Yes, it is a little lacklustre, and doesn't quite capture the feel good nature of the show. But it is far from the worst movie ever. I really don't know what people were thinking when they gave this film such a low rating. Some of the worst movies I've ever seen, are Home Alone 4, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Cat in the Hat, Disaster Movie, Epic Movie, Pokemon the First Movie and Batman and Robin, but this film doesn't deserve to belong to this category. On the most part, due to the enthusiastic performances of the cast, it was quite entertaining. John Goodman was born to play Fred. He looks the part, and put a lot of much-needed enthusiasm into the role. Rick Moranis is fine as Barney, very like what I imagine him. The prequel is probably better, but Mark Addy and Stephen Baldwin don't quite fit the bill as Goodman and Moranis. I also liked Elizabeth Perkins and Rosie O'Donnell as Wilma and Betty. As the villains, Kyle McLachan and Halle Berry play their clichéd characters more than adequately. I do miss Elizabeth Taylor when she was pretty, but she was game as Wilma's mother, though not quite in the same league as Joan Collins in the prequel. The sets and costumes are spot on, and the design of Dino was superb. All in all, I liked this movie, it's not perfect, but it is far from the worst movie I have ever seen. 6/10 Bethany Cox.

The Flinstones, next to The Simpsons, it's one of the best known animated shows of all time, we all know the name Fred Flinstone. It's such a great series, I grew up watching it, I still will catch an episode or two on the Cartoon Network and I'm sure it's something that my children will watch too one day. So in 1994, we had the live action version of The Flinstones come into theaters, my family took me to see it, I was 9 years old, it was either this or Pulp Fiction, I'm sure my parents didn't struggle much with that decision. But still as a kid I absolutely loved this movie, I think I wore out the VHS quite a bit. So I grew up and of course caught the movie on HBO, I figured that I would just give the movie another shot to see if it was still as fun as I remembered and actually I still love it.

Cliff Vandercave, the Executive Vice President of Industrial Procurement at Slate & Co., plans to appoint a Vice President of his division to frame for a crime. To find one, he makes an exam to give to the quarry operators, among whom are Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone. Fred loans Barney money so he and his wife, Betty can adopt a child. They adopt a caveboy named Bamm-Bamm. Barney appreciates what Fred did for him and is determined to pay him back. While taking the exams, Fred fails it, and is disappointed since he will not be able to give his wife, Wilma the wealthy life she used to have. Barney takes Fred's exam up for him and notices how poorly he did. To pay him back for giving him the money to adopt Bamm-Bamm, he swaps his exam with Fred's and Fred is promoted to Vice President. Cliff orders Fred to fire Barney because of his exam score, and he fires Barney at the Rubbles' surprise party, but does his best to help Barney afterwards with financial problems. But Cliff still has big plans to set Fred up for a big fall and the Rubbles are starting to get sick of the Flinstone's over the top extravagances.

Honestly, I really did enjoy The Flinstones as much as I did when I was a kid, I know the main reason a lot of people complain about this movie is because of the casting, but even with Rosie O'Donnell in it I thought she was adorable, we had a great cast, everyone has their own ideas, but just deal with it and understand who this movie was made for. Granted as an adult I'm not going to go out of my way to watch this movie by myself, but I still wouldn't mind at all showing this to my younger cousins and watching it with them. It has cute jokes, a fun cast, and a good story with tons of fun sets and props. I would recommend this movie to watch with your family if you get the chance, it's a rockin' good time.

7/10