User reviews

Movies like this are not very available to the American public. American films are available around the world because we apparently have a corner on the entertainment market, and if a film wants to find real widespread love and recognition, it must, more often than not, make a transition into the American market.

And I think that is sad.

Naturally, our language barriers keep us from appreciating this wonderful "Cat City" as do the Hungarians who so finely produced it, but still, this movie is a witty satire, a spoof of great film genres, and surprisingly political in how it deals with names and the skin color of the rats. It's a film about your place in the big picture, about who's in control and why.

A great film find, one of animated brilliance. This animated film was thousands of times better than many animated American films I have grogged my way through over the years. I just really really hate that more people cannot see films like this and appreciate them for what they are: true pieces of art in the highest form.

For the past 7 months, I been obsessing over this movie. This film succedes at everything it does; the animation, the writing, the characters, all of it is memorable. Try to get a copy, if you can. But, only get the original Hungarian version, any other version won't cut.

I really wish this gets a proper release outside of Europe; I'm sure people would love it... and furries.

One of the best movies I've ever seen. The interesting thing about it is that you can watch it again and again (I've seen it at least 50 times) and never get bored with it. The reason for it is probably the complexity of the theme: adventure in a James Bond style combined with romance, comedy, philosophical issues and more.

The action takes place on an imaginary Planet X, about "100 years from the birth of the emperor Micky Mouse I" and yet the city of Pokyo is clearly identified as Tokyo, the "Alpha-Julia" car model needs no explanations, the vampire bats resemble the Mexican bandits and so on.

Clearly it brings up a lot of political as well as moral issues of the modern world, but, despite that, it doesn't get less fun: rich with first class action, hi-tech car chases, massive battles and in the same time - incredible humor, combined with excellent animation and music makes it a perfect entertainment for both children and adults from all around the world.

I haven't seen the english version yet but i am sure that it will never reach the hungarian level of humor or the use of the tone of voice, simply because it was written in hungarian for hungarians who are able understand the password to the mouse base for that matter and appreciate the cleverness behind it, which goes like this: egy aprocska kalapocska, benne csacska macska mocska. roughly means: a tiny hat, in it the filth of a silly cat. See the difference?

There are lots of games with words in the original, like the password at the mouse hq, or almost every characters name... the names are playing with words in hungarian, english, and german, but you must know hungarian to understand those.... like the evil cat "Teufel", witch means 'devil' in german, but sounds almost like "sour cream" in hungarian... and everyone knows, cats like sour cream ;)

So this was my favorite cartoon movie for years. In this world the cats are the top predators, but they live side by side with the terrorized mice. When the Internouse have no more chance to stop the robberies of the Mafia like cats, they call their forgotten agent: Grabovski.

The speeches are very ironic, and funny. Some could be translated: -Remember what Julius Caesar said? -The guy who smuggled heroine in his wooden leg?? -Sure......

I don't want to involve politics, but it was visible that the cats looked like the west: tweeds, smoking Cuban like smoke, champagne etc. The good boy mice: presented the eastern block: uniforms, cigarettes....

I can only recommend for all family who want to have a good day. No blood, violence sometimes funny, but never aggressive as a Tom and Jerry.

I've seen this movie as a small kid, yet I just can't believe it has been made in the 80's at the time of Hungarian Goulash communism. At this time communism was still present, but it was the most liberal regime of them all, thus movies/cartoons like this one were created. Because of this you can feel the atmosphere of that era throughout the movie.

The story is quite a grotesque one: On Planet X, occupied by mice and cats, there is year 100 A.M.M. (after Mickey Mouse), and the conflicts between the cats and mice are rising. However, there is one last hope in Pokyo, the success of which lies in the hands of an Intermouse secret agent Grabovsky...

Hungarian cartoons are worldwide famous, but this is a special one. First of all, I have to mention that not everyone will understand this humorous masterpiece, but everyone should watch it at least once! The characters are very funny, the story is for all ages, but you have to be at least 16 to understand all the jokes. This is the film of my childhood, but I saw it again a few days ago (I'm 19), and it was a real fun to see it again! If you are Hungarian, this movie is compulsory for you, if you are not, for you, too!

This movie is my favorite cartoon of my childhood. It is still my favorite, and is best viewed in it's original Hungarian version (if you speak the language, or course). It is basically a James Bond style cartoon, where the cats and mice are at war. It is up to Grabovszky and the help of his friends to stop the cats. This cartoon has many memorable characters, such as the musical Mexican bats, led by Maxipocak, the meddling gangster rats Pissy, Cookie, Buddy, and Billy, the bumbling police officer Lusta Dick, the evil Mr. Teufel and his meek assistant Safranek, and the "don" of the gangster cats, Mr. Gato. This cartoon is a classic. It should be on the Top 250. I have seen the English translation, and it isn't nearly as good as the original, but it is still great.

This film took me a while to watch I must admit. Despite its Hungarian roots, I felt like I 've seen this film before...when I was about 8. Aside from the proficient spoofs of Bond movies, which I admit I don't have a serious interest in, the film doesn't seem to appear to aim for anything more then comedy aimed at those who do. The animation was very reminiscent of the animation from the 60's, in which I wouldn't place to much blame on a small budget film like this. But the movie doesn't survive in any advanced cleverness, at least from my American point of view. There were some moments when I chuckled. The film isn't completely devoid of intelligence, and the characterization, mostly with the antagonists, is strong. In fact, they earned the most laughs, specifically the troop of rats hired to take out the James Bond-like mouse hero and the bumbling cats who hired them. Many of the character designs and situations are imaginative. I also like the scene with the bats and the smooth saxophone music. There is a chance the English dub (no other choice on the DVD) is of lesser quality, but I think it's obvious that the film isn't easily accessible outside its intended audience. All in all, not really a must see for animation fans. It just doesn't stand up well on its own.

This was an amazing film that took me ages to remember the name of, but this comedic spoof of James Bond made me laugh all the way through. With the evil plot of the cats and the "Mr Burns" like assistant, it's definitley a great film for all ages!

I am fully aware that this film holds a special place in people's hearts. It is a very unusually cool cartoon for the 80s era soviet block. But that pretty much sums up the virtues of this animation.

What you see in this film probably does need describing since you most likely watched it already. It is a parody spy film in a world where cats control the world and mice are oppressed. The plot is just ok. Why this film still sucks is that it obviously shows a very strange, distorted, often cringe-worthy interpretation eastern europeans had of capitalist west film and animation. The result is not good at all. The animation is entirely consisting of character tropes, and parodies to American and European films of 80s and prior decades. On top of that it is also filled with generic stereotypes, some of them are very disturbing ethnic stereotypes also.

The quality of animation is probably better than most stuff you could see coming out of USSR influenced animation studios. Not best "of all time" but just one of the better ones of a decade at the time.

Despite the homages and references to western world media, the story and characters in this game still pick a stereotypical "greedy criminal capitalists" as the archetypal villains of the film. It may be presented in a cooler way, but it is still noticeable, even in ineffective, propaganda. It shows what the writers and animators of the cartoon thought "consumerism" and "capitalism" were and presents a caricature of because the "bad guys" of the film are basically greedy, they want to buy stuff, and the bad guys are also culturally perverse (at least supposed to be)

Visually it is a hit and miss animation and art. In some scenes it looks great and even cute. Other parts of the film show ugly disturbing things that do not match other scenes.

I think the only reason people would be giving this film many stars is they probably watched it in their childhood and have fond memories of loving it. I do not blame them, but you have to stay objective and not rate a film based on nostalgia. It is crap.

This film is highly rated as one of the best animations ever. It is also lauded as possibly the best Hungarian film of all time. If, however, you are not Hungarian, you might disagree.

Looking at stills of the movie, I did not expect the animation to be particularly good; hence concluded that some other element of the film must be worth rating so highly. Unfortunately the plot is rather monotone and whilst fine for a kids' film, it does not include the originality or drama to keep you gripped. It is noteworthy that this is after all a parody of some Hollywood films - principally the James Bond series. But if you are an English speaker there are others which do this so much better! (Austin Powers for instance).

Many Hungarian writers assert that English speakers cannot understand the many puns and complexities of the language which do not translate. This is fine, and I will admit that as an English viewer any comedic effect was lost on me. =But as a film for a non-Hungarian audience I can only give it 5 stars, irregardless of its virtue in Hungary.=

It's one of the best production I've ever seen! ( or is the best :) ) It's a forever classic! I've seen it approx. 20-30 times :), last seen many years ago, so it's time to see it again :)

Unfortunately, this film can not be translated to any other languages, because there's a lots of word based jokes and typical Hungarian funny things in it.

I think, You could not understand the most funny things in this film if You are not Hungarian and/or You are under 18.

But I Guess, it's even enough funny for non Hungarians.

Is there any good English translation of this? If it's not, We should try to make it. That seems to be very difficult or may be impossible. My English knowledge is very poor to try to translate this film, but a much experienced fan can make a good English sub. Maybe.

Greetings to All!

This movie is a true masterpiece of the 80's, and it still holds its ground today in its genre. Like it or not its uniqueness roots in the place and time it came from, which is the eastern bloc in the soft-communist era. I'm absolutely not a nationalist but I'm really proud that it was made in Hungary. Its "pseudo-americanity" was part of the joke, because when it was made, Hungary was still isolated from the rest of the developed world. In light of this it is even more amazing how the movie made it to world fame, it is a great achievement. I never watched it with English dub, but in the original version Hungary's best actors of that time gave the voices of the characters which made the movie truly memorable.

Don't let this movie fall into oblivion, I'm really happy that it was part of my childhood and I can still sit down and watch it anytime without regret. I hope it would give future generations the same amount of fun it gave me in my entire life.

It is really sad how many people, even so called critics don't understand this movie. It isn't about fast paced actions or plot twists, It is a strong social criticism with brilliant conversions. I bet most of those people think that marvel superhero movies are some good films.

This is without a doubt an iconic movie, with many quotes still remaining in everyday Hungarian language but as a movie itself it is nothing special. The story itself is linear and boring while the pacing is slow. The animation is fine, especially for its time. Apart from a few truly genius subtle jokes, most humor is generic children's cartoon humor. The thing that really saves it and makes it iconic is the excellent dubbing and the character of Taufel, Safranek & Grabovszky. Without the Hungarian audio, this movie probably doesn't worth much. Still, culturally we love this movie, but objectively it doesn't provide much.

Its a masterpiece. Maybe the Pulpfiction of the cartoons.

I don't want to write a long story about this. You must watch and rate this and i promise you will rate this movie minimum 9/10. Yeah its old, but more fresher, than some new movie. This cartoon a little bit James Bond, a little bit everything that's 80's. This movie has only one mistake, English sync is terrible, but the Hungarian sync and text are phenomenal and perfect.

Short version: if you grew up in the 80's in Eastern Europe, you owe it to yourself to watch "Cat City". You'll see why.

Long version: a full-length animated film set in a universe populated by cats, rats, and mice. It's a detective story/action-flick, with all the trimmings - gangsters, secret science projects, mafia bosses, hot girls, and rocket-launcher-equipped cars (hello, Mr. Bond). There are a LOT of 80's references, excellent humor, and incredible quality of animation. It's "James Bond" for kids.

But there's more to "Cat City" than just action. It's one of those films that you see as a kid, and decades later, come back to it and rediscover it all over again - and more, since now you get the jokes and memes that you didn't have a frame of reference for as a kid. It's "Cinema Paradiso" with fur. A (nearly-)forgotten treasure from 3 decades ago.

In terms of historical significance, it's a time-capsule of subtle mockery of Communism, done with more honesty and attention to detail than any Disney animation could ever hope to be. The creators of "Cat City" weren't doing it for money or fame (which would have made it hopelessly cliché). It's one of those rare works of fiction that makes it past the censors because the censors could never begin to understand the hidden layers of meaning behind the animation frames. Just like Bulgakov and Brodsky's writing is infused with hints that only Soviet Russians could understand, "Cat City" is filled with commentary on the Communist reality of 1980's Hungary, and by extension, the entire Eastern Bloc.

In terms of animation quality, "Cat City" is on par with "Grave of the Fireflies" and "Barefoot Gen". In terms of adorableness, it's not quite "My Neighbor Totoro", but close.

Overall, a very well-made work of animation, from an era that's long gone, but has affected millions of lives. 8/10 for the quality, +1 for nostalgia, +1 for the memes & jokes = 10/10.