User reviews

Although far from a great film, this is certainly not the worst thing I've ever seen. I saw without prejudice and enjoyed it although I did find it full of oddities. I was very surprised when I looked it up afterwards and saw all the hate being spewed out, which is why I felt I should write this review. Sure it has some curious ideas such as: The boy Pinocchio played by a 50 year old man. Actually once you get over his age, he puts in a playful joyful performance which reminded me of Danny Kaye at times.

Bad dubbing. Not much can be said in defence of this, but the voices used, such as John Cleese and Glen Close are appropriate in themselves, it is just the bad syncing that is annoying.

Some rather cheap-looking special effects. This could certainly have been better but it is sad that people can no longer use their imaginations.

As said, these detract from an honest attempt to remake the children's classic. But why the hate? As many have said, I think that this is a much less sentimentalised version of the Disney, closer to the original story and some have taken against it.

All in all, children of all ages will enjoy this film and probably learn some valuable life lessons from it. See for yourself and make u your own mind.

I must admit I admired the set designs and the effects of this film, which were quite colorful and entertaining. The film started well and I settled in expecting to be amazed.

Then Pinocchio spoke, and I saw Roberto Benigni as the wooden puppet who longed to be a boy. WOW was that bad casting! I couldn't keep track of the amount of times I winced in pain and rolled my eyes as Benigni, a middle-aged man, ran around like a spoiled brat spouting things many 3-year olds have outgrown. I must admit I wanted to make kindling of this puppet.

Worth seeing for the set pieces, costumes and effects. Too bad we can't edit out the parts with Pinocchio!

5 out of 10 (all 5 for the sets and costumes).

First a warning - do not watch the dubbed release of this film - it's terrible. Watch the original Italian version with English subtitles - it makes all the difference in the world. Visually stunning while only partially flawed by Benigni's casting of himself in the lead role (you have to like him to like the movie), this film is wildly entertaining - more in the vain of Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausenthan the Disney classic Pinocchio.

I'm Italian and i know perfectly the book "Pinocchio" and the mentality in which it had been written,because it's my mentality too. Now, just the fact that Pinocchio is played by a 50 years old actor that says lines with a false child's voice,should make you feeling a little strange.The blue Fairy is played by an actress(?) that never changes expression,but she's Pinocchio-Benigni's wife,so everything comes clear.Moreover,the entire movie is cold,just a collage of episode based on the book. It's sad that the most expensive Italian movie is such a bad one. Benigni is a great actor and why,WHY after a poetic masterpiece like "La vita è bella"(Life is beautiful) had to ruin himself with such a crappy movie??? If you want to see a movie based on Collodi's book really faithful to the Italian spirit, you've to watch "Le avventure di Pinocchio" by Luigi Comencini.THAT is the real story beloved by people in Italy and all over the world.

I'm not joking, this monstrosity can cause a major trauma to any sensitive kid. It can, and will, cause nightmares. I saw it in Italian when it was released, and I remember I was simply astonished, I couldn't believe my eyes. This is easily the worst cinematic experience of my life. I would like to point out, that because of the typical servile attitude of the Italian critics (Benigni had become a sort of national hero after "La vita è bella"), nobody had the courage to say this stinker was a bomb of gigantic proportions when it first came out. Fortunately it was rightfully thrashed everywhere else. The acting is atrocious, and the direction is so bad it causes consternation, everything in this abomination is just utterly wrong. The special effects are a pain to the eyes, and the casting of Nicoletta Braschi as the fairy, is not only ludicrous, it is also strangely creepy, and a clear sign that this was the project of an ego that had grown out of proportions, almost lingering with madness. It will go down as one of the worst movies ever made, and could therefore gain a cult status (it could actually be revalued as a classic of visionary horror). Unforgettable, in a very bad way

It stays much closer to the book than the Disney movie, but it doesn't capture the magic of either. The Disney movie's story was different from the book, but it stood as its own version of the story. That version was classic. This film fails to capture any of the charm of the book or movie. All charm and magic is replaced by annoyance, and stupidity. The dubbing is the worst I have ever seen, and the voice actors of the dubbing do a horrendous job. The children are played by adults, and it feels so strange and awkward. I like strange things, but this the kind of strange that makes you scratch your head. The feel is all wrong. If your a big fan of the Disney film like me you will feel hurt watching this movie.

0 stars out of 4

It seems that the only prompt for making this movie was to produce a Pinicchio film more faithful to the Collodi novel. Even so, the story deviates for time's sake, reducing its literary merit. In terms of cinematography, the film is certainly beautiful and captures the fairytale atmosphere. Some of the characters such as the grillo parlante are emphasized and seem more like those of the 1940's Disney Pinocchio, and sometimes it is confusing what is an animal and what is not, still the production concept is generally quite charming. However, there really is nothing special about it: it's an uninspired waste of a good cast. The Disney version is better for children, and to be perfectly honest, for everyone else it merits better to simply read the novel.

First off, I saw the Italian version of Pinocchio, subtitled in English. After watching the Italian version on DVD, we decided to switch to the English-language track to hear what it sounded like. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard...As unprofessional as watching a dubbed Godzilla movie.

Anyway, after hearing all the incredibly negative press about this film, I'm not sure why we rented it. But when my family got a free rental, we decided to choose a movie that we wouldn't actually pay money for...and we chose Pinocchio. First of all, the movie is certainly not an excellent, 5 star affair. But it is a decent film that entertained the three of us for close to two hours. Strong Points- Technically speaking, the film is beautifully made with beautiful sets, cinematography and scenery. These are not enough to entertain anybody but the most pompous film critic of course. The best part of the film for me, was the very faithful adaptation of the original classic story (foolish American audiences may say too dark...and yes, I am an American). It brought back fond memories for all of us, of the original story we had enjoyed as children. And Kim Rossi Stuart as the doomed Lucignolo (not Leonardo) is charming. Weak Points- Well, as many commenters have noted, Roberto Benigni is simply miscast in the role of Pinocchio and the sight of a 50-year old man playing a little boy does get annoying. But even so, he's not half as bad as they say he is. All in all, it's an entertaining, if average, film as long as you have the brain cells to read the subtitles. Just a quick trivia note....one of the reasons the English dubbing is so bad (in my opinion) is that it was incredibly rushed. Benigni was supposed to dub his own voice, but dropped out at the last minute and was replaced my Breckin Meyer. By this time, the US release date was fast approaching, the film was directed at a childrens audience and the studio felt it couldnt release a childrens movie with subtitles. *** 1/4 stars.

Gee, Roberto Benigni plays Pinocchio. Yes, the veteran Italian actor plays the role that supposedly has to be played by a minor. So you can guess the outcome.

Now, don't get me wrong. Benigni is a great actor and tries to do his best but sadly, he was uncalled for this role.

His acting is very good but it would have worked better in a theatre play. His physical acting is also very good but I doubt it works for an audience of children.

The art direction and cinematography is also great but sadly, it can't carry the whole movie on.

Watch this one if you are a fan of Benigni, otherwise, you will get bored very soon.

In Pinocchio, Pinocchio(played by Roberto Beningi) is made by Geppetto but Pinocchio's curiousness leads him to problems that are later solved by the blue fairy, played by Nicoletta Braschi. Throughout the movie, Pinocchio encounters so many problems that makes the viewer wonder if he will ever become good. The plot is focused throughout the whole movie but some things don't make sense, just like the book.

Nicoletta Braschi does a great job at portraying the blue fairy. Her voice emphasized her compassion and unconditional love for Pinocchio throughout the whole film. The fairies costume looks great but the ones that the cat and fox wear look weird and make them look awkward and then there voices get rather annoying after laughing the first time they are seen.

The music played whenever the Fairy appears, makes the viewer seem calm and relieved that the fairy finally appeared to help Pinocchio. Pinocchio becomes quite annoying by the end of the film, due to him always seeing to become good. Benigni does a weird but good job at portraying a boy.

Overall, the film does a great job at showing how Carlo Collodi's "Pinocchio" would've looked like if it was made into a movie.

First thing I did was to erase from my head the version of the puppet that was created by the Disney factory. Then I had to struggle to admit old Roberto as a kid, and his wife as a fairy, but now I am old enough to admit both licenses, especially from someone who did something as silly as "La vita è bella". But most of all, I had to have a bigger, harder struggle to take off those stupid glasses we wear more often than not, to see everything through Hollywood eyes. And there I was: watching an Italian film about an Italian puppet, based on an Italian book, with an old Italian clown in the main role, done with a lot of affection, with great cinematography by Spinetti, and great art work by Donati, to whom the film is dedicated... I enjoyed it very much, and even if it is hated by almost anybody that saw it, I still would recommend it to my dearest friends.

I will say Pinocchio(2002) is not a terrible film and I personally wouldn't put it on my worst movies ever list. However, it wasn't particularly good in my opinion either. It may be truer in the spirit of the wonderful book by Carlo Collodi, that I did appreciate, though I am not a purist by all means. But in the process, while some scenes worked especially with the lovely Nicoletta Braschi as the Blue Fairy(Glenn Close in the dubbed version), this Pinocchio lacks the heart, magic and charm the book and the Disney film, which is still one of Disney's finest hours and had an appealing yet somewhat risqué sense of darkness, evidently have.

Roberto Benigni is a major part of the problem, he is very miscast in the title role, he is too old and also overacts to an embarrassing degree. Of the supporting cast only Braschi acquits herself well and likewise with Close in the dubbed version. The dubbing in general is awful, with the actors either trying too hard(Jim Belushi), are wasted(Eric Idle) or don't fit at all with the character(Cheech Marin), while the facial expressions on screen feel forced and overdone and the lip synching is sloppy. The story has its memorable scenes, but narrative wise it is rather clumsy, while the dialogue tries hard to be earnest and funny yet comes across as annoying, the direction is over-eager and the pace is rushed.

However, while the nose growing looks rather hokey, the special effects are decent and at least try to bring some magic on screen. The scenery and sets are suitably sumptuous, the cinematography and editing are not as slip-shod as one might think and the costumes are very colourful. The soundtrack is quite jaunty and energetic too.

So overall, it does have its big problems and is not that good a movie but it is not as bad as I had heard. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The Italian language version is gorgeous and very faithful to the wonderful book. People make too big a deal out of Roberto playing a boy. He's quite good in the role and far more restrained than anything else I've seen him in, except maybe Son of the Pink Panther, which was pretty dreadful. That we are so hung up on the age of a man playing a living puppet shows how much imagination we have lost and how much baggage we bring into a film. It's sad to me that my kids won't be watching the film, because they are too young to read subtitles and the English language version sounds awful. I thought this was great.

I think that Benigni's Pinocchio is, other then his worst film ever, his heartless film ever, cold, without an emotion, the prototype of what we call an "Americanata". And then there is Nicoletta Braschi. God. I'm sad because she is a good actress when she works with other directors but, hey, she doesn't even act! And benigni's voice, modified like a child... My question is one: Why make a movie about Pinocchio, well-known by everyone in Italy, if you don't have nothing to put in it, neither emotions or feelings, and why NOBODY in Italy tells the truth about Pinocchio! In our major Movie Magazine, critics put a 2 fo 5 to the movie, but still today, after 2 months, there isn't in Italy ONE NEGATIVE REVIEW about Pinocchio. They just don't say nothing, waiting for the Oscar. Maybe You, at the other side of the Ocean, don't know ONE think: Benigni's Pinocchioo is produced by our "Presidente del Consiglio Silvio Berlusconi" major, which also own this Movie Magazine, and is sad to see a man like Benigni who has always told the truth about the Power with a smile on his face, fall on his knees for the Money. Addio, Roberto.

Probably the most appalling movie I have ever seen. Incompetent filmmaking, bad acting, tacky costumes, ludicrous effects, are among the strengths of this unique bomb which happens to be embarrassingly badly written and grotesquely casted too. It is also often unintentionally creepy, and this gives the whole thing a truly odious feel..This towering monstrosity should have never reached the theaters. And I've seen the Italian version, I hear the dubbed one is worse! Still has, however, the chance to gain a cult status as one of the worst movies ever made, In a league of it's own....Frightening

OK for idea, OK for old Benigni as Pinocchio, OK for the heck of it. But what is not OK is a devastating flaw. They don't respect my adequate vision, they don't respect my intelligence.

EVERYTHING you see on the screen is verbalized. Take away the dialogue and you get the full experience anyway. This would have been a fine silent movie. Not one line of dialogue is not reading aloud what they depict. Mostly the characters are talking to themselves to make sure we, the dumb audience, get it and believe our own eyes. Or is this really a joke, a movie for blind people!? Gee Benigni, that's a good one, wink-wink! Or maybe the soundtrack was meant for radio broadcast?

This idiotic dogma of having the characters say aloud what we have just seen on the screen is ubiquitous in nearly every Hollywood trite flick and it was sad to see this from an Italian production. Maybe it was a courtesy to an expected American audience. I often wonder, is the broad American public audience really dumb and blind or is it the Hollywood industry that is stuck in a rud of condescension.

Since when I heard that Benigni was going to film his version of Pinocchio, I knew I was going to watch it not with a free mind. Too high was the score reached by Luigi Comencini in 1972 with his Le Avventure Di Pinocchio, and I thought Benigni would not have been able to overstep it. Now my opinion is that I was right. Benigni's Pinocchio has been good for my eyes (awesome scenography, great computer effects), but it hasn't touched my feelings. To me, the worst point of all is Benigni's recitation, not credible in children's shoes, even ridicolous in the crying scenes. Carlo Giuffrè is so and so, but I heard that Benigni cut out a wonderful scene of Geppetto talking to Pinocchio inside the shark in the final edit, and now Giuffrè is awful angry with the director. Very good Cat and Fox by Fichi d'India, the only really funny actors in the movie. Maybe I should let some time pass, and then watch it again; maybe the too much attention around it has driven me astray; I'll wait and see, but I think my opinion will remain the same. 6/10 only for its visual value.

If you are Italian, then you perfectly know what's wrong with this movie: recitation and accent; characters; location and timing (too much sun) and finally the plot is really too simple. Benigni has nothing to do with Pinocchio (a kid!!!) There is a movie that you should use as a reference; of course, this movie is NOT the Disney movie but the classic Italian TV movie done back in the 70s, with an excellent Nino Manfredi featuring Geppetto and a perfect Pinocchio (see IMDb: tt0068243). If you are not Italian and you haven't ever watch it, then rent it or buy it in Amazon. You will not regret the money you pay and the time spent in watching it. Beware! There are two versions: movie and the full TV version (in 2 DVDs).The latter is strongly recummended.

Subtitles are of course essential to catch the original voices without missing a single word. You'll feel the cold that is everywhere in the little village where Geppetto lives. You'll feel the very same loneliness that Geppetto is feeling and his joy when he find a wood good enough to create a puppet. Believe me. Watch it and then go back to this movie: you'll then understand why the critics have been so severe

i wonder why everyone is insulting this movie.. i think it's a great movie with a beautiful cinematography.. and about the dubbing, i watched this movie in italian with english subtitles, so there's nothing wrong with it.. then the storyline, indeed it's not like "the usual pinocchio that you've known", but for me that's the interesting point, the story is a little bit different and we need more imagination in watching the movie since it's lack of special effects, so our imagination is tested, and that's what interesting.. i think it's more like an artistic movie.. in conclusion, benigni has done a great job and pinocchio is not a "hollywood movie", so watch it..

The movie has beautiful visuals and it's faithful to the book and the real story of Pinocchio. Roberto Begnini wrote and acted in quite better movies than this one, but this was enjoyable as well. My main doubt is about Pinocchio being played by an adult, but the movie somehow recalls the atmosphere of a theater act, you'll get used to it in few minutes. I don't really get why it had so much criticism when it was released. I hope Benigni comes back with a new beautiful movie.

How was this movie supposed to work? I saw a dubbed version in the theater; I pray that a sub-titled version will be available on DVD so that I might actually enjoy this film. My wife and I went to see this with high expectations - we are both fans of "Life is Beautiful" - but as I sat down the theater, my apprehension grew. For around us were children. Lots of children. That, in an of itself, is not a bad thing, but it did make me wonder: who is this film for? Children, adults, or both? So then I thought, "Well, if it is for children, it will have to be short and be dubbed, for they can't expect children to like a movie where they have to read the dialogue on the screen." And then they movie started, and I realized there was dubbing, and I thought, "Ok, they want to pitch this as a children's movie" and I was okay with that, too. But, let's face it - Pinocchio has to be the worst dubbing job I've ever seen! So we have all of these kids suddenly giggling and asking questions - not because of the film, mind you, but because they want to know why Pinocchio's voice doesn't match his mouth. And then they want to know why Pinocchio looks like an man, but sounds like a boy. You get the picture... So the movie doesn't work for American children, but, hey, that's okay, too. Well, the problem is that these problems don't go away for adults, either, not to mention other problems as well. The (pardon the pun) wooden acting. The way Pinocchio screams in practically every scene. Perhaps it's me. Perhaps I've been ruined by technically sophisticated films. In Pinocchio, it is clear that they spent time and money on the costumes, which are wonderfu. The Blue Fairy is gorgeous. It is clear that they spent time and money on the scenery. The giant moon is wonderful. But it is also clear that they didn't try that hard to reduce the visual disturbance that results from dubbing, and that, in this day of effects-laden, visually-perfect movies, is a fatal mistake.