Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Kenny Lindberg I'm writing this breakdown in response to other users scathing reviews. I also appreciated a few others' tidbits concerning the transition from it's Japanese to North America release.The SatAM universe that this movie is often compared to was a great work, especially considering it's cohesion and strikingly well constructed universe. However the SatAM, and by extension the Archie Sonic Comics, were great but entirely separate from the video game series.My defense for this movie is that at the time, this was a fair representation, even with the NA dubbing. The animation was passable, but the action sequences were fun, the characters were colorful and lively and the voicing could easily have fallen prey to awful "someone from the office" actors that plagued many games and low-budget shows. The voice actors also typically have to match the intensity of the original actors, and compared to some people considering this 'screeching', matched the voicing purposely (Tails is a child, Sara is a brat, etc.). Watching the VHS and the edited DVD release, both of these versions are just enjoyable to watch, beginning to end.I think this movie falls prey to reviewers who have had plenty of Sonic the Hedgehog (TM) movies, games and TV show series (Sonic X, Sonic Boom (I'm so sorry), Sonic Adventure) that are more palpable than this 1-hour short, but didn't know that at the time to find ANYTHING Sonic the Hedgehog outside of the games was rare.

somariman1 Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, Sonic The Hedgehog games were actually good. Because Sonic was popular the world over, SEGA decided to make a pilot for an anime series based on the Sonic characters around 1996. Unfortunately, they forgot that Sonic wasn't actually all that big in Japan. As such, it was never picked up.Cut to 1999. A group of hardcore otaku by the name of ADV Films realized that, with the imminent release of Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast, they could make a fair sum of cash by releasing the pilot as a direct-to-DVD movie here in the States. Hence, Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie.I explained all that because I wanted to make it clear that a great opportunity was missed when nobody in Japan picked the pilot up. They could have made a killing on the US market.I mostly say this due to the animation. To say the least, it is absolutely gorgeous. The scenery is very detailed, the characters look exactly as they're supposed to, the actions scenes are nothing short of awesome, and it never descends into QUALITY at all. It captures the qualities of the video games perfectly, and the fact that it may remind fans of the FMV sequences in Sonic CD only helps.Granted, it's not perfect. The plot, which involves Sonic and Tails attempting to disable a generator in Robotnik's underground city before it explodes, is not very well developed, and is really just an excuse to watch the nice animation. The VAs are kind of love-em-or-hate-em, as well. I personally think they're alright, but I can understand why people would find them kind of annoying. People who aren't fans of the Sonic The Hedgehog games, or are only familiar with the post-Adventure games, probably won't get what the big deal is.It really is a shame that this was never picked up, as Sonic fans would have loved the show at the time. As it is, Sonic fans owe it to themselves to watch this, if only for the beautiful animation. If you are not a Sonic fan, however, you won't miss too much by skipping it.

conny_the_slayer this movie was great, only one thing could have made it even better... cause the voice-acting was so bad that i was thinking about suicide for awhile. But since I'm a really big fan of sonic the hedgehog i'd just had to watch it, and i don't regret it.Robotnik looks so cool as always, will Sonic, Miles, Knuckles be able to defeat him I wanted to know, so i had much fun watching this, it's much better than any Sylvester Stallone film you've ever seen, not that he's in the movie but... everybody, if you are a big fan of sonic the hedgehog, you should see this movie!

Jude Austin Watching this gave me a distinct feeling of The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog meets Pokemon. First things first: The dubbing from Japanese is actually not bad, as dubbing goes. My main criticisms would be on the sound of the actors rather than their talent: Sonic sounds a little like an old-fashioned cowboy, Knuckles sounds far too young (and WHAT is up with that HAT??) and Tails...well, Tails sounds like he has a bad cold.The story isn't too bad; it's just strong enough to keep the movie going. Introducing the President's daughter (or even the President) was a big mistake; the characters don't fit at all. The writers appear to have completely disregarded the planet and backstories set out in the original Sonic franchise, creating a completely new planet called Freedom. That said, this one-off planet does feature more aspects from the games than most of the other TV series, with the spikes, springs and well-known bots such as Caterkiller.Robotnik came across as a six year old having a bad day. I've heard the TV series The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog called slapstick...well, this goes way beyond slapstick. Certain things like Robotnik blowing raspberries at Sonic at his (supposed) moment of victory...well, I won't bore you with the details. Metal Sonic was good though, and the fight between him (it?) and Sonic was well done. A good movie, entertaining but not a patch on Sonic X or The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Fantastic for younger viewers though.