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 enlarge | Actors: Jason Lee, David Cross, Justin Long
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $5.39
You Save: $24.60 (82%)
New (50) Used (27) Collectible (2) from $5.39
Rating:  153 reviews
Sales Rank: 65
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2250301D
UPC: 024543503019
EAN: 0024543503019
ASIN: B0013FSWT2
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Previous Rental, Rental/Security Sticker(s), Carefully Packed And Quickly Shipped.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 106-110 of 153
 Why is this rated so high on Amazon and so poorly on other sites? April 22, 2008
LynnC (OKC)
2 out of 11 found this review helpful
I wonder why this movie is rated so well on Amazon but on a lot of other sites it isn't?
 Alvin And Co. Hit The Big Screen April 21, 2008
K. Fontenot (The Bayou State)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Growing up, one of my earliest memories is of listening to an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" album that spoofed the "Urban Cowboy" soundtrack. I have no idea what happened to that album, but I do remember that it hooked me on Alvin and company for good. I watched the cartoon series that came out in the 80's and even saw a few of the old cartoons. When I saw that Alvin and the gang were headed for the big screen, I had two thoughts: a) This will be the single worst live action remake ever or b) It just might be fun. Luckily for me and my daughter, "b" was the correct thought. When this film came out in theaters, I took my daughter to see it and both of us laughed throughout the film. Jason Lee does an amazing job as kind-hearted Dave Seville, and the voices for the chipmunks, Justin Long (Alvin), Matthew Gray Gubler (Simon), and Jesse McCartney (Theodore), have their respective characters penned perfectly.
The story revolves around Dave finding the chipmunks in his home at Christmas time and then finding out that they can not only talk, but can sing a mean tune as well. Desperate for money-making song, Dave takes the chipmunks to his record-producer friend, Ian (David Cross in one of his best roles yet), who doesn't believe Dave at first. Once he discovers the truth, Ian promotes the chipmunks to death in order to drain every dollar he can out of them. Eventually the chipmunks turn on Dave, and run to the lap of luxury that Ian promises them. In the end, though, this turns out to be a film about the strength of the family, no matter how different it might be.
The DVD comes with both the full and widescreen versions of the film, as well as some decent special features. The best of those features is an in-depth look at the creation and creator of the chipmunks, Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
I thought very hard on giving this film five stars. It's just that good of a family film. Sure, there's a little crude humor but the tale is strong enough that most will be able to look beyond that. In the end, I have to give "Alvin and the Chipmunks" a very, very sold four stars. I highly recommend it to anybody with children or anyone who wants to recall some wonderful old memories.
 Alvin and the Chipmunks Rule! April 21, 2008
Sharnita Singh
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think Alvin and the Chipmunks was an excellent movie. It has a lot to offer if you watch it properly and not just laugh and forget the little funnies. I think kids will learn a lot from it. I as an adult have learnt a lot from it. The Chipmunks, especially Theodore is the youngest and the cutest one. He is expresses his emotions very freely like any kid should. He is loving and very innocent. He is cared for and looked after by his brothers which kids will find very adorable. I think it teaches a little thing or two about being siblings and looking out for each other.
While the three are different, they show us that they are all alright as they are.
The scene where they give Dave Christmas presents was extremely touching. It shows that it is not the size or the price of the xmas gifts that matter, it is the thought put into it- Theodore shows Dave a little picture and makes a xmas card for him while Simon makes for him a paperclip compass.
I think Jason lee was really excellent in the role as well.
I have ordered my copy of the movie and would recommend it to everyone!! Not everyone however will see it as I did.
Better than I expected April 20, 2008
DebandBarry
We just watched this last night with our two kids. It was much better than I expected. From the trailers on TV, I worried that there might be too much crude humor, but it was very minimal. My kids loved it and were laughing out loud throughout the movie. My husband and I were a little bored towards the last 1/3 of the movie, but overall it was a good film. Fun for a family movie night.
Get Your Squeak On... April 19, 2008
Justice0309 (Joplin, MO USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I never would have dreamed that someone would decide to adapt the trio of singing chipmunks known as Alvin and the Chipmunks into a feature film. Yet, here we are, 50 years after their initial debut, getting to see a live-action version of the cute furry guys in action on the big screen. When I first saw the advertisements for "Alvin and the Chipmunks" my expectations were rather low, mostly because the chipmunks had been removed from the realm of pop culture since the early to mid nineties, and the fact that I haven't been overly impressed with some of the other animated cartoons that have made the jump to the big screen as of late, most recently the below average adaptation of "Underdog". So, I thought that any attempt to bring the chipmunks to the big screen would result in a mixed bag of good CGI effects to bring the chipmunks to life, updated and/or butchered versions of some of their classic songs that fans love, and an overall too cute and kid friendly storyline that would be so insipid for any adult to actually tolerate sitting through. However, after renting the movie for my kids to watch, and I of course sat down to watch it with them out of curiosity, I am surprised to say that I was actually impressed by how good this modern adaptation of the classic cartoon turned out to be.
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" is the story of three talented singing chipmunks named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, as they rise to stardom in the music business thanks to their songwriter/mentor Dave Seville (Jason Lee). As their popularity increases, a greedy record producer (David Cross) double-crosses Dave and causes Alvin and the gang to mistrust him, thus taking control of the burgeoning career of the chipmunks and pushes the three loveable brothers to their limits and will not stop until he has milked them for all they're worth. Now, it's up to Dave to find a way to win back the trust of his beloved chipmunks, and bring them back to the only place they want to be... home.
As far as cartoon adaptations into feature films go, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" is definitely one of the better ones in my opinion. I've seen the two `Garfield' films, which were cute, and then the "Underdog" movie, which didn't amount to much in terms of entertainment value, and "Alvin and the Chipmunks", is by far much more of an entertaining movie than any of those other ones. Director Tim Hill has done a very good job of mixing the modern song styles of today with the classic sounds of some of the chipmunks' famous songs, and he does so without compromising the appeal of those beloved songs. Tim Hill has improved his ability to adapt classic cartoon characters into a feature film when compared to his previous effort, the second film in the `Garfield' series, "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" which was an average movie at best. This time around he has better tools at his disposal, such as; much more polished CGI characters with the chipmunks, somewhat better actors, and the film's story is much more fulfilling for children and adults thus creating a better overall movie experience for the whole family.
The CGI created chipmunks were very good for 99% of the movie, they weren't completely photo-realistic due to more exaggerated and cartoonish facial features and expressions, and of course the fact that they could talk and sing, and wear clothes, but they fit in nicely in this movie. As good as the CGI was throughout the movie, there was one scene that stuck out to me as being not quite as polished as the others. The scene I am referring to is where Alvin is taking a shower in Dave's dishwasher, even though it was an extremely cute and funny scene, the Alvin character model looked way too stiff and jerky in his movements, having an almost stop-motion feel to him. I don't know if this was brought on by the mixing of CGI water, a wet animated character, and steam together or what; but, the scene definitely stood out to me, and left me feeling as if the visual effects crew could have spent a little more time to perfect that scene and the movie's effects would have been essentially flawless.
The actors all did a good job and thankfully chose not to ham it up too much on screen. Given the type of movie they were in, I'm sure the temptation was there, but they resisted much to the movie's benefit. Jason Lee was a good choice for Dave Seville, the chipmunks' songwriter/mentor/father-figure, but I do have one complaint about his performance. I don't believe that Jason really sold the yelling of Alvin's name during the Christmas song, and other various times throughout the movie. Each time he yelled "ALVIN!", I felt it was too forced and unnatural, which is a problem for me because that line is such an integral part of Dave's character and is something that fans of the animated series and songs know all too well. To have that aspect of the character not work perfectly comes off as a weak point in the movie for me, but I digress. Actor and comedian, David Cross was perfectly sniveling and obnoxious as the slimy record producer that wants to cash in on the chipmunk brand, bringing his signature sarcasm and wit to the character, even throwing in a few one-liners that would be funnier to adults than kids. The voice cast for the chipmunks were comprised of some of Hollywood's up-and-coming acting talents, such as; Justin Long (Alvin), Jesse McCartney (Theodore), and Matthew Gray Gubler (Simon). The choice to include decently recognizable names to voice these characters would have been a wise decision had their voices not been modified; however, due to the fact that their voices were recorded at half-speed and sped up to normal speed to create the chipmunk sound, having recognizable actors providing the voices seemed rather pointless. I mean there was no distinguishable quality to identify that Alvin's voice was that of `The Mac Guy' in the PC and Mac commercials from TV, so I don't understand the logic behind that decision to go with somewhat recognizable actors over unknowns, but I'm not the one that makes these decisions so maybe to some Hollywood suit this choice made sense, you've got me though.
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" is one of those rare live-action movies aimed primarily at kids that adults can enjoy as well. The movie actually manages to avoid the pitfall of oversimplifying everything in the story for kids; instead, opting to create a heartwarming and updated re-telling of a classic animated series that successfully introduces the characters of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore to a whole new generation to enjoy, and gives those that are familiar with them already a nice walk down memory lane.
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" is rated PG for mildly rude humor.
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