Racing Stripes (2005)

I thought this was a very funny movie. I laughed a lot and don't think that the jokes were too much (maybe the pecker joke). Someone said that the first 20 minutes were slow but OK to get used to the animation, but I think the animation was done really well and the race with the mailman is in there as well. The mailman was very cool ! (my father is a mailman, but this one is a lot more fun and hotter). I would have liked to see more with him. Hopefully he will be in more films.

The relationship between the father and the daughter could have been a little better, but the father and the zebra are nice together (with the training).

The story is a lot of fun for kids and families. My 5 year old loved it !! The horses are really beautiful. and so is the zebra (especially as a baby) I have never been to Kentucky, but I did not know it was not made in America, it looked beautiful.

All around I think you will like this movie !

Fmovies: Though I have been a dedicated visitor to IMDb since I have heard about it first in 2000, this... is my first user comment for a movie. And I am very proud to give it for Racing Stripes.

What shall I say about this movie? Talking animals, American humour, words, phrases and scenes which need to be in a racing movie. Is that all? No.

This is the story of a zebra who with the help of his animal friends and love of the daughter of his master, achieves the unthinkable - a race against the horses.

With a single zebra, these people have woven and created a celluloid which comes with ounces and ounces of passion, all for free. Right from the first scene when Stripes is introduced until the last flash of the race, passion is one word with which we are gripped. Stripes, the hero of the movie, steals our hearts with its innocent expressions, cute barking and an iron-fisted ambition.

A humble movie with a great animal team, good actors, visual effects, applaudable cinematography and editing,... wait. There is something which I am missing. Yes. Those unmistakable moments when the sounds and visuals speak to us. Flashes, slow motions, brilliant ups and downs of music and much much more which made all those animals' expressions visible and audible even when they don't speak. The shot by shot translation of the moods and motivation for the racing zebra build the whole movie.

Leave all to your imagination. Watch Stripes begin that run. Those minutes, I couldn't close my eyelids even for a routine blink.

Give a great actress a great script, and you can't miss. Give her a mediocre script like Racing Stripes (a fun, one-dimensional underdog story about a zebra that wants to race against horses), and she'll usually find a way to shine through the mud. Hayden Panettiere, who I last saw in Remember The Titans as the cute-but-obnoxious coach's daughter, isn't all grown up yet, but at sixteen, looks ready to conquer the world in a way that few actresses ever will.

I'm sure every teenage boy in America knows who Hayden is by now, and in a few years, the entire male population is going to be spellbound by this charming, multidimensional beauty. Remember The Titans was a great script where she could have done little wrong; what makes her performance here a great one is that nothing went wrong, and she got everything out of the character that one could have expected, and then some.

Some of the other "nobodies" in the film -- including Frankie Muniz, Dustin Hoffman, Wendie Malick, David Spade, to name a few -- were simply upstaged. Lord only knows what we'll be witness to once Ms. Panettiere, and her material, age.

Racing Stripes fmovies. This started in Australia early, so my partner and I went to see it for a change of pace. Expectations weren't what you would call high (this is the home of Babe after all), but we both enjoyed it quite a bit.

The film is well put together, visually it's attractive, earthy, and the horses used are stunning -- any horse lovers will adore the movie, despite the main character being a Zebra.

Actually, Stripes himself is overshadowed by some of the excellent supports, including Hoffman's unappreciated pony and Pantoliano's gangster Pelican called "Goose" (a very funny role). One exception is Snoop Dogg's Basset Hound -- a waste of time, really. Then there are the horseflies, Spade and Harvey -- some of their jokes are dated (an M.C. Hammer gag in 2005???), but they're usually a high point.

The human characters were well cast -- Bruce Greenwood gives a very down to earth performance and is totally believable as a mourning farmer. Hayden Panettiere is a standout, look for big things from her in the future. I remember her as Will Patton's mini-coach daughter in Remember The Titans -- she's grown up with a great look and fine acting.

Direction is fine, the effects of animals talking, etc are all well done. Story is basic, but I guess that's what you want in a family film. Funny animals, good values/morals -- definitely worth watching.

A baby zebra (voice of Frankie Muniz) is accidentally left behind by a traveling circus and is found by a thoroughbred horse trainer, Nolan Walsh (Bruce Greenwood). Nolan takes the zebra home, and his teenage daughter Channing (Hayden Panettiere) wants to keep him as a pet. She names the baby zebra Stripes. The farm is located near the racetrack and the zebra grows up believing that he is a racehorse. Stripes has a dream of racing the other horses at the track, and to get into shape, Stripes races the mailman in his truck. All the farm animals help Stripes and Channing achieve their racing dream. This is a cute movie made in the same framework as the movie 'Babe', where all the animals speak to each other. The horseflies Scuzz and Buzz (voices of David Spade and Steve Harvey) had some of the funniest scenes. This is a light hearted film that your children will like. Don't take the script too seriously or you will miss the fun. (Warner Brothers Pictures, Run time 1:34, Rated PG) (4/10)

Don't be swayed by the negative reviews...I don't know what it takes for some folks to enjoy a movie! I took my 8 year old to see this and we both spent most of the movie in laughter. There is something for EVERYONE in this film! On top of a great story and an enjoyable script, there are many, many lessons for children to learn within this film. It was so good to hear children splitting their sides in laughter during the movie. And, in places, adult laughter drowned out the kids! This movie has humor on all levels. It will definitely be added to our DVD collection upon release. This is Rudy and The Little Engine That Could all rolled into one. Don't miss this or you'll be sorry!