Piccolo panda

The boy-hero is a brat. He is American and imagines this entitles him to royal treatment. He is somewhat contemptuous of anything different. He sees the words only through his own eyes, only through his desires. He is selfish.

His father is a work-aholic Panda researcher who repeatedly forgets that his son exists.

The mother is an airhead.

The movie is filmed in China, in places far more beautiful that you would have imagine existed, turquoise lakes, mist-shrouded mountains, gorges. The differentness of China in every respect is just so juicy including the livestock.

I have no idea how they pulled of the special effects without killing someone, falling from creaking wooden bridges, falling over cliffs, being swept downstream in torrents, riding a runaway horse cart... They never let you get your breath before some other calamity overtook our heroes.

Most of the dialogue is in Chinese without subtitles, though sometimes the young female translator gives you a bowdlerised version. You get sense of what they are saying from the tone of voice.

Much of the fun comes from the dialogue between the translator and Ryan. They have such different world views, they are constantly misunderstanding each other. He talks about "bull" and she assumed he had switched the topic to livestock.

Certain things did not make sense. How could a weaning baby panda stay alive for many days without any food? How could Ryan Slater manage to carry the bear mile upon mile. It was half as big as he was. Surely he would have to rest every 10 feet or so especially when climbing. Maybe it was just a stuffed toy. What are the odds a watch battery would be the same as one needed for a tracking collar? What are the odds you could remove a watch battery without tools?

I am outraged that these poor panda bears were put through so much torture to make this movie. Fortunately, the evidence is caught on tape. What you are about to see done to these animals for the sake of entertainment may shock you! The bears are shot at, dragged off of a bridge, tossed over a waterfall, dangled over a cliff, and virtually starved to death. The makers of this film as well as anyone who watches it should be ashamed of this dangerous and gratuitous exploitation of such poor helpless creatures. I have already alerted my congressman, Greenpeace, Ralph Nader and my Mommy. Hopefully a follow-up movie can be made showing the capture and incarceration of the producers...what? The bears are actually robots? Oops....

I watched this movie with friends and we laughed the whole way through. This would be fine, if the movie was a comedy, but instead its a bland and ultimately forgettable childrens flick. You can tell that RYAN only got the part because he was Christian Slaters brother, as he hams up the screen throughout its entirety. LING is certainly no better, her fake asian accent is pathetic, as is her acting ability. I realize they are only kids but there have been good child actors before, and these two aren't up to scratch. The real star of the show is the panda, it shows character throughout, especially in the scene when it attacks Ryan on the bridge. This of course excludes the scenes in which it is played by a robot, did the director actually think that thing looked like a real panda? Overall this film is bad, but watchable Family material. The kids will probably love it, but there are better films around. Rehire E.T., the Goonies, or even Toy story, these films are more sincere and watchable then this movie, and will actually be remembered in time to come.

Lighten up! This movie IS FOR KIDS! My 9 year old daughter and her Chinese mom really enjoyed this. The admittedly fake storyline (which could have been stolen from any of about nine million family wildlife movies) is overcome by the sheer personality of the panda cub and the terrific scenery. There are very few movies that depict either pandas or the beautiful Chinese panda reserves. The movie also shows the American contribution to the preservation of the pandas; the Chinese government wasn't doing much at all until American naturalists got involved in the 70's.

Kids will enjoy this and you crabby adults will survive it.

I do remember 11 years ago (or so I don't know) seeing the trailer for this film, and I wanted to see it in theaters-but I didn't get a chance. But when it came out on video, I got it as a Valentine's Day gift from my mom. When I watched it, I really loved it, though I can remember having only watched it a couple of times long ago-until now, that is.

The film starts when 10-year-old Ryan Tyler goes to China during his spring break to visit his zoologist dad, Michael, who has been working on a project to rescue the dwindling panda population. But there was poacher trouble and Ryan, along with young assistant/translator Ling, decided to rescue an adorable panda cub, which had been "animal-napped" and they must return him to his mother, whom Dr. Tyler rescued from a trap and brought back to the reserve to care for. As they gain maturity and face unexpected adventures, the two youngsters learn to love and respect pandas as they gain maturity and tolerance for each other, of course.

Like I said (a million times), I was shocked by the negative reviews and ratings I would see on the web. I mean, I love films about human/animal relations; this film has heart and a little humor. And I think films like this one would enlist people's sympathies for the giant panda population.