Rainbow War

This short film might just be the coolest film in the world for the actors--that is, if they don't mind getting covered in gallons and gallons of paint! It looked like so much fun to be in the film and it's a lot of fun to watch.

RAINBOW WAR is an Oscar-nominated live action short from Canada. And, being a Canadian film, if you look carefully you might just recognize Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles among the extras (while Stiles is an American, he lived in Toronto at the time)--two of the wonderful regulars on "Whose Line is it?". I think Ryan's a yellow guy and Colin's a blue one--it's hard to tell--especially since the extras all sport wigs or hats and so you can't look for Colin's shiny scalp! The film is a very silly film that is appropriate for kids and adults alike. It's a fairy tale of sorts about three kingdoms that have never learned that the other two exist. Each is dedicated to one color alone--all other colors are banned. So, when a genius from the Yellow land makes a weird flying machine, he lands in the red land and is amazed. However, the Yellow Princess is NOT amused as ALL lands must be yellow! About the same time, a balloon with people from the Blue kingdom arrive as well--and demand that everyone become Blue! Soon, soldiers from all three worlds are involved in a funky and non-violent "war" where they are throwing buckets of paint on each other. After a while, however, the anger subsides and they start to see all the cool possibilities these new colors provide.

Overall, despite being a rather preachy premise, the film is so much fun you can't help but admire it. A nice film and you can easily understand its Oscar nomination. Oh, and by the way, no one talks in the film at all and it's silent other than its stirring soundtrack.

I have to say that this film was Messy but Brilliant.

My Film lighting instructor worked as a Lamp operator on this film and said that the studio, the actors, the equipment and even the entire crew got drenched in paint, but he had a lot of fun working on it.

I couldn't stop laughing at the characters, the action, everything. It's small films like rainbow war that are made fresh out of the box, brought to the screen and received such a response from the audience.

although it had a small budget, it has imagination, a good story, funny characters and a wonderful message about peace.

I recommend this film to any aspiring young filmmaker who has the imagination that this film was made from.

This is one of the great short films of all time!!! I thrilled to it with members of the USSR pavilion as a visiting US journalist and its obvious yet delightful symbols of colorus representing the world powers was simplistic-undeniably- and brilliantly presented- absolutely. A gorgeous score, handsome cast and stunning production collided in one of the great world's fair cinematic experiences of all time.

I remember seeing this at Expo 86, but I was only 7, so I really don't remember anything about it except that I saw it. I would enjoy seeing it again. I found a place where you can buy it, but it's $95... For a 20 minute video, that's insane! But if you're desperate, you do have the option of buying it here: http://www.pyramidmedia.com/item.php3?title_id=1231 They do have a 5-minute preview of it on that page! I just watched it, and I have to say, I still don't remember it at all, except for the very beginning with the red outlines of the story book. From what I saw, it looks very colorful and all, and Ryan Stiles is in it, but other than that, I don't see what the big deal is. I guess I would have to watch the whole thing to give it a fair review...

I believe "The Rainbow War" was filmed for Expo '86 in Vancouver; at any rate, that's where I saw it. It is a funny, enchanting, imaginative fable about tolerance & friendship in a fragmented, militaristic world. It will appeal to fans of gentle, humanist efforts like "The Red Balloon" or "Life is Beautiful". I was eleven years old when I saw "The Rainbow War", so it's possible I would be less effusive today. As it stands, though, this movie is:

my #1 all-time favourite Canadian movie

my #4 all-time favourite "war" movie

my #1 all-time favourite movie in which paint is the main weapon

I have no clue where & how it's available today. It ran at some corporate pavilion at the expo (where it was a big hit), and I haven't heard of it since.