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Great Film overall

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

With a low budget for a 3D animation I really wasn't expecting anything good from this movie but was a lot better than I thought it would be. The plot is sort of a mix between "Planet 51" and "Avatar", lets just say it's much better than "Planet 51". I was sort of shocked this movie came out before "Avatar" so I guess maybe that movie took some ideas from this one. This is a well made animation film that kids and adults can enjoy with is decent script and good direction, there was hardly a dull moment. The plot takes place in a planet full of nature and floating worm like species and they are intelligent lifeforms. But there peaceful ways are interrupted when machines from the sky is seen and the floating worm like species thinks it's a god. But they don't come in peace, in fact they are coming for other reasons. Soon one of the female floating worm like being meets one of the invader and the story goes on from there. The floating worm like species have simple technology compared to the invaders who has more advance technology. Sort of reminded me of our history while watching this film. And although there has been many invasion movies in the past the direction of this film was actually quite unique, not super original though. I also liked how in this story it's difficult to pick a side just like one of the protagonist in this film. For a low budget 3D animation film, the animation was alright and the facial expressions are very well done. The battle sequences in this is also exciting at times. When it was done and finished, I actually enjoyed this movie way more than I thought I would. Also Giddy is a pretty good sidekick.7.5/10

It's a common story: a primitive race is attacked by technologically superior invaders who seek to wipe out the natives and suck their resources dry. One of the invaders realises that the low-tech locals are actually kind, benevolent and beautiful, and so decides to join the natives in the fight against his own kind. In a science fiction setting, the first three "Star Wars" movies offer the best variation of this tale. All other "rebel vs empire" tales are derivative and unnecessary in our globalized world in which such clear demarcations and conflicts no longer arise.This film has been compared to "Avatar", but it's much more sophisticated. For example, in "Battle For Terra", our hero is presented with a "Sophie's Choice" scenario in which he must face the fact that if he doesn't kill an alien, his brother will die. This serves as a metaphor for humanity's plight in the film, as the humans literally will die if they do not immediately terraform an alien planet and start pumping oxygen (which is poisonous to the aliens) into its atmosphere. Later our hero faces the same choice, when he is torn between shooting an alien or letting his brother die in battle. The film's final message is an attempt to reconcile its seemingly no-win scenario by proposing a "third way" or mutually beneficial solution.Even stylistically, "Terra" is better than "Avatar". "Avatar" had dull gear, derivative ships and poor conceptual designs, whilst "Battle For Terra" is packed with many cool looking buildings, ships, machines and animals. Likewise, "Avatar" had some pretty kitschy music, whilst "Battle For Terra" has an amazing score by the great Abel Korzeniowski. And while the flying scenes in "Avatar" were lame rehashes of Miyazaki, the corresponding scenes in "Battle For Terra" are much more moody, atmospheric and beautiful, though of course they too do not touch Miyazaki.In terms of action sequences, "Avatar" couldn't come close to the bars set by George Lucas in his original "Star Wars" trilogy. "Battle For Terra's" action scenes are kinetic, stylish, and much better than "Avatar's", but they can't break away from Lucas either.The film was released in 2007, several years ahead of "Avatar". While "Avatar" boasted a zillion dollar budget, "Terra" was made by a crew of only 7 animators. Luckily the film's low budget and small crew had a positive influence on the final product, as lip syncing chores and animation limitations (in an attempt to simplify production, the aliens have no legs or complex moving parts) resulted in the film relying more on music, ambiance and fluid motion, all of which lend the film a poetic, moody feel.7.9/10 – Pretty good for a kid's flick. Worth one viewing.

Quite simply this is Avatar but for children in a an animated form. That is not a complaint against the film. Avatar is one of my favourite films but I will admit that the story was not original and that is the case here. What makes Avatar better than this is its characters, the visuals and a good script that kept the film interesting. Battle for Terra is a good film but the script is uninteresting and the characters lack any personality.The story itself is interesting and it does raise a lot of issues about how far can the humans go to survive if it means the destruction of another race. However the plot is predictable but being a film targeted towards children, this was not really a problem. The action scenes were exciting because the film shows both sides of the war and what they are fighting for. When a ship explodes, there is a sense of sadness because that was someone fighting for a cause that they strongly believe in. The final action sequence was the best part of the film because how emotional it felt. I admire this about the film because it never gets too caught-up in the action to forget about the people fighting. However the lead characters (particularly the humans) are bland and uninteresting to look at. I know that the film was made on a low budget but the script added no depth to them whatsoever. The humans feel as if they are clones because they all feel the same. The lead human character is un-interesting from the start and Luke Wilson's performance felt charisma- less. Thankfully we are later introduced Brian Cox's character who is one of the human leaders and is focused on ensuring the survival of the humans no matter the cost. He was interesting to watch because it is difficult to decide if he is right or not. Of-course you are meant to disagree with him but when you consider what is at stake, it does make you ask questions.Technically the film is great for what it was made on. It is not Pixar standard but it achieves in telling its story. Everything looks nice and the action scenes are exciting to look at. Characters could have been vastly improved but the detail to the spaceships and the lighting of the different environments is good.If the film had made the lead character interesting to watch and the dialogue had been better, I would have rated this higher. As it stands this is an entertaining film that is worth watching to see the battle at the end but it is not something that I would consider worth watching again.

There are so many good reviews here, I was actually tricked into watching this disaster. Many here say that the plot is very mature, the characters well developed and the movie overall is interesting both to children and adults.Let me be the voice of minority here and say that I was completely and unexpectedly bored for the entire duration of this movie. Perhaps my 6 year old self would have enjoyed it, but at 25 it's really a wrong cartoon to see.The plot - predictable, the characters - dull and annoying, the movie - a complete failure in the "animations that adults appreciate too" department. I watched it in full hoping it would get better but it did not.There is a chance that you will be like so many others who liked it, but if you feel bored and disinterested 20 min into the movie - turn it off, you will not like the rest of it either.