Average Rating: 
Rating:  - fun family fim with LOTS of great dvd extras
Having a young child, we were waiting for this movie to come out on cable or dvd -- no chance of going to a theater yet! So we were delighted to receive an advance copy from an online store and Disney/PIXAR. We've watched the film at least six times in the past four days.The movie is terrific -- one of those films that children of different ages can enjoy AND adults can watch multiple times without going insane. This is the story of Monsters Incorporated, an energy supply company based in Monstropolis. In this reality, energy comes in the form of children's screams, and to that end Monsters, Inc. employees emerge from closets all over the world in order to collect a few GigaHowls and keep everyone's lamps and toasters running. The best scare team at Monsters, Inc. is John "Sulley" Sullivan (John Goodman) and his assistant Mike (Billy Crystal). One evening after hours, a child gets through a closet door and enters Monstropolis. Not good, considering monsters are scared of kids and believe their touch is toxic. Over the course of the movie Sulley and even Mike become attached to "Boo", risking health and careers to get her back to her home. In the meantime, incorrigible adorable Boo is having a great time scaring all the big monsters. The film is incredibly well done, as technically flawless as earlier PIXAR productions, the Toy Story series and A Bug's Life, but even funnier. John Goodman perfectly voices gentle, affable Sulley, and Billy Crystal creates Mike, a frantic egotist who is also optimistic and loyal. In other words, with more depth than half the human characters being written today. The animation is stunning, and the story is lots of fun. Nothing here to disturb little kids, and a lot to entertain them. The only part I didn't like much was the opening credit sequence, which was reminiscent of 60s bedroom farces, but that's what the Select Scene feature is for. There are two discs here. On Disc One you can view the film in fullscreen or widescreen format. Audio commentary by the director and staff is available with the latter. English captions, audio and video optimizers, and sneak peeks at PIXAR's upcoming "Finding Nemo" and Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" are also here. Disc Two contains almost three-and-a-half hours of amazing dvd extras. There's an interesting 20-minute tour of PIXAR; a very funny bloopers reel (that also plays during the credits of the fullscreen version); storyboards; deleted scenes; recording studio footage; character design; trailers and tv spots; footage of the Hollywood premiere; discussion of tie-in toys; a poster gallery; two Monsters Inc.-related segments from Ponkickies, a goofy Japanese animated show; Peek-a-Boo, a game; a history of Monster World; a Monsters Inc. employee handbook; and an introduction to Monsters Inc.'s version of baseball cards called Scarer Cards. The 13-minute original treatment and several scenes from an alternative story are presented that are as funny as the one that made it to the screen. Our favorite extras were the outtakes; a new animated short, "Mike's Car"; the Oscar winning PIXAR short, "For the Birds"; fly-arounds of several movie locations; the guide to "in" jokes (eg, the appearance of Toy Story 2's Jessie when Boo is showing her favorite toys to Sulley); a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the technical wizardry required to produce complex backgrounds, Sulley's fur, Boo's shirt and the city of Monstropolis; being able to watch a scene as it was done in storyboard, layout, animation or finished presentation; and a fun 4-minute clip with a few seconds of dialogue in each of the 30+ languages into which the film was translated. There's even a brief appearance by PIXAR CEO Steve Jobs. Packaging and foldout are nice, and include a contest entry form (to win Disney dvds), a free tie-in storybook offer, and a coupon book (for popcorn; Monsters Inc. tie-ins; Disney storybooks, videos and dvds; and Disney on Ice). With one exception we ran everything on our dvd player without a glitch, and could not be more pleased with this very funny family film and the many many extra features. Highest recommendation.
Rating:  - Disneys' latest in Pixar
"Monsters Inc." is the latest in pixar and just as good as it's predecessors, "Toy Story 1 & 2".
It is the story of the Monsters in children's closets, and their world beyond.
One eyed "Mike" (Billy Crystal) and Big, burly, Blue "Sully"(John Goodman) are the two lovable and sweet monsters who help the child, "Boo" back to her world after she follows Sully back in. Along the way we meet the other 'scary monsters" some good some not soo good ones, and have a good laugh. This is a really fun movie to watch, whether or not there is a message here like another reviewer mentioned. I don't really watch disney cartoons for messages or at least going searching for them. This is just fun family entertainment.
Billy Crystal is hilarious, and John Goodman is also funny and a perfect voice for the adorable Sully. Even if their job is to scare kids, they are endearing characters.
Worth purchasing if you are also a fan of the "Toy Story" movies.
There are some very funny outtakes at the end so stay tuned.
Rating: - I hope there are monsters in the closet
I cannot even explain how tremendously hilarious Monsters Inc. really is. The best movie I've seen in years, Monsters Inc. shattered almost everything I believe what monsters were. I once thought that in fantasy, monsters were dangerous, fearsome creatures but I was wrong, they are just as afraid of us as we are of them. The story begins in a factory where children's screams are collected, processed, and turned into energy that powers the city of Monstropolis (Monsters Inc. equivalent of New York City). Unfortunately, as children are harder to scare and harder to get screams, a power shortage is looming on Monstropolis. Even worse, a charming young girl by the name of Boo sneaks into the monster world and Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan's worlds are turned upside down as they have to return her home without being caught by the authorities and 'cleaned' off (it's not a pleasant experience for a Monsters Inc. worker) in this animated epic tale of fun, wits, humor, and plain brilliance. The rest.....well...you just have to watch and find out for yourself as I don't want to spoil the fun. The script is clever, funny, and highly innovative. I just was laughing my tail off when I learned why monsters come out of the closet: To collect children's screams to power their cities. It also tells that monsters are just as afraid, if not more afraid, of us as we are of them. The characters are too awesome and the cast couldn't have been much better. The animation is amazing. Every scene and all the objects in the movie are all computer animated. The ground-breaking area is with the blowing fur of Sully, the eyelids of all the characters, the glassy eyes of Sully at the end, and the actions. Even the blowing autumn leaves are all computer animated to the extent that some scenes look like they were filmed live. The animation and the script enhance each other perfectly like few other animated flicks. What's also great about Monsters Inc. is that it's enjoyment aimed at all age groups. Don't be scared young kids. When you see this movie, you won't think of monsters the same way again. OH! Don't forget that there are two animated short films. "For The Birds" is the one before the main movie and is like a warm up . The other one "Mike's New Car" is the other one that follows the movie. Both of these are absolutely funny and add on to the movie. Monsters Inc. is already a classic..... already a classic..... already a classic..... already a classic Plot-***** Humor-***** Graphics-***** Overall-***** Buy it!
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