Animal Farm ★½ 1999 Orwell's political satire is given the "Babe" treatment in this live-action version. Drunken farmer Mr. Jones (Postlethwaite) has his power overthrown by his barnyard animals, who in turn are ruled by the farm's pig population. Only porker Napoleon (Stewart) turns out to be as big a tyrant as his human counterpart. Far beyond the scope of children, this retelling is clunky and its propaganda value has certainly come and gone. (Orwell was originally satirizing Stalinist Russia.) 91m/C VHS, DVD. Pete Postlethwaite;
Director:
John Stephenson;
Writer:
Martyn Burke, Alan Janes;
Writer:
Mike Brewster;
Cameo:
Richard Harvey; V: Patrick Stewart, Kelsey Grammer, Ian Holm, Julia Ormond, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Paul Scofield, Peter Ustinov. CABLE
