Watership Down (2018): Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Ratings

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4.6

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4.6	Your Score
4.6	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

Netflix | Season Premiere Date: December 23, 2018

Summary: When Fiver (voiced by Nicholas Hoult) has a vision of the destruction of Sandleford Warren, his brother Hazel (voiced by James McAvoy) and a group of other rabbits leave to find a new home. Along the way they meet other rabbits and face a number of obstacles that include predators, the weather, humans, and other animals in this four-partWhen Fiver (voiced by Nicholas Hoult) has a vision of the destruction of Sandleford Warren, his brother Hazel (voiced by James McAvoy) and a group of other rabbits leave to find a new home. Along the way they meet other rabbits and face a number of obstacles that include predators, the weather, humans, and other animals in this four-part adaptation of the Richard Adams novel.… Expand

Genre(s): Animation, Drama, Movie/Mini-Series

Season 1 Episodes

No episode information is currently available for this season

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Critic Reviews

100

John Anderson

Dec 20, 2018

It is rigorously intelligent, absolutely thrilling, and--unless the kids are about 17--definitely not for children. ... One of its virtues is its fidelity to the source material—dark, filled with dread, marked by stinging indictments of fascism, fundamentalism and cruelty. Being so true to itself, it’s utterly absorbing--once you get past the fact that the principal characters are rabbits. ... All the performances are convincing. Read full review

IndieWire Ben Travers

Dec 20, 2018

Despite cheap computer-animation, director Noam Murro (“300: Rise of an Empire”) and writer Tom Bidwell (“My Mad Fat Diary”) evoke a strong sense of empathy for the animals while crafting a stirring limited series built on big, frightening themes of life and death along with more humble thoughts on love, friendship, and socialism. Read full review

Tim Goodman

Dec 14, 2018

Allowing for the sweetness in Adams' original work to come out in this modern take is part of what makes the BBC-Netflix version of Watership Down work best. The conversations and character development of the rabbits are the bricks that build the story. And while the animation is at first a downside--seemingly retro, too saturated with brown and black tones, making many of the rabbits indistinguishable from one another--that limitation allows the voice work to shine, which of course relies heavily on Adams' lovely descriptions. Read full review

James Poniewozik

Dec 20, 2018

Emotional but blandified adaptation. ... If the Netflix Watership Down fails its potential, it benefits from strong voice performances (Boyega is expressive as the bluff but loyal Bigwig) and a solid central story. Even this easy-listening version, which lays on the romance, jokes and limp dialogue (“They may not have wanted a war, but by Frith, that’s what they’ll get”), has moments of grandeur and the sweep of a fantasy epic. Read full review

Collider Dave Trumbore

Dec 21, 2018

Luckily, the story is so good that it shines above the shoddy animation, but the 1978 adaptation is still a better bet and the original story itself is still the best. Give this one a watch only if you can stomach the visuals and the visceral material. Read full review

User Score

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4.6

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User Reviews

KuramaxDakota

Dec 23, 2018

Watership Down in overall is a great retelling of this classic.

Although there are some flaws in the series like some changes between the novel itself, this remake tells so greatly without even being too horrific like the 1978 film. I praised the performances of James McAvoy, JohnWatership Down in overall is a great retelling of this classic.

Although there are some flaws in the series like some changes between the novel itself, this remake tells so greatly without even being too horrific like the 1978 film.

I praised the performances of James McAvoy, John Boyega, and Sir Ben Kingsley as Hazel, Bigwig, and General Woundwort respectively.

The animation was done nicely, the music is just majestic. The music brings joy, tragedy, and suspense.

I recommend this.… Expand

3 of 6 users found this helpful33

birdman3

Dec 26, 2018

Unlike most TV shows, Watership Down could have benefited from at least one or two additional episodes. I just read the book for the first time last year, and I was enthralled by its portrayal of rabbit culture and mythology. Sadly, many of the finer points of both of these aspects have beenUnlike most TV shows, Watership Down could have benefited from at least one or two additional episodes. I just read the book for the first time last year, and I was enthralled by its portrayal of rabbit culture and mythology. Sadly, many of the finer points of both of these aspects have been omitted in the final product, but regardless, this adaptation represents just about everything I could have hoped for. The story is true to the book, and hits all of the high notes that I'd hoped would be addressed The voice actors are great, although the animation makes it difficult to distinguish between rabbits. I recommend watching with subtitles, as these often help you know who's speaking.

Another note about the animation - it looks fantastic, as long as the rabbits aren't moving. For still shots (or even just conversations) everything looks finely detailed. As soon as the rabbits start moving, their movements seem stunted and slow, and you realize that the character models don't interact with their environment. It gives the entire production the appearance of a children's cartoon - low budget and half-hearted. It also makes the fight sequences less thrilling, but still overall satisfying.

I'm still overall pleased with the resulting product, although I wish there had been a finer level of polish across the animation and a deeper level of detail in addressing the rabbit world of Watership Down.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

hello_world

Mar 9, 2019

The show is a decent retelling of Watership Down. The animation is a bit rough to look at and this is especially true in the actions scenes where the attacks lack impact. The shows also tries for a more realistic approach to character design which unfortunately means that it is very hard toThe show is a decent retelling of Watership Down. The animation is a bit rough to look at and this is especially true in the actions scenes where the attacks lack impact. The shows also tries for a more realistic approach to character design which unfortunately means that it is very hard to tell characters apart.

The show does however, manage to create a dark, melancholic atmosphere. The show also puts in effort to establish a rabbit culture, which does play into themes of storytelling and its role in survival, which I personally find interesting and cool. Though it can cause confusion as they don't take time to explain what certain words mean. It doesn't offer much for those who watch and loved the original film, but it isn't bad enough to ruin the story for you either.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

madarasi012

Dec 27, 2018

For the uninitiated, Watership Down (2018) is the Netflix adaptation of the novel of the same name by Richard Adams, written in 1972. There have been a few iterations, from the animated film of 1978 to the animated series that ran from 1999 to 2001.

First off, I have not read the book,For the uninitiated, Watership Down (2018) is the Netflix adaptation of the novel of the same name by Richard Adams, written in 1972. There have been a few iterations, from the animated film of 1978 to the animated series that ran from 1999 to 2001.

First off, I have not read the book, nor have I watched any other iteration of the show; therefore, my review is based solely on the quality of the miniseries.

As such, let's get the good out of the way, first. The Netflix adaptation comes with a powerhouse voice cast, with James McAvoy, Gemma Arterton, Peter Capaldi, Daniel Kaluuya, Ben Kingsley, and John Boyega, to name a few. The story is meant for children, but does not shy away from the darkness of the world, even if they are in the form of rabbits and other animals. It tells an interesting story of trust, liberty, and love, and what it means to fight for something you believe in.

That's the good. The bad is that, if you don't like the way Watership Down looks in its first five minutes, you're not going to want to watch it. Watership Down looks like something out of a computer game in the early 2000s, with choppy animation, poor expressions, and even poorer character design.

Apart from a few characters, namely Bigwig, Bluebell, and sometimes Fiver, I often struggled to tell the characters apart, which leads me to my next issue: the characters.

The characters are not particularly deep or complex; something that is to be expected from source material (for children) from the 70s. The good bunnies are good because they fight for good things, and the bad bunnies are bad because they're evil and oppressive for no other reason than to be so. The baddest bunny is General Woundwort, voiced by Ben Kingsley, a big scary hulk of a rabbit that has his own warren and runs it as a prison for... reasons. Reasons that don't need to be explained because he's the bad guy. That's what bad bunnies do. The female bunnies exist as one of few options: diggers, mates, or oppressed. This is made all the more ironic when you realise that rabbits are actually matriarchies, and the founding of a new warren is often done by young, dissatisfied does, rather than bucks.

However, it is that Old English mentality that is the lifeblood of Watership Down, a Victorian ( or World War I–era, at the very least) premise of brotherhood above all, where the men go charging into battle while the women swoon and pray for their speedy return.

This is also contradicted by the lead rabbit, Hazel, in a few scenes towards the end where, when all hope seems lost, he refuses to leave his post in the hopes that his lady love, Clover, will return, giving no thought at all to his brother-in-arms, Bigwig, also holed up/detained within the same area. The characters themselves are fairly one-note. Hazel is the leader, Bigwig is the brawn, Bluebell is the soft one, and so on and so forth.

Setting all this aside, Watership Down does manage to keep things interesting and it never felt dull, or like it was progressing too slowly. It sets out to tell a story, and a story it does tell, which is nice to hear, but not necessarily nice to see.

Once again, I will praise the voice cast, without whom this series would be abysmal. The score is passable and doesn't particularly stand out against everything else. If you love the book, stick with it. If you're curious to try something new, well, there's no harm in Watership Down if you can stomach the CGI.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Elthor

Dec 26, 2018

I remember being traumatized as a kid by the original animated film of Watership Down.
So, now a big boy with big boy pants I thought I'd see what the new version had to offer me by way of new emotional scars... is boredom a scar? If it is, mission accomplished.

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

Lyn

Jan 27, 2019

This series is based on one of those novels I always thought I should read. Never got around to it -- maybe it would have helped? I slogged through every episode, but found it boring and pointless, the supposed "political" aspects of the story lost in the bunny-filled landscape. MostThis series is based on one of those novels I always thought I should read. Never got around to it -- maybe it would have helped? I slogged through every episode, but found it boring and pointless, the supposed "political" aspects of the story lost in the bunny-filled landscape. Most disappointing was the incredibly dull, monochromatic look of the thing. Overall, neither thought-provoking nor enjoyable.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

TixyLix

Dec 31, 2018

The CGI looked terrible, just show the original it's so much better! I swear Toy Story had better visuals in the 90s...

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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Seasons & Episodes

76

Series Overview
Season 1

76
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: December 23, 2018
- No episode information is currently available for this season