Watership Down

"All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you... but first they must catch you."

1978 1h 32m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

83%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 735🍅83%Rotten Tomatoes●64Metacritic★7.5IMDB · 42,266

AdventureAnimationDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.

“All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you... but first they must catch you.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

John Hurt
Hazel (voice)
Richard Briers
Fiver (voice)
Michael Graham Cox
Bigwig (voice)
John Bennett
Captain Holly (voice)
Ralph Richardson
Chief Rabbit (voice)
Simon Cadell
Blackberry (voice)
Terence Rigby
Silver (voice)
Roy Kinnear
Pipkin (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Martin Rosen
Writers: Martin Rosen, Ted Pettengell, Gordon Harrison
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.7× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

48 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Angela Morley. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Terry Rawlings shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Hurt and Richard Briers and Michael Graham Cox carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you... but first they must catch you.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Martin Rosen directs. Angela Morley scores. Terry Rawlings cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.7× over at the box office.
348 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Original score by Angela Morley. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Terry Rawlings shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7John Hurt and Richard Briers and Michael Graham Cox carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you... but first they must catch you.".
9IMDB entry: tt0078480 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "based on novel or book", "gore", "trap", "anthropomorphism".

The technical file

Original score: Angela Morley
Editing: Terry Rawlings
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,000,000
Box office: $3,713,768
Return: 371% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Watership Down (1978)
Rotten Tomatoes: 83% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 64/100
IMDB rating: 7.5/10 · 42,266 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

1 win & 4 nominations total

Also by

Martin Rosen

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2024-09-20
★ 8/10
It sure lives up to its reputation! The sole thing I knew about <em>'Watership Down'</em> pre-watch was that it's relatively graphic and had an impact on children at the time of its release. Well, I can certainly see why! Heck, even by today's standards it's still pretty out there in terms of how it portrays the violence. The animation, for its time, is absolutely splendid - super effective! The music is also noteworthy. I will say that I don't think the characters are anything above solid, like post-watch I can't really remember any of them individually; visually at least, because the voice cast are very good.
CinemaSerf2024-12-22
★ 7/10
The instantly recognisable tones of Sir Michael Hordern set the scene as he tells us a tale of yore about the rabbit. How it got it's white fluffy tail, it's strong hind legs and it's speed, sure, but also of it's vulnerabilities. It is the animal that most others just want to eat! Many generations later and a colony is struggling with overcrowding. Mankind is encroaching on it's territory and there simply isn't room in the warren anymore. "Hazel" suggests to the boss that they start a new one, but he flares up and refuses. Together with "Fiver" they go anyway but it's not long before they encounter the rather more militaristic one run by the menacing "Woundwort" who rules with claws and blood. I aways though their something Orwellian about Richard Adams's novel, and the selection of the sweet and docile bunny rabbit as the subject for this rather ferocious analysis of societal dysfunction adds even better to the anachronisms as even they prove to have a class system, an hierarchy and even their own furry version of a secret police! The animation is gorgeous to watch. The innocence and frivolity; the violence and the brutality - they are all captured quite graphically at times as the story unfolds. Art Garfunkel's song "Bright Eyes" doesn't actually feature so prominently as I'd remembered, but it does add quite potently for the few moments it's used to illustrate that which is tantalisingly close for "Hazel" and co. There's something truly fitting about a conclusion that seems righteous, even if it does rather reinforce the survival of the fittest mentality that these critters are trying to escape - with four legs or two.