This is a beautiful animation with fun 3D sequences. It has a simple story with an ecological message but as the movie is aimed at kids that is actually a good thing. The story and message will not fly over the little ones' heads.

The characters are likable and the story's pace go on the right speed, not dragging itself or going too fast.

Good fun for kids and parents as well.

I've watched a dubbed version on Brazilian Portuguese so I can't speak for the original voice work, but this version I watched was very well done.

The English version features the voices of stars like Melanie Grifith and Tim Curry.

I highly recommend the 3D version as the movie has many sequences that will not be as entertaining and good looking on the 2D version.

Don't listen to the 3D snobs, the 3D on this film is wonderful. My kids watched it in Thai while I listened to tunes on my I-Pod (because I can't speak Thai). Amazing. If you're a teenager looking for fart jokes, glib one-liners, sexual innuendo, or pop culture references, you'll be disappointed. But if you can just relax into the outdoor and underwater and nature scenery you'll have a great time. The 3D pops out at you like the old traditional style on steroids. During the scene where the turtles are hatching, it actually feels like you're leaning over a hole on the beach. Snakes and piranhas jump out of the screen and and tiny fish hover at your nose.

I do agree the story seemed kind of cliché. But if you are looking for a kind of thrill ride of 3D with wonderful art direction, you'll love it. So glad I have kids or might never have experienced the best 3D I have personally experienced.

I only watched in 2-D (the cinema was only showing it that way). It was mostly filled with the target audience (kids), but even as an adult you can enjoy the movie. There is of course an underlying message "hidden" in the movie, bit it never is too heavy. So there is no danger of the movie being too preachy (something another movie did and therefor failed in my opinion, to be a better movie).

You have to have a soft spot for animals (even if animated) of course to like this. Or you just take your kids/nephews to see it and you won't be disappointed. The animation and voice work are decent enough (don't expect Pixar quality), too.

I hadn't heard of this movie at all before stumbling onto it on Netflix, so I had no expectations. My husband and I watched it with our two year old son and we all greatly enjoyed it. My son asks to watch it again regularly. Great animation, intriguing story and enjoyable music to accompany it. It does carry a strong message about the environment, pollution, human interference, etc., but I didn't find it bothersome, since it was presented in such a way as to influence kids to be more conscientious about their actions and about the world around them (and really, what is wrong with promoting that sort of behavior?). The story does not steer away from the very real dangers that sea turtles face, so if you have a sensitive or squeamish kid, you may want to pass on this for now, but my son wasn't negatively affected by it at all. Some have suggested the message is too liberal, or that it is annoying to be preached to during a movie, but as a non-liberal myself, I didn't come away with that feeling at all. The issues presented were fact-based, so if you find it distasteful, then feel free to stick your head back in the sand and ignore the reality that surrounds us all. All in all, I recommend this movie!

I have a 3D TV and this is my first online purchase. I love movies about animals, but I don't love movies where humans are demonized. To the credit of the movie, some were not. The animals were adorable, the 3D graphics were incredible and it was a lovely story over all.

The part that bothered me was the humans being the bad guys. Yes, we do stupid things. But when Sammy's best friend eats jelly fish, they didn't focus on the peril it put the jelly fish's family under. Or when the shark was trying to eat them, they just took it for granted it was nature's way.

Nature has given us a bit more skills than found in nature and we can do things that look a lot ickier when taken out of context. But on the same vein we have Fluffy, trying to keep his humans, Vera, saving her fellow turtles, and other humans helping save the wildlife they endanger.

Look at the overall story and you see that it all comes together. We are not evil, just misguided. Put the beautiful graphics with the lovely animal characters and enjoy the movie for the beauty of it and try to pretend they aren't crucifying humans. We aren't all like that. Not even close.

The last 10 minutes made it all worth while. I cried. I don't cry. To acknowledge nature needs humans to help them survive made the movie complete. For some reason, I have deep need to love a turtle right now. :-)

This is a cute movie with a nice message. Some people seem to think there's too much "humans being evil" in the movie, but that's because pretty much everything humans do to the oceans is evil. There is no exaggeration here...in fact, I was impressed they found a way to put the good side to human activity as well.

Aside from the obvious artistic license concerning talking, sentient animals, the movie gets a lot of things right including the species of turtles nesting on the same beach, what they eat, natural predators, floating on rafts of seaweed, a sedentary octopus, the dangers of plastic and so on.

I gave this movie such a high rating because it's my daughter's favourite - we have it on DVD and she love's it. Now, my daughter is two years old, and it's certainly not good enough for me to watch over and over again, but I think it's great for her.

What is the most effective way to make a person feel guilty for being part of the human race? Try making him or her sit through a movie about a cute-looking, adorable-sounding baby sea turtle who struggles to survive against environmentally unfriendly human activity. Swimming through his adventures in the open ocean, Sammy has as much fun as an undertaker on his first day of work. As if contending against natural predators isn't bad enough, he has to dodge plastic litter, trawl fishing nets, illegal dump and oil spills, with only his fragile little shell on his back.

Though the praiseworthy green message behind the movie is no less deserving of being explored on the big screen, its delivery is all quite off-putting. For one thing, Sammy's Adventures is presented like a kids' picture book on sea turtles facts – too direct and simple with only a watered-down plot regarding a turtle's desire to see the world to hang onto. Think: this is how sea turtles look like and this is what they eat, this is where they go when they're swimming around in the ocean, this is what they have to go through to survive and this is what we as people, need to do to help them. In fact, at the end of the movie, after going through all of the terrible events of his life, Sammy literally tells us, almost word for word that 'humans should be more environmentally-conscious and that sea turtles need their help to survive, now, more than ever.'

Granted, the makers are probably trying to reach out to young audiences with its simple language and story – the target group of this type of genre, but it sounds just a tad too preachy for the rest of us. On a whole, it just lacks the charm and humour that both children and non- children alike, would look forward to in an animated cartoon. They do try to inject some light-heartedness with the funny sidekick character of Sammy's best friend as voiced by Anthony Anderson. If you think he sounds like that black computer hacker genius guy who was taken in by the secret service for looking at the thumbdrive with the secret information in it, then you are right – it is him.

To be fair, it's not by Disney Pixar, but the look of the movie is decently entertaining for anyone of any age. And, we have to most probably thank 3D technology for that. The various fast-motion travelling scenes are enjoyable to sit through because tricking your brain into thinking that your body is moving when it's actually not and having things popping up and flying into your face, is always fun.

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If "Sammy's Adventures" seems rather predictable and dull, it is probably because Belgian director Ben Stassen seems so carried away by its anti-pollution and environmental messages that he misses out on the plot and the action. However, the visuals in this underwater opus are top-notch (especially in 3D) and way better than Stassen's last effort "Fly Me To The Moon".

I also like the way Stassen tells the story from a turtle's eye view - which will go a long way in educating children on undersea life and protecting those creatures and our ecology. The movie is about a green sea turtle who is hatched in 1959 and spends the next 50 years travelling the world while it is being changed by relentless whale and shark fishing, pollution and global warming. Hours after being hatched, Sammy (voice of Yuri Lowenthal) finds and loses the love of his life, a pretty hatchling called Shelly (Isabelle Fuhrman of Orphan fame).

On the epic journey across the oceans that all turtles must accomplish before returning to the beach where they were born, Sammy dodges every danger in the hope of meeting Shelly again. On the way, he also has encounters with humans, both good and bad, as well as toothy sharks and piranhas.

It is easy to root for Sammy and his pals not only because they are cute but also because they are sporting and gutsy. With its story spanning over 50 years, Stassen marks the milestone periods with human events (like the hippies of the Sixties and the Greenpeace protests) and with classic songs on the soundtrack. Of course, the Beatles are represented with their hit, 'Across The Universe' (what else?).

On the downside, character development seems to be at a minimum for some - and the 3D thrills (read action and stunts) are nowhere as impressive as those of "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole". Indeed, from the numerous death-defying scraps that Sammy escapes from, we wonder how he can have such an 'enchanted' life indeed if not for far-fetched plotting. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining sea-world documentary for the kids. - LIM CHANG MOH (limchangmoh.blogspot.com)

Perfect film for its target audience. It seems to me that the other reviewers did not see this film with the intended audience. 4 to 8 year old kids love it. It's a simple story but the 5 kids I took to see this film for a birthday party loved it (in Paris, last Summer) and so did the other 150 or so film goers in the theater. The characters are adorable. Much better turtles and underwater environments than in the dated "Finding Nemo". The message about the environment was great too. Not patronizing, just the right amount. I wonder how they can do it, at a fraction of the cost of the US budgets for animation. But best of all: the 3D. By far the best use of the technology I have seen so far. Not even Avatar comes close. This alone is worth the price of admission. I have seen several 3D films since and they seem to be getting from bad to worse.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it, let alone like it. Although I didn't hate Fly Me to the Moon(also directed by Ben Stassen) as much as others did, it did have a number of problems. In every way, A Turtle's Tale:Sammy's Adventure is a big improvement.

I won't say the film is perfect. The narrative is not as predictable or as saccharine as Fly Me to the Moon, in fact it is actually quite cute and appealing complete with a good message, but it does occasionally have its mundane and dull spots particularly with some scenes with the humans. The animation was in general amazing, but I did think some of the human character designs left a lot to be desired.

That said, when it comes to the 3D, this is one of those rare exceptions where I'd say the 3D version is a must-see. Because it is clear and sharp enough, and doesn't distract too much. And when it comes to the animation in general, a vast majority of it is amazing, with gorgeous colours and stunning underwater sequences. The soundtrack fits very well, the characters are very likable and endearing mostly, the writing is much funnier and smarter with the jokes not going as overboard as badly as they could have done(I'll drop a hint, no fainting female flies in sight!) and even the pace is snappier. The voice work is very good, with John Hurt the standout as older Sammy.

All in all, much better than expected. Beautiful to watch and much more appealing to a family audience than Stassen's previous effort. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I watched this movie as a Blue-Ray DVD in 3D on television. So far I thought that a movie could not be that bad that stunning 3D effects wouldn't make it fun to watch anyway. At least this was my experience until Sammy's adventures. Although the 3D effects were partly impressive, especially the underwater scenes, it was almost impossible to watch the movie until the end. There are two reasons.

First I had to fight massive tiredness. Already after about 5 minutes you feel that this movie will probably become boring. And this feeling is right, it's one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. This is because there is no coherent plot, the characters are dull and you just don't care about what happens to them.

More important is the movie's intention which is so flat, not to say primitive that you get annoyed quickly. In short term: humans are bad. They put oil in the water motiveless, cut trees, kill whales, hunt fishes, pollute the environment, make global warming. There is no good about them, with two exceptions: Greenpeace is good and hippies are good. The rest is just a pain in the ass for the world. It is funny to see that the smoke coming out of the pipe of the Greenpeace boat is a thin light gray cloud, while the other boats spit out massive black clouds. This example gives an impression of the way the movie tries to manipulate, especially the targeted audience which are kids. So it is just a long sequence of cruelties the humans do to the nature without connection and without traceable motivation.

Probably the writer/producer share a hardcore view of the world where humans are just an error of nature disrupting the system. In this case they could do something better for the environment by saving the electric energy which was dissipated making this movie.

Just saw the movie yesterday at cinema in 3D. If you want to see this movie in a cinema theater, don't. It's like watching a very dull screen-saver for 2 and a half hours. There is no plot, no action, no comedy scenes, nothing. Just two turtles floating around in the ocean. The animation and 3D effects are in no way close to what can be accomplished in 2010. Speech was not synchronized with mouth movement, for some of the scenes they did not bother adding any sound effects at all (in the scene where the hippie plays some drums around a camp fire, you can only hear the fire, but not the drums), human movement was very unnatural. The whole movie looked like it was developed in a basement or small apartment by a 12 year old on his old PC. Very disappointing, not a movie worthy of a cinema theater. It's not good when the best part of the whole movie is the watered down coke you buy at the cinema store.

This is a wonderful film that all ages will enjoy. It is very educational, in covering the life of a turtle, and it is fascinating to watch Sammy and his friends grow up. The script is peppered with events in human history that the turtles can only ponder over, such as a space capsule returning to the ocean after the first lunar landing, and a messy oil spill. At its heart, "A Turtle's Tale" is a love story, with wonderful moments of poignancy. The animation and depiction of sea creatures are beautiful, and the film overall has dazzling colours. The voice talents are all great, and it is clear a lot of care was put into casting each role. The soundtrack, comprised of contemporary pop tunes, is also very entertaining. This is a film that will stick in your memory until it demands a subsequent viewing.

I have finished watching the movie right now and I am totally satisfied with it.

I am fond of animated movies till i watched "The Monster Ink". While I started "Sammy's Adventure" I was a little bit confused about it. As the plot of the movie is the ocean and one of my most favorite movies (Finding Nemo) also plotted there, I thought, better to say was afraid, the movie will fail to reach my level of satisfaction. But at the end it got a good score from me.

Finding Nemo is certainly a classic movie and I guess with a similar plot no movie will be able to overtake its image and appeal. But this adventure touched me with one of its unique feature that HUMAN DO THINK FOR THE NATURE.

Someone may find this one too easy going, may be slow moving, but I assure you take your kids with you, go back to your childhood and watch the movie. You will enjoy I am sure. If you don't have a kid, no matter go to your old days.

So, I think this is a good movie for kids... but enjoyable to anyone!!

I volunteer at an art-house cinema every weekend and I normally usher at the kids film (mostly because everyone else hates it). I do admit, many of the kids film are mediocre (usually just re-showing a mainstream Hollywood film), but not usually this bad. There was a preview showing of this film on my last shift.

Where do I begin? The writing is absolutely abysmal, shoving a conspicuous environmental message in your face while torturing you with its' one dimensional characters. The characters have no real chemistry; we are told that Ray and Sammy are essentially soul mates and we do spend a lot of screen time with them, but I am not convinced by their relationship whatsoever. The character development in general is totally contrived and it does not enhance the plot (which is sort of the point of characterisation). The plot is boring, unfocused and badly structured, with the protagonists goal changing throughout the duration of the film (and I mean that it randomly changes). It seems that the writer also enjoys using Deus Ex Machina a lot. It doesn't try to emotionally or intellectually engage with its' audience. Rather, it preaches on about how we need to protect our planet, waving the accusatory finger at the children in the audience.

Now, I'm not against its' environmental message; 'WALL-E' had the same theme and it was a masterpiece. The difference here lies in the execution of the idea. 'WALL-E' is well written and does not bully the audience into a certain world-view. It is a plot and character driven story that allows us to emotionally engage with the situation as we absorb the message through osmosis. Its' like the people responsible for 'Sammy's Adventure' put no passion into it and only wanted to tell people to recycle.

In terms of animation, its pretty good. Not as good as what people are making it out to be, though, as it does seem a bit off at times.

Its hard to judge the quality of the voice acting as the version that I saw was a British-English dub (I have no idea why, seeing as it was a word-for-word re-dub of the original) and that version was simply terrible. It was the kind of voice acting I would expect from a straight to DVD rip-off of 'Finding Nemo'. However, I did see a tiny clip of the original dub and the voice acting is a lot better (even if, objectively, it's not anything impressive).

As for the design/overall look of the film, it's pretty...meh. It's nice looking, don't get me wrong. It's just that they are obviously trying to imitate other studios. The style of the film is very bland and boring. It would have been nice to see something a bit more creative. In fact, the credits had some really nice designs and I wonder why they didn't try to make it more like that.

I didn't see it in 3D, so all the scenes in which the 3D gimmicks were supposed to occur were even more distracting and pointless (especially the part with the octopus, which had no bearing on the plot whatsoever).

I surprised by the amount of praise that it is already getting. If this were a big Hollywood movie, it would never be given so much adulation. This film is as tedious to watch as 'Twilight' and as laughably bad as 'Birdemic', which is why I call it "Twilight Meets Birdemic". Now, unlike 'Twilight', it doesn't have a bad message, but if I had kids, I would not take them to see this and spare them the 88 minutes of boredom.

I'm giving this film a 2 out of 10 because the animation is the only thing redeeming about it.

It is always nice seeing some movie or cartoon inspired by the tales from the sea. But this movie has no tale.

Almost from the start, the audience was offered no promising or even interesting story, nothing that would make them continue watching. This movie just began and went on with its slow pace, with no specific goal ahead, as if it is some documentary about the life in the sea depths.

Even though the artwork is nicely done, little it contributed to overall impression. The characters, somewhat dull and naive, lacking vividness and soul, are literary swimming through this story, having almost no effect on its development.

So, this is by no means some special tale, let alone adventure, but children up to the age of 6 may find it appealing due to fine artwork and pretty colors. Otherwise, I do not recommend this movie, as I think it would be a waste of time.

As I have mentioned in some of my other reviews, I used to live in a residential care home with staff support because I have Asperger syndrome and I went to the cinema with the majority of them. This may sound tiresome for those of you who have read my previous reviews but this is yet another film I saw at the cinema with one of those staff members and we both found it very sweet and the 3D was incredible in both the film and the trailer. I gave this film another shot upon watching it on LoveFilm Instant and I enjoyed it as much as I did first time around although it wasn't quite the same without the 3D effect.

The film is reminiscent of other CGI films set under water such as 'Finding Nemo,' 'Shark Tale' and 'The Reef,' which may not make it the most original film in the world but to be honest, having turtles as the main characters did indeed give this film a hint of originality. Although turtles have been used as main animated characters elsewhere (for example in childhood favourite 'Teenage Mutant Hero/Ninja Turtles'), the concept of having them in an underwater adventure film is entirely new. All the turtle characters were cute, especially Sammy and Shelly (a clever name for a turtle) and the underwater scenes especially were gorgeously rendered. The most distinctive historical part was that of the hippies on the beach, which made it easy for me to tell that particular scene took place in the 1960s. This was shown by the hippies' clothing and vehicles as well as the use of 'California Dreaming' by the Mamas and the Papas, which was one of my favourite songs on the soundtrack. Other songs I liked were Mika's 'Love Today,' the cover version of 'Ain't No Sunshine (originally recorded by Bill Whithers whose version I prefer),' 'Talking To The Moon' by Bruno Mars and VV Brown's incredibly underrated 'Shark In The Water' that played over the cut-out pop-up book part of the closing credits. The other songs were quite pleasant if rather forgettable but I liked the incidental music as well, especially the harp-led and calypso-inspired tunes that accompanied some of the underwater scenes and I also liked the sitar arrangement of 'Jingle Bells' that played during the hippie beach scene at Christmas. The story had some twists and turns such as Sammy getting separated from Shelly a few times but reuniting with her and it had a decent environmental message that was similar to that in 'Happy Feet' especially. The voice acting was full of clarity and I liked Fluffy's French accent as well as the seagull's Scottish twang while the dialogue has something for both children and adults with references to mating and flirting and good messages about friendship and encouragement, although children may find the mentions of turtle soup distressing. Other positive assets of the film were the inter-cut 2D segments that showed the progress of Sammy's adventure, the character animation and the opening title resembling the Universal logo.

Overall this is a sweet film that is original in its own way and carries a somewhat valuable environmental message if not as outstanding as that in 'Happy Feet.' 8/10.

The animation in this film is top quality, I even enjoyed the music but the total focus of the film is the Environmental calamities in the world. It starts in the 1960's and ends in the 2000's. It goes from oil spills, a slight mention of war (the Vietnam war) to the whaling in the Arctic ocean. The way that trash is just thrown into the ocean, netting (catching abundances of fish from the ocean), ocean-lined pipelines polluting the ocean, global warming, etc., etc., etc., Non- stop of one Environmental issue after another, mainly dealing with the ocean. These are important issues but pick one or two of them not cram them all in an 86 minute film. What story there was was completely lost by the obvious political bias of the film.

If this was supposed to be humorous it was lost on me. I did laugh a few times but they were quiet laughs. The story of Sammy and Shelly could've been so well done (especially with all the love songs used) but you get pulled away from it when the rush of Environmental issues is cutting into, what apparently is supposed to be the main story.

Kids may enjoy this more than adults based on the fact the political side of this may escape them. Then again...maybe not.

-Nam

My 5 year old wanted to watch this movie. She spent much of the movie crying. Most kids movies have some type of obstacle for the main character to overcome and then they come out on top. Sammy encounters more obstacles than most. The majority of this movie is just one sad, scary thing happening after another (difficult for some children to deal with). I thought the graphics were great even though I didn't watch the 3D version. I think the movie was okay, but it dragged quite a bit. It's not one of those movies that my child will want to watch again and again and again. If you're looking for a completely light and happy children's movie to watch you may want to look elsewhere.

Sammy (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) was born during the hippie era. One of the last to leave the nest in a rush for the ocean his fate seemed doomed to be short and tragic. But some wit and bravado enables him to reach the ocean, whilst unwittingly saving Snow (Melanie Griffith) as well. Soon after he embarks on a journey through life that will see him meet a plethora of friends and venturing around the world in the process...

I did have some initial doubts about commenting on this movie - being undeniably spoilt with the charm and wit of Miyazaki or Pixar. How well are adults prepared to voice their opinion about an animation, whose target audience seems inevitably to be below the teen-line and would have probably never seen this movie were it not for my child. Nonetheless I decided to venture into an opinion basing my review on a purely adult perspective.

And in this context Sammy's adventures fail to impress or even engage, unlike the already mentioned Miyazaki creativity, which manages to capture the warmth in adults, take a grip of it and indulge everyone concerned into childhood fantasies. Sammy basically drifts through life and unfortunately the way of life is also predominantly the feel of the movie: slow, unfocused and with no real point to it.

The animation is really tremendous and a pleasure for the eye, which makes it a visually appealing experience for all involved. As a parent I much prefer such beauty to captivate my child's eye than the harshness and grossness of most of Cartoon Network's offering. With this perspective in mind I didn't feel my time was wasted on the movie, even though several almost visceral and realistic chase sequences with piranhas or sharks seemed a bit out of place given the overall tone of the animation. At times it did make the film seem more like something from the Animal Planet and not a children's story.

The life of Sammy may be a visually stunning and happy affair, but it is unable to invoke the emotions necessary to make it anything other than an adequate Sunday child timewaster.

Finally I saw a 3D movie with real 3D effects coming right out of the screen. My kids loved it and they wanted to grab the 3D effects which is the best proof of a good 3D.

The storyline was fun and also some good thrills but without frightening too much young children. I liked also the message that animals have to live in free nature.Makes you think twice if you want to win a goldfish on a village fair just to drop it in a small aquarium bowl.

The soundtrack was great and I hope that it will be available on CD or MP3 download?

We all (young and old) enjoyed the movie and the extra price for the 3D was this time worth it.

Great. Now I have to worry about my children being programmed by the sheeple robots. I don't need my offspring to be preached to by talking sea life. I want my children to think for themselves, not follow some PC version of gaia religion posing as pseudoscience. Next time, I will enlighten them to the joys of Roadrunner and Coyote or Bugs Bunny. To think, I have been worried about the sex and violence my kids might see. At least with porn, you know going in what you are going to see. I now have to worry about them being sent to reeducation camps per the USSR. How can a group of obviously talented people lend their art to such rubble? I will take notice of these people and will steer clear of any project they are associated with in the future. I feel violated by these people. They have lost my money and the money of others I can educate.

Going beyond the mediocre attempt at 3D, this global warming propaganda movie was such misinformation, that I had to watch it with my daughter (who was home sick from school), so that I could explain all of factual errors. First off, I agree with global warming. It's been happening slowly for the last 18,000 years, and during the Holocene Maximum, between 6,000 and 9,000 years, the earth was 10 degrees CELSIUS HOTTER than now, and yet polar bears somehow survived. Hmm. Our planet is a cyclical planet, and there has been a warming period before every ice age. The climate on earth was also hotter between 1910 and 1940 than it has been from 1970 to the present. But if it helps Al Gore sell more green toilet paper...