| Blu-ray Update A
selection of movies on Blu-ray for November 2009.
Up
(Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)
Overall enjoyment: 4.0
Picture quality: 4.5
Sound quality: 4.5
Extras: 4.0
If you watch any of the extras that come with this edition
of Up, youll know why Pixar has such an unparalleled success rate at
producing feature-length animated films. The people involved are caring, happy folks who
love what they do for a living. Theres also no small measure of genius among staff
members, and theres a willingness to hone a good idea to perfection. And good ideas
seem to come as naturally to Pixar artists as breathing comes to most of us.
This years Pixar hit was Up, a movie whose
hero is a senior citizen. Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) is a crotchety old man who
is left alone when his wife, Ellie, dies. They had a long and wonderful life together, as
were shown in a delightful and lengthy opening sequence, and Carl is now bitter that
shes no longer there. The couple had a dream of going to South America to follow in
the footsteps of famed explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), so when Carl loses
his temper at a construction worker and is ordered to go to a rest home, he pulls up
stakes, literally, by attaching over 10,000 helium balloons to his house and flying away.
Unknown to Carl, Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai), a zealous and lonely Boy Scout, has
hitched a ride. The two land in South America, where they find Muntz, who has become a
villain, and meet Dug (voiced by co-director Bob Peterson), an amiable dog who can talk,
thanks to a collar invented by Muntz. My description might make the film sound a little
too serious; it really is a comedy and there are some huge laughs in it, especially in the
second half.
As in all great animated films, especially those from
Disney and Pixar, masterful storytelling is at the heart of each movie, and thats
certainly the case here. The audience quickly comes to love the characters and gets swept
up in their story. There are good messages about friendship, growing older, and the nature
of success, and these themes evolve with the story without ever becoming preachy and
sanctimonious.
All of Pixars transfers to Blu-ray have been
exemplary, and Up is no exception. They do, however, have a built-in edge, since
their images can be transferred to the digital realm without degradation. The detail in Up
is so perfect that it allows the viewer to experience every small facial tic of the
characters, even the dirt on Russells face and Carls white stubble at the end
of the film. Most of the shots have great depth, and the colors are rich. The balloons
that lift Carls house are a marvel of color and depth. The balloons appear
transparent, and one of the extras on disc 2 explains that new balloons are transparent,
but when they age they become opaque. The Pixar artists understand this difference, and
the Blu-ray transfer shows it well.
Speaking of transparent, the audio is just that. There are
loud parts in this movie, but overall the sound design is quieter and very subtle. The
placement of sound within a 360-degree soundfield is precise, and the music has wonderful
presence without any angst or unwanted distortion in the louder parts. Dialogue is easily
understood, even in fast-moving action scenes, and the DTS-HD Master Audio is
demonstration caliber.
The extras are interesting and include lots of small
production featurettes about various aspects of character development and storytelling,
but they feel a little light by Pixar and Disney standards. The best one is the short
animated feature called "Partly Cloudy," which shows us how storks get the
babies they deliver from clouds. One cloud, however, has problems, and every baby animal
it creates, including a porcupine and an alligator, has the ability to injure its stork.
But the stork comes up with an ingenious solution. The personification of storks and
clouds and baby animals is nothing short of miraculous. Youll want to see this extra
more than once, so its good news that its as meticulously transferred as the
feature film. The picture-in-picture feature with co-directors Bob Peterson and Pete
Docter is also enthusiastic and informative.
Up is available in this four-disc edition (two
Blu-rays plus a digital copy disc and a DVD of the film), a single-disc Blu-ray edition,
and a deluxe collectors edition, which contains a reproduction of the Luxo Jr. desk
lamp. (That edition is contingent on Luxo losing a lawsuit against Disney.) There are
DVD-only editions as well, but Id opt for one of the Blu-ray copies. Even if you
dont have a Blu-ray player now, it seems inevitable that theres one in
everyones future, and then youll be ready with a first-rate Blu-ray for
showing off your new player. Rest assured that whatever version you choose, Up is
an uplifting and thoroughly enjoyable film.
Contact (Warner
Home Video)
Overall enjoyment: 4.0
Picture quality: 4
Sound quality: 4
Extras: 4
One of the most intelligent science-fiction movies about
extraterrestrial life, this 1997 film has made the transition to Blu-ray in style. Many
critics liked it, but audiences were less enthusiastic, preferring such nonsense as Independence
Day. The White House might not get blown to bits in Contact, but its
anything but a boring movie. Jodie Foster stars as Eleanor Arroway, a radio astronomer who
has wished since childhood to talk to extraterrestrial beings. After years of monitoring,
she picks up messages from another galaxy that could come only from intelligent life.
Along the way, she falls for Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), a handsome, spiritual
young man who ends up on the committee tasked with selecting the person to make physical
contact with the alien beings. Joss has faith in a higher power, while Arroway believes
only in what science can prove. The intelligent script, written by James V. Hart and
Michael Goldenberg and based on Carl Sagans novel, lays out an exciting adventure
while examining the age-old struggle between faith and science.
The DVD release of this movie was relatively unexciting,
with a picture that lacked detail and depth. Thankfully, both are restored in this Blu-ray
release. Whether the scene is an interior chamber in Washington, D.C., or a vast desert
sprouting dozens of huge radio antennas, the picture has satisfying detail that
contributes to a sense of depth and space. The star fields in the scenes of space are the
best Ive seen, and the colors seem vibrant and natural. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio
has good frequency response and is intelligently plotted, reserving the most frequent use
of the surround channels for Fosters journey into the unknown. There are lots of
extras, including three commentary tracks, a music-only track (Dolby Digital 5.1), and a
breakdown of four scenes showing how their special effects were executed. You can find
this title new or like new for less than $20, which, in my book, is a great bargain.
The Dark
Crystal (Sony Home Entertainment)
Overall enjoyment: 3.5
Picture quality: 4
Sound quality: 4
Extras: 3.5
Jim Hensons dark fantasy was considered an absolute
marvel when it appeared in 1982, and its special effects have both dimmed and improved
with time. Let me explain. Im no fan of mind-numbing digital effects (G.I. Joe
is the most recent offender), especially those involved in creating characters. Jim Henson
used puppets instead of people, but they were filmed as if they were people and the
results are very impressive. I felt more comfortable with this movie than with many that
are overloaded with digital actors. But the crisp and clean Blu-ray transfer reveals some
flaws. The characters mouths dont always move with the words being spoken, and
though the eyes blink, they seem vacant. The characters that have suffered most from the
march of time are the two Gelflings, Jen and Kira, the hero and heroine of the story. With
their smooth skin and doll-like eyes, they really do look like puppets. Fortunately, the
villains and older heroes still look amazingly complex, and the sets are imaginative and
fresh. For those who dont know the film, its your basic fantasy
good-versus-evil plot. A planets different races have collided, and with one race
nearly wiped out, Jen and Kira must save the day by replacing a shard in a gigantic dark
crystal at a precise alignment of the three suns of the planet or the evil race will take
over.
As mentioned, the Blu-ray picture is very detailed and has
depth the DVD could only hint at. The sound is mostly up front, but its clean and
rich (certainly by 1982 standards), with Trevor Joness score sounding quite
magnificent. The extras explain the making of the film, and there are also some special
Blu-ray extras, including a game and an excellent picture-in-picture experience that shows
the storyboard and conceptual art along with the finished product.
Drag Me To
Hell: Unrated Directors Cut (Universal)
Overall enjoyment: 4.0
Picture quality: 4.0
Sound quality: 4.0
Extras: 3.0
After directing three big-budget Spider-Man movies,
director Sam Raimi went back to his horror-film roots to create this little masterpiece.
Alison Lohman plays Christine Brown, a loan officer at a bank who is itching for the
vacant position of vice president. Shes in competition with Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee),
an office slime who is determined to win the position by using unethical methods. When an
old gypsy woman named Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver) comes in for a loan extension, Christine
denies her, hoping her fortitude will impress the boss. Instead, it prompts a curse from
the old woman, who unleashes a demon that will kill her in three days and "drag her
to hell." The young woman then suffers attacks from the demon that drives her to
desperate means. Raimi knows how to keep the pace up and make a film terribly scary and
thrilling, but he also knows when to let up and let the audience catch its breath. He also
deploys liberal homage to previous horror films, from the old gypsy character and a
séance to a scene in a typical Universal horror graveyard.
This Blu-ray offers both the theatrical cut and a
directors cut. The main difference is in the "here, kitty" scene, which is
more explicit (and over-the-top horrible) in the directors version. If youre a
cat lover, or maybe even if youre not, opt for the theatrical version. The Blu-ray
picture is right on the money most of the time. The shadow detail and delineation are
perfect, the blacks are inky, and the flesh tones are natural. The surround sound adds a
lot to the terror, with nasty little sounds coming from behind and all around, and it
works for Christopher Youngs excellent score as well. There are many violin solos
(to further the gypsy effect), and they have good presence. But there arent many
extras. Instead of a directors commentary, theres just a series of featurettes
explaining how the special effects were achieved, though many of these show Raimi at work.
Theres a digital copy as well as access to BD-Live.
Dinosaurs Alive! (Image
Entertainment)
Overall enjoyment: 3.5
Picture quality: 4
Sound quality: 3.5
Extras: 3.5
Dinosaurs fascinate us. It seems that every bookstore I
pass is displaying a new book featuring the prehistoric beasts. There are fact-laden
volumes, pop-up books, and coloring books for kids. And its been that way as long as
I can remember. Only when I was a kid, we had to depend on book illustrations or museums
to get an idea of what the gigantic creatures looked like. Now we have HD discs like this
one that show the critters moving, eating, and fighting in excellent CGI renditions. Dinosaurs
Alive! is narrated by Michael Douglas and alternates shots of scientists unearthing
fossils with CGI renditions of their finds. The short film is intelligently constructed
and offers some interesting information. The hypothesis that many dinosaurs had feathers
and are ancestors of our bird families is discussed, and a few dinosaur myths are
debunked.
The movie was shot in IMAX, and the Blu-ray picture
(presented in 1.78:1) has excellent detail. If the color doesnt seem as rich as in
other titles, its because most of the movie was shot in the Gobi desert and the arid
sections of New Mexico. The 5.1 soundtrack makes occasional use of the surround channels
and has very good upfront imaging, with the soundtrack orchestra spread from left to right
and the narration dead center. There are a few extras, including a "Meet the
Creatures" section, where you can find out about a particular dinosaur and then click
to see it in the film, and theres also a production featurette in HD that
demonstrates the difficulties of filming with the unwieldy IMAX cameras. Brief yet
entertaining, this Blu-ray would make a good purchase or rental for family viewing.
Labyrinth (Sony
Home Entertainment)
Overall enjoyment: 3
Picture quality: 4
Sound quality: 3.5
Extras: 3
Jim Henson was reportedly unhappy with the lack of
commercial success of The Dark Crystal (1982), so when he made this movie four
years later, he tried to avoid the darkness and weird characters of the previous film. He
cast David Bowie, then at the height of his popularity, in the lead as Jareth, the Goblin
King, and he made the puppet characters friendlier than they had been in The Dark Crystal.
He also spent a lot of money to make sure they were realistic, in a fantasy sense. The
amount of money spent in bringing the story to the big screen was probably the reason that
it, too, wasnt a huge commercial success. But audiences really liked it, and many
people have a soft place in their heart for this movie about a teenage girl (Jennifer
Connelly) who suffers the tricks and turns of a mighty labyrinth in order to rescue her
baby brother from the Goblin King. Its all a little creaky but still fairly
entertaining.
The Blu-ray picture is excellent, with enough detail that
you can see some of the puppet strings if youre on the lookout for them.
Theres a welcome amount of grain, and the detail adds depth to many shots, making
close-ups as clear as you could wish. The audio is particularly robust for an 80s
film, probably because Bowie was on hand to sing several rock songs. The bass is tight and
clean, delving deep enough to set off the subwoofer from time to time. There arent
many extras, and they vary in quality. The production featurette ported over from the DVD
edition is quite good, but the only new extra for Blu-ray, a picture-in-picture deal, is
not so hot. The small screen within the screen appears in the same place every time, and
there are long stretches where it isnt active.
Monsters, Inc. (Walt Disney
Studios Home Entertainment)
Overall enjoyment: 4
Picture quality: 5
Sound quality: 4
Extras: 4
When Pixars Monsters, Inc., first came out in
2001, it had to live up to the Toy Story movies and A Bugs Life,
which preceded it. Critics at the time didnt give it the high marks of its
predecessors, but in viewing this amazing Blu-ray, I cant help but wonder why, since
it has appealing characters, stunning visuals, and miles of heart. It stars John Goodman
and Billy Crystal as Sullivan and Mike Wazowski, two of the top talents at Monsters, Inc.,
a corporation that turns out frights that hide in kids closets. Sullivan
accidentally lets a child come back through the closet door with him, and Boo, as he calls
her, wreaks havoc on the factory. But all of their antics and chases uncover a sinister
plot to make more money at the expense of childrens lives. The movie makes good
statements about friendship and the consequences of lying and is great family-oriented
fun.
The Blu-ray picture is eye popping; at times the image was
so sharp in presenting both foreground and background in perfect focus that I thought I
was looking at 3D. Sullivan has blue fur with streaks of purple, and its detail is
positively amazing. A few of the extras are in HD, and though theyre good, the fur
doesnt have the same texture and presence as in the main title. The colors pop, the
contrast is right on, and at this stage of Blu-ray and HD development this picture is as
good as any top runner. The sound is excellent too, having been remixed with home theater
in mind. The surround tracks are active most of the time, and the placement of music and
effects is quite imaginative. Most of the extras from the DVD set have been carried over,
including the short animated features "Mikes New Car" and "For the
Birds." New for the Blu-ray are a roundtable retrospective discussion of the film, a
sneak peek at Disneyland Tokyos new ride, Ride and Go Seek, and a new interactive
game. The first two discs contain the movie and extras. Disc 3 is a DVD copy of the movie,
and disc four is a digital copy.
Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)
Overall enjoyment: 5
Picture quality: 5
Sound quality: 4
Extras: 4.5
Shortly before its 1937 release, the trade papers labeled
Walt Disneys first feature-length film a disaster, often calling it
"Disneys folly." But 70 years later, the joke is clearly on them. From its
premiere, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was, and has continued to be, praised as
a landmark film. Many speculate that without it, MGM would not have gone ahead with The
Wizard of Oz and that fantasy films in general wouldnt be on the same exalted
level that they are today. But this beautiful, perfect film is much more than a historical
relic, and I urge you to watch it again. In this gorgeous Blu-ray edition, I found the
movie just as moving and entertaining as ever -- its surely more appealing than 95
percent of todays junk. And this movie isnt just for children, as many seem to
assume. (Nor were the grisly Grimm Brothers fairy tales, which so many animated
films use for plots.) From the outset, Walt Disney made movies that would appeal to
children but also touch the child in each of us without ever insulting our adult
sensibilities.
The Blu-ray set is virtually perfect. The picture has been
cleaned of any debris, its colors refurbished, and the contrast ideally set. I simply
cannot find any fault with it. You can watch the video in the original aspect ratio either
with black bars on the side or in Disney View, for which artist Toby Bluth has created
complementary art to fill the screen (its not bad, but I prefer the original movie
by itself). The music was something of a surprise in its 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
presentation. For most of the vocals, the somewhat tinny sound from previous home-video
editions of the film is gone. Though there are no startling stereo or surround effects,
theres focused bass and an overall sheen to the musical score that I wouldnt
have believed had I not heard. Disneys current technicians have created an audio
miracle. The extras start on the disc that contains the feature and spill over to an
entire second disc. They seem short if you look at them in print, but each category, when
searched, begets many subcategories, which will keep you busy for hours. There are
complete versions of the early Silly Symphonies "Steamboat Willie," "The
Skeleton Dance," and "The Old Mill," which arent restored but are in
very good condition. Theres also a DVD copy included (with some extras), so you can
purchase the set, enjoy it now, and be ready when you purchase a Bu-ray player.
Theres no digital copy, however. If this release represents the studios
attitude toward its new Diamond Edition series, we can eagerly look forward to 2010s
announced releases: Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia, and Fantasia 2000.
The Wizard
of Oz: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collectors Edition (Warner Home
Video)
Overall enjoyment: 4.5
Picture quality: 4.5
Sound quality: 3.5
Extras: 5.0
Were off to see the Wizard again, this time in
Blu-ray with new transfers and even more extras. This timeless classic has been on home
video, in one format or another, for a long time. I remember the Criterion laserdisc
edition, which at the time was the ultimate copy. That changed when MGM and then Warner
Home Video realized they owned the material and could create their own special editions.
Each new edition for home video has been a little better than the last, and this one is no
exception, as Blu-ray allows more detail than ever before. When Dorothy and her friends go
skipping down the Yellow Brick Road, her ruby slippers now sparkle all the way into the
distance. Details of characters faces are very realistic, and the improved image
reveals an extra rivet in the Tin Mans face and that the Scarecrows makeup is
an extension of his burlap body. Overall the colors are even richer and often bizarre, as
in the scene in Oz with the horse of a different color turning garish shades against
contrasting backgrounds. The audio has been refurbished too, and it sounds a lot better
than any 70-year-old optical track should. Theres a tiny bit of surround panned in
and some stereo up front, but a production featurette explains that the engineers were
reluctant to spoil the classic movie by adding anything too modern. The most noticeable
improvement is the solid and focused bass line in the musical numbers.
The extras are simply astonishing. All of the extras from
the last special edition are there, plus many more. The set comes in a large emerald-green
box that probably wont fit on anyones shelf, but inside, the discs themselves
(excepting the digital copy) are housed in a standard foldout. Theres only one
downside: though the outer case is the same emerald green as the mother box, the innards
are silver, and I found it impossible to handle the foldouts without leaving fingerprints
all over them. Perhaps white gloves are in order. This set also offers a handsome
coffee-table book with exquisite color photos, a promotion book that was sent out to
theaters urging them to "exploit" the movie, and a commemorative crystal watch!
. . . Rad Bennett
radb@hometheatersound.com
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