Wreck-It Ralph Blu-ray Review

Sometimes, Disney releases formulaic movies and sequels to those movies that it have a lot of blockbuster potential, but not much originality or artistic merit. Sometimes, like in the case of Wall*E, Disney pushes the envelope and reminds everyone why it’s an entertainment juggernaut. Wreck-It Ralph is unquestionably the latter. Easily the best animated film of 2012 (and it would have won the Oscar in the category were Pixar’s name not attached to Brave), Wreck-It Ralph is a masterpiece. A love letter to the golden age of gaming, Wreck-It Ralph combines Easter Eggs, cameos, and engaging characters in a story that is original and fresh. The crowning achievement in a string of recent releases that have included the underrated Bolt, Princess and the Frog, and Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph proves that the Walt Disney Animation Studios is back, and able to match or exceed Pixar in terms of quality.

The Wreck-It Ralph Blu-ray comes with a Blu-ray #D Disc, regular Blu-ray disc, DVD, and a Digital Copy. (more…)

The Insider Blu-ray Review

The Insider tells the true story of two men, 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, played by Al Pacino, and former Brown & Williamson R&D man Jeffrey Wigand, played by Russell Crowe. The film details their they work to uncover and bring to light the truth about nicotine’s addictive properties and Big Tobacco’s attempts at a cover-up while its CEOs testify before Congress. The film is adapted from from Marie Brenner’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and based on an actual 60 Minutes interview from 1995 with a tobacco industry whistleblower. Wigand and Bergman fight the good fight as just about everyone stands in their way–from those associated with Big Tobacco to CBS executives.

The resulting film is an intense yet almost documentary-like accounting that is an excellent film. The film is provocative and character-driven, and despite the dense subject matter and quiet tone, always keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat.  (more…)

Peter Pan Diamond Edition Blu-ray Review

Like clockwork, Disney has released its Q1 Diamond Edition animated classic on Blu-ray, this time Peter Pan, and like clockwork, it’s excellent. Someday, Disney will falter with one of these Diamond Edition releases (just like the once thought to be infallible Pixar faltered with Cars 2), but that day is not upon us with the Peter Pan Diamond Edition Blu-ray. 

Peter Pan is a classic that I assume everyone reading has seen, so I assume that a full synopsis is not necessary. In case you haven’t seen Peter Pan, it’s a 1953 release (the day of this post is its anniversary!) of an adaptation of a J.M. Barrie story about a boy named Peter Pan who doesn’t want to grow up. One night he visits a young girl named Wendy hoping to get his shadow back from her. Wendy, along with her two brothers fly off to Neverland with Peter and engage in various adventures. Meanwhile, Captain Hook is scheming of a way to finally conquer Peter Pan, who is his enemy.

The Peter Pan Diamond Edition comes with a Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and a Digital Copy.

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Prep & Landing Totally Tinsel Edition Blu-ray Review

Disney’s Prep & Landing and its Naughty v. Nice sequel can already be fairly described as Christmas classics. The movies tell the modern-day story of what goes on behind the scenes before Santa Claus arrives at a child’s house. An elf named Wayne, voiced by David Foley, who is just one of many members of the Prep and Landing team. Their mission: “Get In. Get Out. Never Be Noticed.” The two episodes (for lack of a better term) tell different stories involving this team, both of which are incredibly solid Christmas specials. They’re not feature length films, but they’re still very good.

Audio & Video

Last year the first Prep & Landing was released only on DVD, and I cautioned at the possibility of a double-dip. Sure enough, there is a new release this year, this time on Blu-ray with the sequel included. Video quality is obviously better thanks to the move to Blu-ray, as is audio quality, but they are not film quality. These are television specials, after all, and they were produced with the limitations of TV in mind. The video quality is generally sharp and has punch, with some slight artifacting at times. Audio sounds great thanks to the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, especially the opening Christmas Song. (more…)

Brave Blu-ray Review

Seemingly like clockwork, Pixar releases an excellent new movie in the summer, and follows with an excellent Blu-ray set in the winter. Or at least, up until last summer, when Cars 2 debuted. The trend continued with Brave (Blu-ray Link) this year. Unlike Cars 2, Brave wasn’t downright bad, but it was not up to Pixar’s usual standards. In fact, it’s not nearly as good as Wreck-It-Ralph, this season’s film from the Walt Disney Animation Studios, which is seeing another renaissance.

My main qualm with Brave is that it panders. Possibly because of some dark moments, it interjects a great deal of juvenile humor into the film, something abnormal (at least to this degree) in Pixar films. Some may not take issue with this, perceiving animation as “for the kids,” but Pixar has perfected the mainstream animated “adult” film, and Brave just doesn’t have that feel. In fact, it’s hard to believe that the same people who made Wall*E made Brave. Beyond the humor, the story is formulaic and predictable, and the characters play to stereotypes, right down to Merida, who is an “anti-Princess,” I suppose.

Brave is far from a bad movie. It’s really pretty good. But if you’re expecting normal Pixar quality, you might be disappointed. If you’re buying it for kids, fear not, as they will undoubtedly love it, as it’s pretty clear they’re the target audience (boys and girls alike). (more…)