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MULAN (2 Movie Collection Blu-ray)

March 9, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Animation, Entire Family, G rated Leave a comment

MulancoverGrade:  A-, B+
Entire family:  Yes
1998, 88 min., Color; 2004, 79 min., Color
Rated G
Disney
Aspect ratio:  1.66:1, 1.78:1
Featured audio:  DTS-HD-MA 5.1
Bonus features:  B-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVDs
Trailer (I)  Trailer (II)

Mulan is a wonderful piece of Disney animation and storytelling that doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Mulan II may be less inspired, but it’s still one of the best direct-to-video sequels from Disney. Put the movies together in a single package and it makes for a solid double feature that holds appeal for the whole family. And while the sequel lacks a villain and is lighter in tone and palette, the two films still flow surprisingly well from one to the next.

Based on a Chinese poem (but Westernized as only Disney can get away with), Mulan tells the story of a girl who takes her frail father’s place in the army when the Huns threaten to overrun China. Will she be discovered as a woman? Will they save the kingdom?  Li Shang (B.D. Wong), the soldier responsible for training new recruits and leading them into battle, is both taskmaster and potential love interest.

Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) is one of Disney’s strongest female characters. She’s confident, yet she has doubts. She’s a born feminist, but she also falls in love and has to negotiate a developing relationship. She trusts her instincts, but it’s not all hunches. Like Shang, Mulan has a good head on her shoulders. Best of all, in a world dominated by Disney princesses and happily-ever-after marketing, the romantic angle is downplayed, yielding to the heroic and the issues of civic duty, family honor, and loyalty to friends (or family or country) that play themselves out. More

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (Blu-ray combo)

March 8, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Animation, PG rated Leave a comment

rogercoverGrade:  A-
Entire family:  No
1988, 104 min., Color
Rated PG for cartoon violence, some sexuality
Disney/Touchstone
Aspect ratio:  1.85:1
Featured audio:  DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bonus features:  B-
Includes:  Blu-ray, DVD
Trailer

When Shrek took a playful slap at the sun-is-shining, birds-are-chirping world of Disney animation, audiences were absolutely delighted. What audacity, we read from all the reviewers. But let’s not forget that Disney took the first shot years ago with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a 1988 live-action and animation combo that won Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing. Richard Williams, the man who gave birth to the clownish Rabbit and directed the animation, was also given a Special Achievement Award.

In Roger Rabbit, the Buena Vista bunch paid tongue-in-cheek homage to the wise-guy humor, the physical comedy, and the hyperactive Daffyness of rival Warner Brothers animation studios—and spoofed their own characters for good measure. The result is a film that’s light years away from the ultra-wholesome Mary Poppins. Many parents won’t want their little ones watching until they reach the cusp of puberty.  There’s cursing, shouting, violence, hard drinking, big bosoms, sexual innuendo . . . and that’s just the first 15 minutes.

Released by Touchstone Pictures, Disney’s adult division, this one isn’t really aimed at small children. It’s an affectionate parody of 1940s hard-boiled detective flicks (especially trenchcoat Bogie affairs like The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep) that also draws inspiration from Chinatown. Somehow it manages to combine a moody, shadowy noir atmosphere with the Acme gag-a-minute Tex Avery style of exaggerated animation that kept knocking characters like Wile E. Coyote for a loop.   More

WESTWORLD (Blu-ray)

March 6, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater PG rated, Sci-Fi/Fantasy 2 Comments

westworldGrade:  B
Entire family:  No
1973, 89 min., Color
Rated PG for violence, adult situations
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio:  2.40:1
Featured audio:  DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bonus features:  C+
Trailer

Twenty years before Jurassic Park, Michael Crighton created another film about a high-tech fantasy theme park brought to its knees by science and technology run amok. Westworld was the writer-director’s first feature, and while it’s not as engrossing as the dino experience, older children and sci-fi lovers will still like this one.

As an overlong “commercial” tells us, Westworld is really one world in a three-world fantasy theme park that also includes Roman World and Medieval World. Here, bored vacationers of the future can pay $1000 per day to live out their fantasies as gunslingers, sheriffs, lords and ladies, or Roman nobles and slaves in worlds that are authentic in every detail. At the core of every theme park are a cadre of robots that look and behave exactly like people—even bleed like humans—except for one thing. “They haven’t perfected the hands yet,” re-visitor John (James Brolin) tells his first-timer friend Peter (Richard Benjamin).

Only hours into their fantasy experience, the two of them are having a drink at the saloon when a mean-looking hombre (Yul Brynner) knocks into Peter and ridicules him until, goaded by his friend, Peter engages him in a gunfight. He wins, of course, because at Westworld, as John reminds, the guests’ fantasies are always fulfilled. More

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME 2 MOVIE COLLECTION (Blu-ray combo)

March 2, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, G rated Leave a comment

hunchbackcoverartGrade:  B-,  C+
Entire Family:  No
1996, 91 min., Color
Rated G (but contains violence)
Disney
Aspect ratio:  1.78:1, 1.66:1
Featured audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bonus features:  C+
Includes: Blu-ray, DVDs
Trailer

I’m not sure how Disney got away with a G rating on The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Within the first few minutes a mother is killed onscreen while trying to save her baby, and the perpetrator—the intolerant Minister of Justice—then tries to drown the child.

There’s plenty of violence throughout the film, with one main character seriously wounded and another appearing to die on-camera. Minister of Justice Frollo persecutes the gypsies and burns their houses, while the people of Paris bind and humiliate the title character—a bell ringer (Tom Hulce) whose deformed face and back have made him a monster in the eyes of everyone except three stone gargoyles who come to life and the gypsy Esmerelda (Demi Moore), who at first thinks he’s wearing a Feast of Fools mask.

Then there are the sexual overtones, including a pole dance allusion to Striptease (which Moore made the same year), some innuendo-filled banter between Esmerelda and Captain Phoebus (Kevin Kline), and Frollo’s pervy fondling of Esmerelda’s hair (with the implication that she can do something for him). As my wife put it, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is “too dark and too dirty for kids.” And in keeping with a dark story that’s under lit much of the time, the normally cheery Disney songs are mostly somber here. “Sad and boring” were the adjectives my 11-year-old daughter used to describe the film. More

PHINEAS AND FERB: THE PERRY FILES – ANIMAL AGENTS (DVD)

March 2, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Children's, G rated 1 Comment

phineasandferbcover

Grade:  C+
Entire family:  No
2008-11, 12 episodes (168 min.), Color
Rated TV-G (aimed at younger children)
Disney
Aspect ratio:  1.78:1
Bonus features:  D
Featured audio:  Dolby Digital 2.0

Like Kim Possible, this animated Disney Channel show is aimed at elementary school children ages 6-10 but has a Fairly Oddparents and Pinky and the Brain style that might appeal to older siblings and a throwback vibe to the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons that makes it more tolerable for adults than most kid fare. But I wouldn’t rate this particular release one of the best, nor do all of the episodes have to do with “Animal Agents.”

On the plus side, the humor doesn’t come from disrespectful kids, and the children depicted actually like each other, even if they drive each other crazy from time to time. So from a parent’s perspective, it’s a fairly innocuous show and, let’s be fair, at least it celebrates inventiveness. More

WRECK-IT RALPH (3D Blu-ray combo)

February 26, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater 3D, Animation, Comedy, Entire Family, PG rated 1 Comment

Wreckit200Grade:  A-
Entire family:  Yes
2012, 108 min., Color
Rated PG for rude humor, mild violence
Disney
Aspect ratio:  2.39:1
Featured audio:  DTS-HD MA 7.1
Bonus features:  C
Includes:  Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy
Trailer

When Wreck-It Ralph and Brave came out of Disney-Pixar studios last year, it felt like a case of babies being switched at birth. But it really WAS the Pixar gang that produced Brave, a princess fairy tale with a traditional, realistic look to it, while Disney animation gave us Wreck-It Ralph, a spunky homage to video games that depicted multiple virtual worlds.

For gamers, the fun comes from spotting allusions to such popular and historic video games as Super Mario Bros., Q*bert, Street Fighter, Pac-Man, Paperboy, Pong, Dig Dug, Qix, Frogger, BurgerTime, Sonic the Hedgehog, Metal Gear, World of Warcraft, and Altered Beast. But you don’t have to be a gamer to enjoy Wreck-It Ralph.

The premise is similar to Toy Story. Once the lights go out, the “toys” (here, characters in a video game) are off-duty and have a life of their own. It turns out that acting out these video games is their day job, and there’s a transportation terminal that takes them to and from their games at the Arcade.

Once again Disney has created an immersive world that’s rich with detail, populated by characters who have problems humans can identify with and characteristics that make them likable—even “bad guy” Ralph (John C. Reilly), who’s hurt that he wasn’t invited to the game’s 30th anniversary celebration. Just once he wants to be the guy who gets the medal at the end, rather than the hero of his game, Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer). If he can’t get a medal here, he’s determined to find another game where he can be the hero. More

H2O: JUST ADD WATER – SEASON 1 (DVD)

February 20, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Comedy, Drama, Entire Family, PG rated Leave a comment

h2O200Grade:  B+
Entire family:  Yes
2006, 26 episodes (650 min.), Color
Unrated (would be PG for mild thematic elements)
New Video
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Bonus features:  F
Trailer

H2O: Just Add Water is an Australian-made TV series obviously intended for teen and pre-teen audiences—girls especially. But the creators and writers add a lot more than water.

There’s a little Lost, a little Splash, a little Flipper, some Power Rangers and Wonder Twins, a hint of Gilligan’s Island, an allusion to Baywatch, a bit of Bewitched, some Little Mermaid, and a lighter (more G-rated) twist on Secret Life of the American Teenager. As a result, it also holds appeal for other family members.

In this show, filmed on location on Australia’s Gold Coast, three 16-year-old girls end up in a boat that drifts out to sea, forcing them to swim to mysterious Mako Island. As a result of an incident in an ancient cave (during a full moon, of course), they’re somehow transformed so that any time afterwards that they touch water—even the tiniest drop—they turn into mermaids with heavy, golden tails and a golden fish-scaled crop top.

Unlike Daryll Hannah’s character in Splash, these kids know exactly what will happen if they’re discovered. They’ll end up being dissected as a science experiment or exhibited as freaks of nature. But they have more immediate problems, in addition to the usual teen concerns (like parties and siblings and boyfriends). More

SKYFALL (Blu-ray combo)

February 18, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

skyfall200Grade:  A-
Entire family:  No
2012, 143 min., Color
Rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences, some sexuality, language, smoking
MGM/Fox
Aspect ratio:  2.40:1
Featured audio:  English DTS-HD 5.1
Bonus features:  B-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy and UV
Trailer

After the mind-numbing narratives and hyper-seriousness of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, Craig’s third outing is a nostalgic return to the old Bond films in which a strong-but-simple plot mattered as much (if not more) than the explosions, stunts, and special effects. Yes, there are a number of big-concept effects here, but there are also enough cheeky moments and one-liners to make you recall those early outings. Frankly, it’s refreshing to have the filmmakers put the fun back into Bond films.  More

MONSTERS, INC. (Ultimate Collector’s Edition)

February 14, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater 3D, Animation, Entire Family, G rated Leave a comment

monstersinc200Grade:  A-
Entire family:  Yes
2001, 92 min., Color animation
Rated G
Disney-Pixar
Aspect ratio:  1.85:1
Featured Audio:  Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Bonus features:  A-
Includes:  3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy
Trailer

Not many people have 3D TVs, but there’s reason to pick up a copy of Monsters, Inc. on 3D Blu-ray even if you’re not equipped to watch with those funny glasses just yet. For this release the fourth Pixar animated film got an audio makeover—even the standard Blu-ray—and the English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 is a considerable upgrade over the previous Blu-ray and DVD.

The sound really fills the room now and matches the “wow” factor of the video, where you can see every hair on big blue monster Sulley’s body. If ever a film was made for Blu-ray, it’s this one. More

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