Studio Ghibli’s latest film released in North America. Courtesy of Disney Pictures
Japanese anime is a love or hate genre, and without a doubt, the trend continues with this movie.
Based on Mary Norton’s well-loved novel The Borrowers, this film tells the story of a tiny adventurous girl (Arrietty) living in the walls of a house with her parents. Everything changes for the tiny family when a young boy moves in and discovers them.
Bridgit Mendler captured the adventurous spirit and energy of Arrietty’s character beautifully in her voiceover. Regrettably, that’s where the praise ends for the voice acting, which was some of the worst I have ever come across. More often than not, the actors drained the life from the otherwise beautiful scenes.
It is difficult to place the blame on the poor dialogue – Was it the English translation or the original Japanese script? Maybe someone who has watched both versions can chime in, but most of the dialogue in this release seemed fit for a low-budget after school special.
For fans of the movie, Disney’s Blu Ray + DVD combo features a stunning video and audio presentation of the film. The colour palette is beautiful and both the English and original Japanese DTS MA tracks are of the highest qualities.
Unfortunately, the special features do not match the above mentioned standards. The additional features include the entire Original Japanese Storyboards, “Arrietty’s Song” Cécile Corbel Music Video, Original Japanese Trailers & TV Spots, “Summertime” Bridgit Mendler Music Video, and The Making of “Summertime”. Other than the storyboards (which become boring after a few minutes), these features feel lame and tacked on for the sack of including something. Nothing in the feature set gives any insight into the making of this movie. Shame on Disney and Studio Ghibli.
Bottom Line: If you’re a fan of the film, you’ll be able to enjoy the feature in the comfort of your home in high quality. However, there is nothing else to enjoy beyond that.
Movie Grade C
Blu Ray/DVD Grade B+
Runtime: 95 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
The Grey: Blu Ray review
Liam Neeson battles the cold wilderness in The Grey. Courtesy of eOne Films
Liam Neeson has proven to be quite the box office draw in the last few years. In fact, movies he has a bit part in will feature him prominently in the trailer (Battleship). It is true however, that he has chosen some solid parts and delivered performances to warrant this attention. The Grey proves to be one more stepping stone to greater acclaim for Mr. Neeson.
The Grey tells the story of a plane filled with rough lumber workers crashing into a snow-ridden wilderness with only a handful of survivors left to fight the harsh conditions and a unique pack of territorial wolves.
What makes this an incredible film is the development of the misfit characters who feel remarkably real thanks to fantastic performances from its cast, including Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, Frank Grillo and Dermot Mulroney.
Joe Carnahan with Ian Mackenzie wrote the screenplay wielding an unforgiving world and crafted the characters credible backgrounds, making this more than your basic survival movie. Carnahan’s direction adds an immense level of tension and suspense, which had me propped up on the edge of my seat, even during my second viewing.
For the home release, the audio and video quality has its ups and downs. The audio is very immersive, but the video featured obvious added grain, which was distracting at first. Once you get past it, you tend to ignore its intrusion.
The special feature set isn’t bountiful and features some poor additions. The six deleted scenes are interesting, while two of the three featurettes felt more like advertisements than a means to deliver more insight into the making of the movie. There are also Clips, the kind you see when an actor is being interviewed about the movie they’re starring in, and horribly constructed Interviews with the cast and director. The Audio Commentary features the director and editors providing insights on the process of making the movie while they sip on scotch.
Not a bad way to enjoy this amazing movie.
Bottom Line: The main feature is worth every penny, but don’t expect too much from the extras.
Movie Grade A+
Blu Ray/DVD Grade B
Runtime: 117 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Leave a comment | tags: audio commentary, blu ray, CGI, Dallas Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, dvd, edge of my seat, film, Frank Grillo, immense level, incredible film, Joe Carnahan, Liam Neeson, movie, Narc, Oscar, plane crash, review, rough lumber, special features, Taken, The Grey, unforgiving world, ups and downs, wolves | posted in May. 2012