Well, one such title I recently watched was Pixar's Monsters Inc. For this review I will cover 2 different aspects of the release, the movie itself, and the Blu-ray.
MOVIE
What an amazing movie! The story is unique and fun, playing on the idea of the world of the monsters that live in your closet, and how they are more afraid of you than you are of them. The main characters, Mike and Sully, are employees at the Monstropolis power plant. Their power? Children's screams. They must frighten kids in order to power their city. But when one monster tried to cheat on the all-time scare record, a fearless little girl, dubbed Boo, playfully waltzes into their world, where children are thought to be toxic!
This is a great movie, with lots of fun characters and surprises, and a story that really impresses me. The characters are well-developed, and grow to care for the child they once thought to be deadly, and set out to make sure she gets home safely, even if that means they can never see her again. I have seen this movie several times, and I still feel for these characters.
The comedy throughout the movie is spot-on. With plenty of slap-stick, and a number of visual gags, kids will love this movie. But there are also a number of jokes only the older audience will get (or at least appreciate), leaving most of us with something to really chew on.
There are some pretty dramatic scenes as well. While most of the monsters are funny, cute, or even cuddly (Boo calls Sully "Kitty"), there are a few that might be too scary for little kids. There are also a few scenes that get very intense, including the great door chase at the end. However, I think these make this movie really spectacular. The visuals are stunning, and colors are bright, and the setting is fun.
I highly recommend the movie to everyone who still has a little kid in them.
BLU-RAY
The Blu-ray release itself will be split into different categories, including Video, Audio, Extras, and Overall.
Video
The video on this movie is stunning! The characters show more detail and subtly than I remember in theaters. The colors are bright and stunning, and the dark levels are good and even through the whole movie. The image is so good, in fact, that you can see the fine details that give away how old the movie is. Sometimes the lighting doesn't bounce off the image just right, or the shadow doesn't quite work right. However, this is a very minor thing and is something I would like to stay in the movie, since it shows, in-part, the evolution of the medium. To have created a main character with long detailed fur was really pushing the envelope, and to have pulled it off so well is very impressive.
Speaking of fur, this leads me to the one aspect of this film that kept hitting my eyes like needles. Sully's fur is detailed, and colorful, and aliased. All the fur on this shoulders (i.e. the long bouncy fur) is aliased through most of the movie. It can be seen in screenshots, but even more so in the animation, as movement creates an effect that makes it stand out even more. I am sure MOST people will not notice this problem, but eagle-eyed as I am, I cannot avoid it! I promise not to point this problem out to anyone I invite over to watch the film, as I am sure they will not see it unless I point it out. My eyes just go right to it, and stay there the rest of the movie. I am not sure if this is a resolution issue, a rendering issue, or a source issue, but whatever it is, it is a distraction. I hope this is merely a rendering issue. I am sure the HD is high enough resolution that it should be a problem there, however it is possible the rendering technique is not detailed enough to pick up the small hairs smoothly with enough anti-aliasing. If that is the case, they would need to scrap the HD source they made, make the proper adjustments to the files, and re-render everything! I doubt they will be willing to do that, and I would be surprised if someone in their staff didn't notice this. It is probably something they figured would be a minor glitch no one would notice, but I hope that someday they fix this issue.
That being said, I want to say that besides this small aliasing artifact, the rest of the movie is amazing! It IS still worth a Blu-ray release just for the video.
Audio
But the audio is even more impressive. They remixed this movie with a Home Theater 5.1 surround sound mix, using lossless compression, for the highest quality sound. Every sound is accurately depicted and well placed in the sound field. The range is impressive as well. You have some scenes where the voice acting really moves the story (and what great acting it is), and others where the sound effects and the music really take over. The musical score is another hit, with a song by Randy Newman, and a score that really fits well with the film. The voice acting is perfect. They got a wonderful cast and a lot of great interaction between them. The sound effects really take the cake though. You can really hear the work of the foley artists who created them, and can really appreciate the amount of work that went in to adding the sounds of their world. One scene is particular is very impressive. The door chase scene is full of large sounds, from the booming of the factory, to the powering up of the doors, and, of course, doors closing all around you. You can pinpoint where the characters are exactly on the sound alone.
That being said, the English version is in full quality, but also included are DVD-quality French and Spanish versions. It is interesting to note that the animators actually made a few minor adjustments to the video to better fit the language. For example, in one scene, Sully is trying to get Boo to go to sleep. He uses his hands to visually act out the words, resulting in a bit of humor as well. In English he says, "You go to sleep" while he points at her for You, then shows his fingers walking for go, followed by holding up 2 fingers for to, and then puts his hands by his head like a pillow and pretends to snore for sleep. However, in the other languages, he does not hold up 2 fingers, but instead waves 1 finger. While I cannot figure out EXACTLY what he is saying in each language, it makes sense that 2 fingers would not translate well. I am very impressed that they actually have these changes on the Blu-ray release.
Extras
There are actually 4 discs in this set. That's right, 4! The first is the movie on Blu-ray, with everything in HD. The second is an extras disc, which should all be in HD, or at least mostly. The third is the DVD copy of the movie, so you can watch it on-the-go, or on the computer, or anywhere you don't have a Blu-ray player. I love this idea, cause it not only helps persuade people to buy into Blu-ray, but also gives them more value for their money. The fourth disc is the digital copy in SD, which allows you to put the movie on your computer, and even your iPod/iPhone. Another great idea, since this helps fight the idea of piracy. People complain they want to watch the movie on the metro or bus, or on a trip, and that they need it even more portable than a DVD. Now that excuse will not work with a digital copy. It allows you to watch the movie on your computer, on the train, on the plane, anywhere you can fit your iPod/iPhone. Obviously this won't stop pirating, but it is a step in the right direction. Even I have made copies of DVDs before, although I only copy movies I own, and never give them out. I use these copies as backup and to watch foreign DVDs on my PS3/iMac when they are the wrong region (somewhat less of a problem with Blu-ray).
I have not gone through the second disc yet, but I can say that the first disc has all the basic extras from the DVD, as well as a few new things, including a tour of a new ride in Disney Tokyo, where you can play flashlight tag in the streets of Monstropolis. There was one thing, however, that was not on the first disc that I spent a while looking for. At the end of most Pixar movies are usually gags that they like to play during the credits. While I don't recall there being any in the movie Up, I know that Monster's Inc had both gags and a fake play Mike and Sully were using as an excuse in the movie. They actually acted out the events of the movie in a low-budget play (CG of course) for their company. Only, there was no singing and dancing at the end of the movie, no gags or jokes, and I could not find them on the disc at all. I did find the short Mike's New Car (which is hilarious), and also the short that played before the movie in theaters, For the Birds, but no company play or gags. However, it has come to my attention, thanks to my friends over at www.Blu-ray.com, that both the gags and the play are indeed on the second disc. But you'd think they would put these regular extras on the first disc where most people will look for it
The 2nd disc advertises that it has a 100 door challenge, with 100 mini games, a factory tour, banished concepts, "and much, much more". I have not gone through the second disc yet, but I do plan to look at it soon. I may (or may not) update my review with the content from disc 2 at a later date.
Overall
The Blu-ray itself is impressive, but not the best by Pixar. The aliasing issue on Sully is a distraction that seriously dampened the experience for me, but I think I can overlook it. It is still an amazing release, worthy of a Blu-ray, full of detail and color, with amazing sound and loads of extras. I give this a 4 out of 5 stars, due in part to the aliasing issue, and the misplaced gags and short.
That does it for my review for Monster's Inc. This is an amazing movie, with touching scenes, adventure, and lots of comedy. If you have a Blu-ray player, add this to your collection! If you don't have a Blu-ray player, what are you waiting for?
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