THE MUPPETS (2011, Blu-ray released March 20, 2012 – MSRP $49.99)
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I’ve watched a fair number of Muppet movies in my time. I’ve often been entertained but never to the point of wanting to sit down to them a second time. But clearly the 12-year hiatus between films has been good for the franchise, because this outing is not only clever and quite funny, it’s also an all-around fantastic family film, well represented by Disney‘s new Blu-ray release, that I honestly can’t wait to watch again!
- “Muppet domination continues with a hilarious new movie from Walt Disney Studios. Jason Segel, Academy Award nominee Amy Adams (Best Performance By An Actress In a Supporting Role, Junebug, Doubt, The Fighter) and Academy Award winner Chris Cooper (Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role, Adaptation) join everyone’s favorite Muppets and an all-star celebrity cast in a comic adventure for the whole family. While on vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, his brother Gary, and friend Mary uncover the diabolical plot of a greedy oil millionaire to destroy the Muppet Theater. Now, the Muppet-loving trio must reunite Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and their friends to stage the greatest Muppet telethon ever and save their beloved theater. The gang is back together again in a must-own movie full of irresistible music and family fun. Bring home the biggest Muppet adventure ever on Disney Blu-ray and DVD!“
You know, I had a good feeling about Jason Segel spearheading this latest Muppet revitalization. I think allowing a creative like Segel, who clearly has great passion for and connection to the material as well as a decent following in just the right demographic circles, is the wisest thing the Henson Company could have possibly done. The brand was in desperate need of new blood. New enthusiasm. And he brings it in spades. Writing and starring in the film, Segel, along with a cast of right-on-the-money co-stars, nails just the right tone to make the film fun and family-friendly while, at the same time, laugh-out-loud funny, in a real, self-deprecating sort of way that the hip-kids can dig and the old kids, who grew up with Kermit and the gang, can really appreciate. I enjoyed the heck out of this film. I’m shocked that I did, to be honest, with all the silliness and the singing and dancing. But any film that literally ties and gags Jack Black, allows Chris Cooper to “rap” and sports a talking bear in ‘fart-shoes’ is all right by me!
It should come as no surprise that The Muppets looks great on Blu-ray. This is a top-notch production by Disney, given a top-notch Blu-ray transfer and encode. Detail is abundant and contrast is spot on, without even a hint of digital nastiness, as far as I can tell. The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack is also a winner, highlighting the Oscar winning music in the film, while keeping dialogue crisp and clean up the centre.
There are plenty of special features in the ‘Wocka Wocka Value Pack‘ Blu-ray release, that I have the pleasure of reviewing but don’t look for as much technical movie-making detail as you’ll find in the bonus goodies on other discs. The Muppets is all about fun, and that extends to the good time clearly being had by Segel, director James Bobin, and executive producer/co-writer Nicholas Stoller in their commentary track and the playful tone of the 16-minute long ‘making of’ doc. Everyone should give the 9-minute long blooper reel a look for an extra laugh or two but the 10-minutes worth of deleted scenes as well as the extended version of Cooper’s rap are best left to the die-hard fans only. In addition to a DVD and Digital Copy of the film, the green-coloured ‘Wocka Wocka Value Pack‘ (not to be mistaken for the blue-coloured 2-disc ‘Combo Pack’) includes a code to download the entire original soundtrack. The 3-disc package is rounded out with 3-minutes worth of screen tests and 7 theatrical trailer spoofs.
Highly recommended!
Special Features:
- Commentary with Jason Segel, James Bobin, and Nicholas Stoller
- Disney Intermission feature
- Two behind-the-scenes featurettes:
- Scratching The Surface: A Hasty Examination Of The Making Of The Muppets
- A Little Screen Test On The Way To The Read-Through
- Explaining Evil: The full Tex Richman song
- Blu-ray-exclusive: Longest Blooper Reel Ever Made (In Muppet History) feature
- Unreleased theatrical spoof trailers
- Deleted scenes
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