I should know by now that the Toy Story films have grown as I have, over time. And Toy Story 3 speaks more clearly to me now than its predecessors do. It’s a story about change and how we accept it or fight to stave it off. Absolutely brilliant. The little-boy-that-was is now grown to a young man, preparing to move off to a college life and leave his childhood behind. That childhood, of course, consists of toys – Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear et al. In this animated universe, however, those toys don’t drift off silently into the twilight (or garbage truck, or what have you.) These toys fight back. And they won’t be abandoned or destroyed. They will be played with. They will be loved. And they will make you cry.
Yeah, I got choked up a bit. The story is great here. The performances by the old standards (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Joan Cusack etc.) and the new crew (Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton) are spot on. And the animation is beyond reproach – miles beyond what Pixar was able to accomplish in their last outing with the franchise. Toy Story 3 is as close to perfection as modern animated filmmaking can be.
Speaking of perfection, I can’t find even the slightest fault with the digital-to-digital transfer of the Blu-ray disc. This is phenomenal work from the folks at Disney/Pixar. Vibrant, pitch perfect colours, deep, dark blacks and incredible detail are the hallmark of every Pixar Blu-ray presentation and Toy Story 3 is amongst their finest. The same can be said for the stunning DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track. With clean, clear voices up the middle, ever-present ambiance from the rear and a thundering LFE presence, this soundtrack is some of the finest demo-material you’ll find on Blu-ray this year. All around technical perfection!
Where do I start with the extras? Hmm… Well, there’s a ton of them. Enough to keep you engaged with this 4-disc combo pack for hours beyond your initial viewing of the film. There are two excellent commentary tracks, both found on the second Blu-ray disc of the set. Strange, I know, but I have a feeling that since the primary commentary track comes with picture-in-picture content in tow, the powers that be decided to move it over to the bonus repository where they could crunch the heck out of it (compress it down, taking up fewer gigs of precious disc space), leaving more bandwidth for the feature presentation on Disc 1. Good move! I don’t mind at all, Disney! They did leave enough room on that first disc, however, for the requisite accompanying short film. Day and Night screened alongside Toy Story 3 in theatres and is a wonderful complement here on the Blu-ray disc as well.
The bulk of the remaining extras are featurettes (you’ll find a couple of featurette clips above) covering every aspect of production from “Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion” all the way to a look at film editing in “Paths to Pixar“. They can be found on the second Blu-ray disc of the set, organized into to convenient categories for easier consumption – “Film Fans” Featurettes and “Family Play” Features along with additional categories “Games and Activities” (containing the lone game, the “Toy Story Trivia Dash”) and “Publicity” (trailers, promos and posters.) The third disc in the set is a DVD copy of the film with the fourth a digital copy.
For a detailed list of the ample collection of special features, read our previous post here: Toy Story 3 and Ultimate Toy Box 3-movie collection coming to Blu-ray
ARGH!! It’s another one of those killer, five-million-amazing-new Blu-ray-disc release weeks! Having so many great new titles out all at the same time makes it damn near impossible to choose a best and a second best release of the week. Unlike last week, where I felt the Alien Anthology was clearly the must-own newly released title, I wouldn’t blame you if you grabbed up any one of the discs listed below. They’re all equally amazing! But for the sake of the Top 5, here they are in somewhat arbitrary order…
1. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (45TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
There are a few classic releases out on Blu-ray this week but none sport a superior transfer or feature set to The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition. This is probably your best bet. Unless you hate musicals. In which case, I would usher you on to our number two pick this week.
For more information, read our rundown of the Blu-ray disc set here: The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray officially announced and detailed
Special Features:
Limited Edition Collector’s Set
Blu-ray Details: Blu-ray Disc 1:
Blu-ray Disc 2:
DVD Disc:
ALSO AVAILABLE: The Sound of Music (Limited Edition Collector’s Set) – $59.99
2. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
David Lean on Blu-ray. ‘Nuff said, right? Well, The Bridge on the River Kwai is most certainly my personal top pick of the week but while it looks and sounds way better on Blu than ever before on a home video format, the disc itself is simply just not as technically impressive as The Sound of Music and doesn’t include anywhere near the exhaustive amount of special features as that title. Bridge is a must-own for any film fan but won’t blow you away, if you’re looking for the colour and pizazz of newer, slicker discs.
READ MORE: The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray officially announced and detailed
3. TOY STORY 3
Toy Story 3 is, without question, one of the best films of the year. I finally got a chance to see it thanks to the Blu-ray screener that showed up last week and I have to say, the movie really delivers on every level. One of the finest to come out of Pixar. And, it goes without saying, that the digital-to-digital transfer is absolutely pixel-perfect, affording the Blu-ray disc one of the most stunning images of any disc released this year. The 4-disc combo pack includes a seemingly endless supply of special features as well as a DVD and digital copy of the film.
READ MORE: Toy Story 3 and Ultimate Toy Box 3-movie collection coming to Blu-ray
4. THE PACIFIC
I haven’t watched HBO‘s The Pacific yet (still waiting on my review copy!) but I’m setting this robust disc-set in the number-four position this week on the basis of the quality of it’s sibling show, Band of Brothers. If The Pacific is anywhere near as brilliant as Brothers, it’ll end up being one of my favourite TV shows of the year. And if the Blu-ray set is anywhere near as perfect as Brothers’, The Pacific could be a contender for TV-on-Blu set of the year!
READ MORE: HBO The Pacific Blu-ray set announced and detailed
Ian Fleming wrote more than James Bond novels back in the day. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a Ken Hughes/Roald Dahl adaptation of Fleming’s children book about an eccentric professor and the fantastic car he invents. No screener for this one yet either but I’m hoping for the best for the transfer. The special features on the disc are, sadly, quite focused on the younger-set but thankfully offer up a few nuggets for cinefiles, like the “Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Dick Van Dyke” and “A Fantasmagorical Motorcar” featurettes.
6. THE GOONIES (25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
Another week with six films in the Top 5?! I just couldn’t let the list go without mentioning that The Goonies is out on Blu-ray today. I’m excited to see it for the first time in years in this new Blu-ray edition from Warner. If you’re not interested in picking up this huge boxed-set edition of the film, filled to the brim with goo-gahs and goodies, I’m certain that there will be a film-only release cropping up at some point in the next year. As much as I want to see the film again, I’ll be holding out for the version without the crap.
READ MORE: The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray coming in November
TV ON BLU-RAY: V: The Complete First Season
Despite my better sense, I really enjoy this revisionist modern version of V. I doesn’t have the impact of the original mini-series’ (naturally, as both the original and sequel series were finite stories with a definitive ending) but it certainly has its charms. The cast is strong and the sci-fi concepts are as fun as ever. I wish the show had a bigger budget or was given more production time though, as I find myself being taken out of the program every time the characters appear to be floating in their greenscreen environments. And they float a lot. The second season of V kicks off in January with a very special, very evil guest star from the original series! Can’t wait!
ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:
Still catching up on news announcements, here’s a look at all the great new Toy Story Blu-ray stuff coming out in November – a couple of different versions of Toy Story 3 and the full 3-movie, 10-disc Toy Box Collection.
Toy Story 3 comes in a standard 2-disc Blu-ray edition as well as a 4-disc Combo Pack that comes with a DVD and a Digital Copy. The Toy Box Collection (MSRP $100.00) simply contains the 3 Combo Pack versions of all 3 films. No extra content there, so no real reason for fans who’ve already got the first two films on Blu to re-purchase.
TOY STORY 3
(November 2, 2010 – MSRP $39.99, Combo Pack $45.99)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features:
I have to say, I was pretty taken aback by Toy Story when I popped the new Blu-ray disc in. And not in a good way. I forgot how long ago this film was made and boy, have Pixar and computer generated animation come a long way since then. The film looks shockingly simplistic and plain when compared with snazzy, modern CGI fare like Up! and Monsters Vs. Aliens. It has all the visual flare of a low budget television production. But that was the best the technology could deliver, way back in 1995. And in some ways, if you’re able to get by the dated visuals, they really draw attention to how well put together the film is. With a perfectly tight script, more character development than your average Hollywood drama and thoughtful, nuanced direction, Toy Story still shines.
And just when you think you’ve found the most well crafted computer animated film from the 90s, along comes the sequel, Toy Story 2. This thing manages to do just about everything better than its predecessor. The writing is tighter. The characters more well rounded. The animation is leaps and bounds beyond the first film. And even the music, I dare to say, is better this time around! I can safely say that along with The Dark Knight and The Wrath of Khan, Toy Story 2 numbers among the very few sequels that outshine the originals. It’s a remarkable film that, I’m hoping, will only be outdone by its sequel, Toy Story 3, coming this June 18th to theatres.
Speaking of outdoing predecessors, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 have never, ever looked this good on home video. These new Blu-ray editions of the films are perfect and dwarf the DVD versions in just about every way. They look spectacular! I mean, it’s no big shock that they look so good, seeing as how the original digital files were transferred directly to disc, digital-to-digital. But still, you’ll find yourself breathless, lost in the reference-quality video presentation on display here. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, on the other hand, are a total revelation. They sound every bit as incredible as the films look on Blu – perfect!
Both discs offer a totally robust bonus feature package that will impress most everyone who decides to invest in these new Blu-ray editions of the films. BUT – and this is a big but – those fans who are completists and who already own the Toy Story: Ultimate Toy Box DVD set should not look to these discs as a replacement. There’s a ton of content here, both old and new, but not everything from the Toy Box is present so don’t ditch those old DVDs quite yet. Everyone else will marvel at the bountiful collection of extras – wonderful commentary tracks, deleted scenes, animated “Studio Stories, featurettes on everything from design to story to production” – with all new content presented in HD. The disc sets are rounded out by DVDs of the feature films and “Sneak Peeks” of the story and characters of the upcomingToy Story 3!
For a full and complete list of special features, read our previous post here: Toy Story 1 and 2 Coming to Blu-ray in March
Here’s a nice new trailer trumpeting the March release of both Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on Blu-ray. As awesome as this news is, March is all about the Blu-ray release of Ponyo for me. Until I get my Miyazaki fix, it’s going to be kind of difficult to get excited about anything else!
Check out all the disc details and package artwork in our previously posted article, here: Toy Story 1 and 2 Coming to Blu-ray in March
This is great news! Disney Pixar will be releasing Blu-ray editions of Toy Story 1 and 2 in concert with the theatrical release of Toy Story 3! These films should look spectacular in high-def, as they’ll be transfered to disc directly from the digital files. This is the one case where the age of the film won’t directly effect the quality of the disc.
As thrilling as this news is, I can’t help but wonder if we shouldn’t hold off on purchasing these two films on Blu-ray until part 3 makes its way to home video. Disney will no doubt be planning some sort of mega-uber-awesome boxed set with all three films and a heap of additional special features (remember the popular Toy Box edition of the DVDs?) In addition, these new stand-alone Blu-ray discs don’t show any signs of the recent 3-D upgrade given the films. With the Blu-ray 3-D spec finally ratified and Toy Story 3 hitting the big screen in 3-D, the Blu-ray release of that film will no doubt be one of the first to highlight the format in the home video arena. And it would make sense then to release parts 1 and 2 in 3-D at the same time, right? RIGHT?
Yeesh…I guess only time will tell. What do you think? Will you rush out and grab these discs when they hit store shelves? Will you hold off in hopes of a massive box set that includes Toy Story 3? Do you even care about seeing these films in 3-D?
TOY STORY
(March 23, 2010 – MSRP $39.99)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: TBA
Special Features:
• Toy Story 3 Sneak Peek: “The Story”
• Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: Blast Off
• Paths to Pixar: Artists
• Studio Stories:
• Buzz Takes Manhattan
• Black Friday: The ‘Toy Story’ You Never Saw
TOY STORY 2
(March 23, 2010 – MSRP $39.99)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: TBA
Special Features:
• Toy Story 3 Sneak Peek: “The Characters”
• Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: International Space Station
• Paths to Pixar: Technical Artists
• Studio Stories:
• Pixar’s Zoetrop
• Celebrating Our Friend Joe Ranft
• BD Live-Portal
It must have been easy to overlook Galaxy Quest in 1999. I remember that year being all about the return of Star Wars and the coming of The Matrix. How was a little sci-fi adventure comedy like this supposed to stand out in a crowd as auspicious and legendary as that?! Luckily, we’ve got home video to rescue little gems like this. Galaxy Quest is a fun film following the post-series life of a group of actors working the convention circuit years after their famous sci-fi television show has gone off the air. Everything changes for the team when a starship full of honest-to-goodness real aliens recruit them to help them save their world from an evil, reptilian dictator!
It’s a pretty silly story. But manages to also be a fantastic commentary on the reality of struggling has-been actors forgotten by the Hollywood machine. Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman lead the gifted cast, all delivering fantastic comic performances. But for my money, it’s all Sam Rockwell all the way. That guy is hilarious! I remember that his performance was the one that stuck out for me when I had first caught the movie in ’99. And it was Rockwell that made me laugh once again through this viewing of the film on Blu-ray.
Galaxy Quest looks better on this new Blu-ray disc than it ever has on home video. It’s a bit soft in places and you might be able to spot the slightest hint of DNR smoothing things out a little too much here and there, but over all you won’t be disappointed with the presentation. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack is also more than serviceable for the film.
The Blu-ray disc really shines in the area of its special features. I spent an afternoon enjoying the many documentary featurettes, most of which combine old interviews from 1999 with new, ten-years-later conversations (check out a little piece on Alan Rickman below!) There’s a disturbing clip of Sigourney Weaver leading members of the cast in a rap she’s written for her agent’s birthday. Funny but just so wrong…and awkward. Moving from awkward to just plain awful is the “Thermian Audio Track” – the entire film dubbed into the shrieking dying-dolphin language of the films aliens. I made it through about five seconds of that one and instead switched on the deleted scenes! Eight scenes totaling around 12-minutes, all fairly entertaining with one in particular providing a few laughs at the expense of Rickman’s exasperated character. The disc is rounded out by the exhaustive and hilarious “Galactopedia” – a text fact/fiction/triva track crafted by Michael and Denise Okuda, the Star Trek experts who created similar tracks for those discs.
GALAXY QUEST: DELUXE EDITION (EXCLUSIVE): Movie Trailer – Watch today’s top amazing videos here