Blu-ray + DVD
Disney / Buena Vista | 2007 | 107 min | Rated PG | Region A (B, C untested) | Feb 08, 2011
Beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical, animated land and finds
herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment
that...
I dismissed this movie ever since it was released back in 2007 because musicals aren't my thing. Boy was I wrong, especially considering the singing portions of the movie aren't overdone. There's actually only a handful of songs. The songs that are in the movie are excellent, and Amy Adams and everyone else sings them very well.
Speaking of Amy Adams, she was absolutely perfect as Giselle. I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role and she really pulled of the role of a princess that had never been to our world. I could go on and on, but I'll end my Amy Adams praise by saying that Enchanted likely wouldn't have been as good with anyone else as Giselle. The rest of the cast turns in solid performances as well, with James Marsden doing a fine job in a very silly role.
I won't go into plot details, but Enchanted is a very entertaining mixture of the Disney classics. The filmmakers did a great job of taking those Disney classics and putting their own spin on them in a mostly live action movie. It is silly, but in the right way, and it will definitely put a smile on your face unless you absolutely can't stand singing in a movie or Disney classics. I am very happy to have finally given Enchanted a chance and to have it in my collection. I'm not sure where it would land on my all-time favorites list. I'm not even sure yet where it would land amongst other movies from 2007, but I do know for sure that this was one of my best blind buys in a while.
Disney did a great job with the technical presentation on the disc. This might not be a movie people would pick to show off their systems, but it is definitely worthy of being considered for that as far as the PQ goes. Not to be ignored is the AQ, which handles what this movie gives it very well. The disc is rounded out with a solid, if slightly light, collection of special features.
Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend. It's getting rid of them that proves difficult. From the girl who kicked his heart's ass -- and now is back in town -- to the teenage distraction he's trying to shake...
I'll get this out of the way right away. When this was coming out in the theaters, I thought this movie was going to be really stupid based on what I had seen from the trailers. Like Kick-Ass earlier this year, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World shattered my original expectations. This is a movie like nothing I've ever seen before. While I can understand it not appealing to everyone, I had a total blast.
I'm not going to go into a long detailed review because others before me have already done so very nicely, but I thought the whole cast did a great job. Michael Cera was the perfect choice to play Scott, despite some people getting sick of him. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was enjoyable as Ramona, and the supporting cast pretty much all rounded out everything nicely. It is hard to choose my favorite evil ex, but Lucas Lee (Chris Evans) and Roxy (Mae Whitman) were probably my favorites.
The PQ was solid. While it isn't up there with the very best, I wasn't expecting it to be. It is definitely a huge leap though, made evident by a Blu-ray vs. DVD comparison shot I saw posted in a review. There is nice detail and no major issues that I noticed that weren't intentional. All in all, I was very pleased with the transfer that was given to us by Universal.
The AQ is insane. There's so much going on during the fight scenes and the track handles it all beautifully. There's plenty of solid bass, speaker directionality is abundant, and all of the bells and whistles sound great. There are no issues with the dialogue either, and the music sounds amazing when the bands are playing. This may be one of the best sounding discs of the year.
I can't really comment on the special features since I haven't watched them yet, but the review on this site by Jeffrey Kauffman explains it all. It may seem crazy that I am giving it a 5.0 even though I haven't watched them yet, but I know they deserve the rating due to the sheer depth I know that is waiting for me in the special features. Them not being in HD isn't an issue for me (no offense to Jeffrey).
A last little note. Universal giving their usual menu a video game look was a pretty cool touch. So was the video game version of their logo when the movie was starting.
Blu-ray + Digital Copy
Disney / Buena Vista | 2009 | 107 min | Rated R | Region A (locked) | Aug 25, 2009
Welcome to Adventureland, where the worst job imaginable is about to inadvertently turn
into the summer that changes everything. Adventureland, a self-professedly "funtastic"
Pennsylvania amusement park, appears to be the...
I won't make this a long detailed review because I think Ken did a fine job with the review. This movie was indeed marketed wrong, but one shouldn't say this isn't worth blind buying because it is a very good movie. Sure, it's not the hilarious comedy they try to market it as, but you can still blind buy it and love it because that's exactly what I did. The PQ is better than the DVD. It's not 5 star quality because of the 80's look the movie was given by the director, but I still think the transfer does a good job with what it has. It didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the movie. Also, the reason why I gave it an overall 5 even though it doesn't average to that is because I didn't really have anything to complain about with the release. Any shortcomings were due to the source. Slightly more special features maybe, but I was still pleased enough with the release to keep it there.
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