Up [Blu-Ray]

I seem to get more and more surprised with Pixar releases - the company continue to produce wonderfully imaginative films that are an alternative to the more standardised Disney-solo efforts these days. In my view, I feel that 'UP' represents the quality of film-making that Disney always used to aspire to back in the earlier hand-drawn days, though given a modern twist to appeal to a new audience which I think attracts both adults and children more equally.No doubt it is argued by many that both Pixar and Disney are responsible for some controversial decisions lately; more often than not, it was a minority of Americans that felt 'Wall-E' demonstrated environmental concerns, which was apparently a problem as were all supposed to sit on our backsides doing nothing, and that the protagonist in 'Princess and the Frog' has no right to be black, because Princess are supposed to be trim, pale figures with blonde hair (Courting a Prince with as much personality as a Prune. Sorry Walt!). The good news is that 'UP' has very little content for the P.C brigade to pick up on!After discussing the film with others, it was always the opening scenes of the film that came to conversation - a wonderful reel of sequences that fast-forwards the life of Karl Frederickson - a quiet young boy who aspires to venture out to the mystical Pleasure Island with his new friend, Ellie - both of them being avid explorers. But the Karl of the modern day is a grumpy old man who is in danger of being sent to an elderly folks home when the plots of land around his house are being developed for new buildings. Trust him to remember the joy he once had of having his own balloon stand in his younger days, eventually leading him to the quick conclusion that he could sail up, up and away with his beloved home and escape to the Island he always dreamed of... Despite my reluctance to give away more information, the film truly unfolds into an unexpected adventure.As to be expected from Pixar, the visuals are gorgeous and continue to exceed any films before it (possibly even Wall-E). The directing was noticeably very effective - key frames were well thought out, but the film never strays into a dizzying 3D environment, but rather having a more linear look in the layout terms which helps the travelling theme to the film. Whereas other CGI film companies tend to faff around with annoying camera angles and visual oddities, Pixar have always been careful to use the computer medium to its advantage - creating situations that would have been impossible with traditional animation techniques, yet never too far away to suggest we haven't learnt anything from the past 70 years.I also found the balance of 'Humour and Heart' perfect; granted, I read before writing this that many reviewers suggested their kids either cried too much or didn't laugh enough. Given that companies like Pixar will always be in the shadow of the Disney 'Golden Age', I can only laugh at such suggestions. Films like 'UP' are an incredible achievement when so many themes and standardisations have been run to ground in films over the years - to continue to produce such original content is what makes Pixar so special. The way they can balance Humour and Heart should be recognised as a fantastic quality, given how mushy and lifeless many "kids" TV/film content are these days (Hannah Montana? Yuck). If films like this are considered too distressing for 'darling children', I really don't recommend subjecting them to the wonderful morals demonstrated in films like Pinocchio (1940) - masterpieces of film-making.'UP' possibly ranks as Pixars most adventurous outing, and no doubt one of their best along with the likes of Toy Story, Wall-E and Monsters Inc. In fact, the only issue I have with the product is that of Disney's incompetence regarding release schedules. I've found it quite frustrating that 'Fantasia' Diamond Edition has yet to be officially announced in the U.K, yet in the U.S, a trailer was released a month ago on their release of 'UP', available via BD Live, yet no trailer has even been put on this Blu-Ray/DVD. Whats even more puzzling is that the discs contain trailers from back in October! Come on Disney, all we want are dates... My only guess is that the trailer will be put on 'Dumbo', which is being released March 22nd if you're interested. That is currently available to Pre-Order, why not go check it out?To try and summarise though, I think 'UP' is just a genuinely heart-warming film that, granted, simple in plot, proves you can pack a lot of entertainment in to such a basic concept. The Blu-Ray is, as usual, of amazing quality and far more so than the DVD - bear in mind however that, as with any Blu-Ray, you are really only going to see the benefits to a good degree on a 30-inch and bigger Television. This is the point at which DVD's really become 'softer' and Blu-Rays only start to show how detailed they can be. To be fair however, our TV is only 26-inches and the difference is still wonderful. God help us when Green-Ray comes out! Then Purple...Regarding the other version of 'UP' that includes a "Digital Copy Disc", all that means is that it includes a disc that allows you to copy the film to your Computer so you can transfer it to an MP3 player with video play-back, or anything similar. Given that their are 'various' ways of easily ripping a DVD to ones computer anyway, the fact you could just 'place' the DVD in your computers drive to watch it (radical huh), and of course the fact that once you've used the Digital Disc its completely useless, I feel its poor value and wasteful on Disney's part. Never the less, I'm done ranting.

Happy

This film is truly superb. Personally I consider most Pixar films to be excellent, with The Incredibles and Wall-E as stand outs in an impressive line up of CGI films. I think Up is right there with them.When it comes the CGI animated films I believe that technically Pixar have no equal, and there is no drop in standards with Up. On Blu-Ray it's gorgeous, with smooth, rich colours throughout and pin sharp imagery. Textures are just right, with translucent balloons and dusty interiors all looking equally convincing in Pixars' slightly stylised way. The animation is spot on too. Everything has just the right amount of movement to convey the weight and momentum of the object in motion.All this would be for nothing were the story not up to scratch, but once again Pixar hit the bulls eye here too. The main character barely utters a word in the first twenty or so minutes, yet I found it to be more moving than most live action movies ever manage. All of the small cast are all excellent, but special mention must go to the 'talking' dogs - which to be honest had me in fits of laughter. Running at a brisk 96 minutes not a moment is wasted either.I suspect most people considering buying this will have already seen a Pixar film or two and if you liked those you'll love this. And if you already seen Up but are wondering whether the Blu-Ray is worth the extra I'd say definitely - the picture quality is faultless. Besides it also comes with a DVD and digital version in the box if you want the versatility of standard definition too. This is definitely a must buy for adults and kids alike.

The film was great, has to rate as one off Pixar's best. For me the worst has to be Cars. Ok, there is the odd flaw in the storytelling, but that doesn't detract from what is a GREAT film. The reason is the emotional roller coaster you ride from start to finish. I won't go into detail about the story in case I give anything away, just get this film.My only gripe is with the Blu-Ray dvd. I like, sometimes need, subtitles. Although they are there in English for the main feature, they are not there for the extra features, which is confusing, as to why they are not there, and annoying, for the same reason.

What a pain. My Granson watches this video for 10 hours a day! The first time the house took off he put his hand in the air. He hasn't started speaking yet and now he puts his hand in the air to indicate he wants it on again. Then after about the 7th day of having the film on nearly all the time (he knows how to work the DVD player and toddles over and ejects any other film!) we were in the kitchen and he just looked at me, put his hand in the air and said "UP". How annoying that my Granchild's first word is not Mommy or Ferrari but the title of a Disney animation.Out of interest the Blu-ray version is NOT AS GOOD as the standard DVD which is superb. We have several different set ups and the standard DVD plays incredibly well on all. The colours and quality are WAY BETTER than the Blu-ray which is darker and more edgy, not pixelated but definitely not such true colours.Either way it's a bargain.