A Few Words About A few words about...™ Up -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

I may (again) be in the minority, but having just viewed Pixar's (Disney) Up, and its amazing display of digitally produced depth and color, I don't see what's to be gained by this new-fangled 3-D thing.

Having recently viewed Monsters, Inc. on Blu-ray, it has been evident that Pixar has an enormously wide palette, but until seeing Up I don't seem to recall the absolute control of depth perception,which in this Blu-ray is amazing. We need more creatures like rainbow-like and Technicolored Kevin in our world.

And no glasses necessary.

From a pure story point of view, Up is yet another Pixar treasure, and its data files have yielded a perfect Blu-ray in the absolute sense. I keep noting that I need to put some notes together on the subject, and will, but in short, a Blu-ray like Up, which uses the positive attributes of the technology fully, should not be spoken (or written) of in the same breath as say, Gone with the Wind, The Sand Pebbles or Howards End. The latter mentioned films, being totally different technology, should not be judged as Blu-rays against something that began its life and made its way to the Blu-ray disc as data.

My only discomfort with the film and its representation of the human form, was the lack of nostrils. An odd thing.

Up on Blu-ray is a perfect use of the technology for a terrific piece of digital entertainment.

Highly Recommended.

RAH

 

[dpippel]

Mr. Harris, I also found the missing nostrils to be a little disturbing. However I soon got used to the look and it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film (my first viewing) or its stunning Blu-ray presentation.



I have to say that the vignette at the beginning of Up, the story of Carl and Ellie's life together, is one of the most poignant and touching pieces of filmmaking I've ever seen. Heartbreakingly beautiful, its genius is realized without a single word being spoken or a single live actor anywhere in the frame. The audience experiences an entire lifetime of love, friendship, and marriage between two people distilled down to its most human and touching essence, expressed with gut-wrenching tenderness. What an accomplishment! I'm not too vain to admit that the Kleenex came out here at my house.



Pixar has proven over and over again that it's all about character and story, dummy. For me this perfect little segment in Up represents the pinnacle of their creative storytelling talent; the art of filmmaking expressed to its fullest potential. Kudos to Pete Docter and everyone else involved. Wow.

 

[Jeff Whitford]

Watched this last night and enjoyed it but didnt feel it was very kid friendly.

 

[Robert Harris]

Reminds me of the "courting" montage in Tom Jones. Silent, elegant, wonderful storytelling.

Originally Posted by dpippel

 

[Steve Tannehill]

The montage had me in tears, too. The 3D version got me to the theater to see this. It worked fine, but it works just as well in 2D, especially on this pristine Blu-ray disc.

- Steve

 

[Patrick McCart]

So, this is one BluRay that won't wear the Cone of Shame?

Another A+ Pixar film and justly given the usual universal praise (unless you're a certain grouch critic). They have a way of taking stories or plot elements that should not work, and they make it work. Half of what Carl does in the film should be impossible, but it doesn't matter. They make worlds where the elderly can pull along a floating house, rats can cook, and toys have a life of their own. They have their own reality and simply ask for you to leave your own in the parking lot.

The 3-D theatrical version looked great and never gimmicky. One problem with 3-D is the tendency to exploit the hell out of it, making sure everyone is reminded every 30 seconds that it's in 3-D. Both Up and the Toy Story double feature simply had this wonderful sense of depth.

Amazon and other retailers are offering great discounts on this and Monsters Inc. that make owning these essential. If you bought Snow White and also pre-ordered this round of Pixar films - they took $20 off your total right off.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Patrick McCart /forum/thread/294933/a-few-words-about-up-in-blu-ray#post_3628556

 

The most important thing they do is make you care about the characters. A film will succeed or fail based on this.

 

[David_Jr]

Originally Posted by Jeff Whitford

Watched this last night and enjoyed it but didnt feel it was very kid friendly.

Care to elaborate?

 

[Brian Borst]

Originally Posted by David_Jr





Care to elaborate?

Perhaps the scenes with the thunderstorm and the introduction of the dogs perhaps. Some kids in the theater when I watched it thought those were pretty scary (in 3D). I was glad that they did, because the children were pretty annoying before that and pretty quiet after that.
The emotional scenes will probably go right over their heads, so those wouldn't really matter, I think.

 

[Reagan]

I'm right there in the same minority, then. Beyond a 15 minute ride/film at Disneyland, I have no interest in 3-D. There, I said it.

-R

Originally Posted by Robert Harris

I may (again) be in the minority, but having just viewed Pixar's (Disney) Up, and its amazing display of digitally produced depth and color, I don't see what's to be gained by this new-fangled 3-D thing.

 

[frankie108]

Originally Posted by Reagan /forum/thread/294933/a-few-words-about-up-in-blu-ray#post_3628694

 

[BrettB]

Didn't notice the missing nostrils. Just not into that I guess.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Re: kid-friendly: My son, who was unfazed by either Transformers movie ("I KNOW they're not real, Mommy!") or any other Pixar film, was pretty scared during a few scenes in Up. I also think the main storyline was way over his head (a first for Pixar).

That said, overall he did really like it. (And yes, he shouldn't be watching Transformers at his age. . .)

 

[JediFonger]

re: pixar's use of 3-D is quite different than other CG movies (like ice age 3 for example). i saw Up twice in 3-D and once in 2-D, also caught toy story 1&2 in 3-D and can't wait for TS 3... in 3-D. i also can't wait til 3-D players and HDTVs/projectors come to market to experience ALL of pixar's films in 3-D >P. 2bad i have to re-buy them all.

what's different? storytelling & characterization. in Up, when Carl was living his life before his 'adventure' it was very 2-D (literally). when his life in S. America begins, the scenes of green and scenery took on a DEPTH and his adventures were full of 3-D nature. it does impact you more psychologically. but watching the same film both in 2-D and 3-D will give you that same sense of depth, but the 3-D polarized effect was much more pronounced and it made you feel 'more' toward the end end of the film like you had the actual adventure yourself.

furthermore, where many 3-D films pop OUT from the screen, Up actually manages to pop IN outside of the wall. that is: it truly was a "window" into another world, a fantasy south america and that is quite extraordinary =).

 

[Brian Borst]

Originally Posted by JediFonger

re: pixar's use of 3-D is quite different than other CG movies (like ice age 3 for example). i saw Up twice in 3-D and once in 2-D, also caught toy story 1&2 in 3-D and can't wait for TS 3... in 3-D. i also can't wait til 3-D players and HDTVs/projectors come to market to experience ALL of pixar's films in 3-D >P. 2bad i have to re-buy them all.

what's different? storytelling & characterization. in Up, when Carl was living his life before his 'adventure' it was very 2-D (literally). when his life in S. America begins, the scenes of green and scenery took on a DEPTH and his adventures were full of 3-D nature. it does impact you more psychologically. but watching the same film both in 2-D and 3-D will give you that same sense of depth, but the 3-D polarized effect was much more pronounced and it made you feel 'more' toward the end end of the film like you had the actual adventure yourself.

furthermore, where many 3-D films pop OUT from the screen, Up actually manages to pop IN outside of the wall. that is: it truly was a "window" into another world, a fantasy south america and that is quite extraordinary =).

I also loved the fact that for example the newsreel footage at the beginning had no depth at all, and when the camera panned backwards to reveal the audience the 3D effect was there. Suddenly you felt you were in the audience watching the newsreel. I'm still glad Pixar didn't resort to gimmickry for 3D. That's also the only way 3D will succeed as a format, I think.

 

[JediFonger]

just as w/everything Pixar touches, they do so to enrich story/character, but Pixar can't single-handedly contribute to 3-D's success, everyone must follow that, the more tools we have at our hands to tell stories, the more they should be about story/character. i'm hoping that Avatar really opens that up in a big way. so far, Cameron hasn't disappointed us w/every film he has directed =).

but that aside, Up should be awesome in the eventual 3-D 'double dip' if u will. i wasn't gonna grab it initially... but i got it cause of great deals >P

 

[esl88]

I also feel that 3D is generally unnecessary. Some 3D looks pretty good, but a lot of it looks unconvincing (2.5D?). My main problem with it beyond the inflated ticket price is the glasses; they cut half the light from the screen and give the colors a slightly different tinge. When technology finds a way to compensate for this it may be a different issue. But for now one has to weigh out the disadvantages of the lost light (and increased price) vs the benefits of the added depth. To me, the latter usually doesn't win out. Pete Docter himself seemed unenthusiastic about the 3D when I asked him what he thought of it.
I was lucky enough to see an advanced screening of Up in the Pixar studio itself. Here the film was presented the way it was intended to be seen: in digital 2D. This Blu-ray gives a suprisingly close approximation of that, and is a great representation of Docter's fantastic film. Still, Pixar's state-of-the-art screening room easily beats my home set-up.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

When we saw The Polar Express in IMAX 3D, the effect was horrible. It just gave me a headache. I don't know if it was because we were sitting off-center, or if there was something wrong with the system, but I hated it.

I haven't seen any of the more recent 3D films (at least not in 3D).

 

[SteveSs]

Saw this last night. Loved it. Restored my faith in Pixar. As poignant as the first 10 minutes are, the scene that really got to me was this:
the discovery of the last note in the adventure book

I'm wondering about something. I own all of the Pixar films and can't remember if there is any other film that contains:
1. blood;
2. a real-looking gun;
3. death.