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Blu-ray Review Wreck-It Ralph 3D: Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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When Disney brought Pixar Animation to become a part of its corporation, the Walt Disney Animation Studio fell deeply into second place in terms of the quality and popularity of the product it was releasing under the Disney banner. Wreck-It Ralph is actually the first Disney CGI animation project that can stand high and tall with some of the best that Pixar has offered. With brilliant animation combined with storytelling that is both supremely witty and wonderfully imaginative, Wreck-It Ralph emerged as one of the finest animated features released in 2012.

Wreck-It Ralph 3D: Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray Combo Pack) Directed by Rich Moore Studio: Disney Year: 2012 Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 1080p AVC codec Running Time: 101 minutes Rating: PG Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 French, Spanish Subtitles: SDH, French, Spanish

Region: A-B-C MSRP: $ 49.99

Release Date: March 5, 2013

Review Date: February 18, 2013

The Film

4.5/5 After thirty years of being the unappreciated bad guy in an 8-bit arcade video game called “Fit It Felix, Jr.,” Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) longs for some of the attention and appreciation that gets heaped on Felix, Jr. (Jack McBrayer), the hero of the game he inhabits. Since the game participants in his game want nothing to do with him, Ralph decides to try to earn hero status and a gold medal somewhere else in Litwak’s Arcade. In the game “Hero’s Duty,” an über-violent combat game, Ralph stumbles into possessing a gold medal, but on his way home he gets sidetracked into a racing game called “Sugar Rush” and has his medal hijacked by a glitchy child racer Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) who uses it to gain entrance into a race so she can redeem her position in the game. She refuses to give the medal back unless Ralph helps her train for the race, a race that the game’s ruler King Candy (Alan Tudyk) is determined that Vanellope won’t participate in. Writers Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee (who based their script on a story by director Rich Moore, Jim Reardon, and Johnston) have created five individualistic worlds for the characters of this story to inhabit: the three wildly different video games from three different eras of arcade machines, the clever Game Central Station where all the games’ members can use to travel between worlds, and, of course, Litwak’s Arcade run by Mr. Litwak (Ed O'Neill) who won’t hesitate to put a recalcitrant game out of business with a simple pull on the electric plug, a bit of business that keeps tension maximized as things go wrong in the various machines. Rules also dictate that if a character gets zapped out of his own game, he can never regenerate thus making the struggles of Ralph and some others life threatening as they face the possibility of termination on two fronts. Inside the games are unique worlds all their own with wonderfully witty and outrageously funny comments and spoofs on familiar parts of our world. (Ralph is astonished at the viciousness of “Hero’s Duty”; “Sugar Rush” has the most: hilarious paean to The Wizard of Oz with Oreos, the deadly Nestle’s Quik-sand, and a boiling soda pool that erupts threateningly when mints are added to it. Elsewhere Ralph attends a meeting of fellow baddies who congregate regularly at Bad-Anon in one of the film’s early comic gems and has running gags with Q-bert in the film’s version of Grand Central Station.) As the film progresses, we get to know so much more about each of the central characters either bonding them to us as appealing albeit quirky protagonists or fostering our rooting interests against them as hissable villains, all played out against both the on-going frantic race and an unexpected invasion of cybugs from the “Hero’s Duty” game which its commander Calhoun (Jane Lynch) feels is her duty to combat. The voice actors the producers have selected for the project have unmistakably unique sounds that identify them immediately with their characters. There’s no mistaking the crackly mellowness of John C. Reilly’s voice or the spunky shrillness of Sarah Silverman. The voices of Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer are as recognizable as their familiar television characters, too. Only Alan Tudyk who uses a lisping partial imitation of Ed Wynn’s voice as the calculating King Candy isn’t immediately recognizable by the tone of his voice alone. All play their parts magnificently and with great good humor and an admirable spirit of the film’s unique approach to storytelling.

Video Quality

5/5

3D implementation – 4/5 The film’s 2.39:1 theatrical aspect ratio is faithfully rendered in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. The film’s jaw-dropping art direction of these five distinct worlds is wonderfully reproduced here with expert sharpness and color saturation levels that are rich and deep with no blooming even with an abundance of red in the “Sugar Rush” sequences. Blacks are superbly inky especially in the “Hero’s Duty” portion of the film. There is no banding in this pristine transfer. The film has been divided into 16 chapters. As with many of the recent 3D films coming from Disney, 3D front projections are more limited than in Disney’s earlier efforts like Bolt and G-Force. There are rifle barrels and fingers that protrude a bit from the front of the frame, and a splatter of gooey cake seems to come right at the viewer at one memorable moment. But more effort has been placed into giving the image wonderful depth (especially in the “Hero’s Duty” and “Sugar Rush” games) and adding sequences that really put the viewer into the picture (a portion of the madcap race has a roller coaster effect to it that’s particularly immersive). There may have been the slightest bit of crosstalk visible at one point, but it was negligible.

Audio Quality

5/5 The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 sound mix uses its expansive soundstage to great effect during the “Hero’s Duty” and “Sugar Rush” sequences. Dozens of split surround effects as cars zoom across and through the listening space as well as those venal cybugs flying around offer plenty of opportunities for imaginative use of sound. Dialogue is always understandable and has been placed in the center channel most of the time. Henry Jackman’s music gets a spirited spread through the fronts and rears as well.

Special Features

3/5 The 3D disc includes in 1080p 3D Paperman, the 6 ½-minute Oscar-nominated short which accompanied the movie in theatres. It’s another imaginative gem from Disney as a lonely office paper pusher is brought together with the girl of his dreams through the concerted efforts of his own work product. The disc also includes 3D promo trailers for Monsters University and Planes. The 2D Blu-ray disc includes the following bonuses all in 1080p: Paperman as described above. “Bit by Bit: Creating the Worlds of Wreck-It Ralph features members of the creative team including director Rich Moore, producer Clark Spencer, writer Phil Johnston, art director Mike Gabriel, animation supervisor Renato dos Anjos, and special effects coordinator Scott Kersavage commenting on the various worlds they had to create for the movie and mentioning inspirations for their ideas. It runs 16 ¾ minutes. There are four alternate/deleted scenes all done in pencil animation with optional commentary by director Rich Moore and writers Phil Johnston and Jim Reardon. They may be watched separately or together in one 15 ½-minute bunch. Disney artists created commercials for the three video games (plus another non-game ad) at Litwak’s Arcade which can be viewed individually or in a 2 ¾-minute montage. Disney Intermission on this disc (not present on the 3D disc) is a series of ten brief segments hosted by Chris Hardwick which give insight into many references and allusions to video games of yore and the Disney company. If you keep intermission on, you can see all ten segments back-to-back in 9 ½ minutes. The disc includes promo trailers for Planes, Monsters University, and The Little Mermaid 3D. The third disc in the set is the DVD copy of the movie. The fourth disc in the set is the digital copy of the movie.

In Conclusion

4.5/5 (not an average) Wreck-It Ralph is a delightful and imaginative CGI animated feature that has the Disney Animation Studios doing some of its best-ever work. While the bonus feature package is leaner here than usual for a Disney release, the 3D and 2D video and audio encodes are state-of-the-art. Highly recommended! Matt Hough Charlotte, NC

 

Todd Erwin

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I thoroughly enjoyed this film when we saw it at Disney back in October during the HTF meet, and am definitely putting this on my wish list.
 

Charles Smith

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Same here -- took friends to see it, and enjoyed it just as much if not more than the first time.
 

jim_falconer

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Originally Posted by MattH.
When Disney brought Pixar Animation to become a part of its corporation, the Walt Disney Animation Studio fell deeply into second place in terms of the quality and popularity of the product it was releasing under the Disney banner. Wreck-It Ralph is actually the first Disney CGI animation project that can stand high and tall with some of the best that Pixar has offered.
Actually Matt, Disney's "Tangled" (released in 2010) is a superior film, that stands up against any Pixar release. Don't get me wrong, I love Pixar films, but Disney really hit a home run with "Tangled".
 

Jason_V

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Originally Posted by MattH.
I consider Ralph superior to Tangled, but both are very entertaining.
Agreed, Matt, but only slightly. Wreck-It Ralph felt like something we'd never seen before both in the world and in the characters. Here's a guy who doesn't like what he's doing and decides to run away. He wants love and affection. How many other animated Disney men can you say are the ones in need of saving? It's usually the females, with very few exceptions. Add to that the entire world that is created.
 

jim_falconer

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Originally Posted by MattH.
I consider Ralph superior to Tangled, but both are very entertaining.
I did not mean to suggest Tangled was superior to Ralph, just that Ralph was not Disney's first CGI release that was as good as a Pixar release. And actually, you could go back to 2007's "Meet The Robinson's", as Disney first solid entry into CGI animation.
 

Matt Hough

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Originally Posted by jim_falconer
I did not mean to suggest Tangled was superior to Ralph, just that Ralph was not Disney's first CGI release that was as good as a Pixar release. And actually, you could go back to 2007's "Meet The Robinson's", as Disney first solid entry into CGI animation.
For me, neither Tangled nor especially Meet the Robinsons approaches the best of Pixar. Not even close. Others' mileage may vary.That isn't to say that Pixar is batting .1000 either. Cars II was a stumble, and Brave for me wasn't as good as Wreck-It Ralph.
 

Bryan Tuck

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Thanks for the review, Matt. I really enjoyed this movie, as well. I also liked Brave, though I agree that Wreck-It-Ralph was better. What's interesting is that, basically, Pixar made a Disney film and Disney made a Pixar film. It may even have been intentional.
 

MatthewA

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This movie restored my faith in the future of Disney animation, which Chicken Little shattered. I haven't seen the others, yet.
But $50 for multiple copies of the same movie? Personally, I wish they would release a version with just a Blu-ray and nothing else, like Sony did for Annie.
 

Jason_V

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Originally Posted by MatthewA
But $50 for multiple copies of the same movie? Personally, I wish they would release a version with just a Blu-ray and nothing else, like Sony did for Annie.
Those days are not going to come again for Disney or other studios. It's all about value added material and extras aren't cutting it anymore. So if there's a BD, DVD and Digital Copy all in the same package (some have 3D too), there's less expense in producing multiple versions and the perception the customer is getting more for their money.
Right now, the BD/DVD combo is going for $28 on Amazon, the 5 disc version with 3D $34. So anyone who actually pays full list price does so at their own peril. There's no reason to do so.
 

Johnny Angell

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Jason_V said:
Those days are not going to come again for Disney or other studios.  It's all about value added material and extras aren't cutting it anymore.  So if there's a BD, DVD and Digital Copy all in the same package (some have 3D too), there's less expense in producing multiple versions and the perception the customer is getting more for their money.  Right now, the BD/DVD combo is going for $28 on Amazon, the 5 disc version with 3D $34.  So anyone who actually pays full list price does so at their own peril.  There's no reason to do so.
I don't want to pay $34 or even $28 for a movie, which men's I'll wait to get this one. But it's Disney and it may never come down in price. Maybe if it hits $29 and BB is doing their trade-in thing.
 

Ejanss

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Johnny Angell said:
I don't want to pay $34 or even $28 for a movie, which men's I'll wait to get this one. But it's Disney and it may never come down in price. Maybe if it hits $29 and BB is doing their trade-in thing.
It DID hit $29 on Amazon two weeks before opening, and I missed it. Darn. (I've still got the 3D's of Meet the Robinsons and Nightmare Before Christmas on my Amazon wishlist, and I'm still waiting for them to sink back to the $24's, like they did a year ago when I couldn't buy them then, either. May have to wait for next Black Friday, when everything's on sale.)
 

David Norman

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Johnny Angell said:
I don't want to pay $34 or even $28 for a movie, which men's I'll wait to get this one. But it's Disney and it may never come down in price. Maybe if it hits $29 and BB is doing their trade-in thing.
Release week pricing from advance ad show Target $27.99 for the 5 Disc and 19.99 for the 3 disc. Plus the $7 Manufacturers Coupon from Scott/Disney Movie Rewards (same type coupon as with Peter Pan) Buy it from Target, PM at TRU or BBY and the Coupon -- $12.99 or $20.99 release week sounds pretty good. If you've been doing the Reward Zone Free points polls and have some other freebies it can get really fun. $7 Off Wreck It Ralph MQ
 

Ejanss

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Jason_V said:
Those days are not going to come again for Disney or other studios.  It's all about value added material and extras aren't cutting it anymore.  So if there's a BD, DVD and Digital Copy all in the same package (some have 3D too), there's less expense in producing multiple versions and the perception the customer is getting more for their money. 
It's not that Disney doesn't want to do Disk 2 extras (Brave certainly broke tradition and gave us bonus-disk features)-- It's more that their attempt to be all disk releases to everyone has painted themselves into the corner that they CAN'T do Bonus Disk 2 releases anymore...How d'you think we got those "Virtual Vault" extras on Fantasia, Lion King and Pocahontas, when they ran out of room? They're being bogged down by their own traditions: - Cars told them that all DVD's should have Digital Copy included. - Sleeping Beauty told them that all Blu-ray's should be DVD combos, for people who didn't have Blu players yet. - A Christmas Carol told them that all 3D Blu-rays should have 2D Blu combos, for people who didn't have 3D sets yet. So now, adding all the superstitious traditions up, EVERY 3D release must have the 2D disk to go with the 3D disk, the DVD to go with the 2D Blu-ray, and the DC to go with the DVD. Even so much as a cough would get 4 disks, before extras were even planned. The room's getting crowded, and it's time to start torch-and-pitchforking the studio to start breaking tradtions about what NOT to put in a disk release. The DC disks are almost literally obsolete by now, and the miscommunication about why the DVD disks were put in ("I got an extra for my laptop!" :rolleyes:) should be cleared up about whether they should be stuck with the lesser releases. Maybe then, we'll have room for getting "value" on $29-affordable 2-3 disk 3D releases, like we got with Dreamworks' "hybrid" disks.
 

Johnny Angell

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David Norman said:
Release week pricing from advance ad show Target $27.99 for the 5 Disc and 19.99 for the 3 disc. Plus the $7 Manufacturers Coupon from Scott/Disney Movie Rewards (same type coupon as with Peter Pan) Buy it from Target, PM at TRU or BBY and the Coupon -- $12.99 or $20.99 release week sounds pretty good. If you've been doing the Reward Zone Free points polls and have some other freebies it can get really fun. $7 Off Wreck It Ralph MQ
This sounds good. What kind of outfit is Scott? It's too bad we gotta jump thru hoops to get a decent price, but $21 is doable.
 

Ejanss

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Johnny Angell said:
This sounds good. What kind of outfit is Scott? It's too bad we gotta jump thru hoops to get a decent price, but $21 is doable.
Scott's toilet-paper/towels? They've gotten their own Groupon-wannabe "Family Deals site" for exclusive coupons, and Disney's been using them for advertising tie-in deals. More so than they have with DMR, which is cause for concern.
 

Colin Jacobson

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Originally Posted by MattH.
I consider Ralph superior to Tangled, but both are very entertaining.
I'll settle this: they're both... okay. I think "Tangled" and "Ralph" are competent, reasonably enjoyable films, but neither one ends up as anything special.
So there you go - case closed!
 

David Norman

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Johnny Angell said:
This sounds good. What kind of outfit is Scott? It's too bad we gotta jump thru hoops to get a decent price, but $21 is doable.
Scott Brand Paper products - luckily the company is a lot better than their TP which is best known as that horrible stuff that most places put in their public toilets. You know the kind that advertises 1000 sheets, but you have to quadruple wrap it and fold it twice over to make it useable. It's really not that hard though more aggravating than just a DMR -- make a Scott ID (make up stuff and use a disposable email if you need), answer a one question survey, they give you a code. Click the link to DMR, Sign in Disney Movie Rewards, input code in the Magic Box, print the standard issue Bricks coupon (twice if you want).
 

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