Blu-ray Disc Review |
Release Date: December 18, 2007. Film Rating:  / Voices of: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yardley Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, and more! Written by: oh…at least 15 people. Directed by: David Silverman This past summer I was looking for some “time-out” in my life. I decided on a road trip with two friends: to drive for a few days to Halifax, Nova Scotia where another fraternity alumnus from our undergrad years was living. While my leisurely vacation was a time to clear my head, it had its ups and downs and sent my brain for a spin. I knew that some veg time was desperately required and finding a tiny theatre in Halifax proved to be the perfect pill: I needed the empty brain of Homer just to get me through my mess. After watching him for 87 minutes, I realized in the end my life isn’t that dumb after all. Homer is someone who we immediately love because he just isn't that smart. I wouldn't tag him as stupid, but his self-centered motives are identifiable because like many of us, we just don't know when we aren't doing the right thing. Thankfully he has his family- wife Marge, and kids Bart, Lisa, and Maggie - all who love him enough to make him realize to do the right thing. So...next to the boat tours and jumping around on the cool rock formations at Peggy’s Cove, The Simpsons Movie was a highlight of my trip. In the little town of Springfield, in somewhere USA, The Simpsons go big in the much anticipated motion picture of the year. Homer acquires a doomed pig from a Krusty Burger joint. This pig, while cute and adorable to Homer (it’s actually quite ugly and emotionless), causes a major ecological disaster in Springfield…well…it wasn’t just the pig…you can say that Homer’s love for doughnuts was the root cause. Despite Lisa’s warning (and Greenday) to save the environment, Springfield is isolated from the rest of the world by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), administered by the head (and approved by President Schwarzenegger) Russ Cargill. Enclosed in a glass dome, the people of the town become very different; they are mad and lunatic in isolation. They turn on Homer leaving him with the duty to save himself, his family and all in Springfield.  VIDEO QUALITY: 5/5 The animation style is consistent with the television series that we’ve loved for so long. In high definition, this Blu-ray disc is much more vibrant than the DVD in terms of colour and smooth edges. The Simpsons animation isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but there is a nice distinction between each line drawn that is pleasing to look without common SD artefacts such as compression noise and moiré, depending on how you’ve watched the series in the past. This disc is clean. The only artefact I saw was attributed to my display device; the stairstepping of pixels along the drawn lines. Those who haven’t jumped into the high def market yet may question the value of this film in HD. After all, it’s not like there is a virtually infinite amount of detail that was drawn much like a camera capturing a live scene. But like all other well-produced Blu-ray discs, The Simpsons Movie offers a brighter, more colourful, eye pleasing animation experience, noticeably free of technology-related artefacts. The aspect ratio is 2.40:1. AUDIO QUALITY: 3.5/5  Sound designers need to start from scratch with animated films. Everything needs to be manufactured and constructed to create a believable sound space around the characters. The sound design of this film does just that but doesn’t stretch the limits to create a wholly new experience. Most of the soundstage in this dialogue-driven film is up front. The sound doesn’t go beyond much than to provide the most direct audio cues in conjunction with the images on screen. Except for the center channel, the other channels can have moments of absolute silence rather than including some artificial ambience to transport the listener into Springfield. But even the television series was like this and I didn’t expect much more from this full-length movie. When the rest of the channels are engaged, such as the time when Homer dumps pig waste into the lake and during the climatic scenes nearing the end of the film, all channels come alive with clarity and good dynamics. It’s a “tight” sounding soundtrack; all the pieces in the audio seem to fall together nicely in place, all with very good tonal balance that is pleasing to listen to and begins to sound a bit like (dare I say it?) hi-fi. The score is mostly in the front two channels and the surrounds, to a limited degree, help the orchestra wrap the audio around the listener. Bass well created and not too overbearing, and most of it is in the front channels with a little bit of support from the LFE. The audio is encoded with lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. TACTILE FUN!! / TACTILE TRANSDUCER ON/OFF?: ON Not a whole lot of LFE, but when engaged a bass shaker does improve the experience somewhat. SPECIAL FEATURES: 2/5 Two audio commentaries are included on this Blu-ray disc. The first is a cast/writer/director commentary and is a bit more special than the other. It can’t be accessed from the “audio menu” as you toggle between soundtrack options on your player’s remote control. Bringing up the Pop-up Menu and accessing it will start the film from the beginning - it must be viewed separately from the main film viewing because the seven (!) participants (James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully, David Silverman, Dan Castellaneta, and Yardley Smith) can “pause” the movie from continuing as they continue talking about a concept or the scene. The screen goes black and white when this happens and as they talk, but nothing more happens of this. It’s simply a break for the film while they elaborate on the strategies, ideas, history, etc. of the series and the film’s production. It was probably this feature that required the use of a BD-50 since it appears separate from the film, even though we are watching the film as we listen to the commentary. I should note that with this feature activated, the film’s soundtrack cannot be selected without going back to the main menu and accessing the feature. The second audio commentary is accessible when watching the film as the film without pauses or interruptions. It features a director’s commentary from David Silverman, Mike B. Anderson, Steven Dean Moore, and Rich Moore. Again, they discuss about gags that make it and didn’t, test screenings, and much about how most of the things we see came “late” in production. The remainder of the features are all presented in HD. Writer Al Jean gives us an audio introduction of the six deleted scenes that are neither good nor bad, but always entertaining. They total about five minutes. They include Russ Cargill – “Levels”, Springfield News, DMV, Sausage Truck, Emperor Moe and an Alternate Ending. The audio is 2.0 stereo. A second section features Special Stuff that I thought was a hoot to view. They total about three and a half minutes and feature:
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