HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E - Page 2

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

If I hadn't already mentioned it in 27 different threads, I'd pop in and say that Cars is a CRIMINALLY underrated movie.

Bear in mind also that a lot of young kids who are interested in Wall-E probably haven't seen The Incredibles, which came out four years ago and was aimed at an older age group to begin with (or, more accurately, wasn't aimed at a young age group -- remember, it was rated PG and featured some heavy material).

Incidentally, as the father of a 3-year-old who would have the movie on infinite loop 24/7 if I let him, I will say that those of you without children probably have no idea of the amount of tie-in merchandising they've done with Cars. You know that TV commercial that shows a room where EVERYTHING has a Pittsburgh Steelers logo on it? That's NOTHIN'!

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

I take it your 3-year-old is already clamoring for the Screaming Banshee toy?


I agree that Cars is criminally underrated. It improves with repeat viewing like another underrated Pixar effort: A Bug's Life.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

I hear you.

I have been buying the Hot Wheels sized Cars diecasts since before the movie came out. Damn hard to find certain cars. I have had to resort to e-bay and other web merchants and paid obscene prices to get certain vehicles. And some of those hard to get cars become easy to find, yet others dissapear altogether.

Damn you PIXAR! Damn you John Lasseter! ;-)

Brian

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

That merch is a BIG reason why Cars 2 is getting made in the next 3 years.

The merchandise alone from Cars 2 will fund every decently performing wild idea Pixar has for the next half decade. And I love Cars as well. It ain't their best, but it's still great.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Yup, I agree with the past few comments regarding Cars. Very underrated Pixar film that gets put down for reasons I just don't get. I've certainly grown to love it over multiple viewings. So many little hidden gems sprinkled throughout.

Getting back to the Wall*E disc, what does everyone think about next year's offering, "Up"? (Short trailer on the disc) Intriguing is about all I can say about it as I really have no idea what it's about. But I think that's the idea...

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

If you are a fan of Wall*E, you have got to listen to Andrew Stanton's Cinexplore commentary. It's full of interesting tidbits and is very, very informative.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Watched this on Blu, the disc is fantastic, great A/V but sadly a very below average film. Quite boring actually, I had trouble staying awake. Pixar films just keep getting worse and worse with each passing one. There was just nothing exciting, emotionally engaging or funny. I should have stuck to my guns and not bothered with this. No more Pixar films for me until Toy Story 3.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Why is it that almost *nowhere* is there any information that BD Live isn't available on the blu-ray discs sold in Canada? The only way I found out was by actually going to the store today and looking at the package. Even amazon.ca shows a package with a "BD Live" logo. And what's up with Disney not allowing Canadians access to BD Live anyhow? If you can get BD Live on Casino Royale and Iron Man in Canada, why can't you get it on Disney discs like Sleeping Beauty and Wall-E?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Personally I think Cars is a far superior film to Wall-E. In fact Wall-E is one of the few Pixar films that I saw in the theaters and I found myself losing interest in the film several times.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Man, no love for WALL-E even in his own thread. That's harsh!

I had a radically different reception to "Cars" and "WALL-E". With "Cars", despite having absolutely loved pretty much every Pixar film up till then, it looked to me like the first real failure they'd released, so I didn't see it at all in theaters. Then I borrowed a friend's copy when it came out on DVD, and really enjoyed it. Oh ye of little faith.....I should have just listened to my instincts and gone anyway.

With "WALL-E" I went in with huge expectations, because everything about it seemed to indicate it would be a sweet, heartwarming movie. And it was, and I loved it from the get-go. My parents did, too.

Now if I could just get my girlfriend to start liking Pixar films. I don't get it. She loves traditionally animated Disney films, but doesn't like ANY of the Pixar ones. *sigh* Oh well, tastes differ.

cheers,
Phil

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

I would agree with your girlfriend Phil.

I love the older Disney animated films, much more then these Pixar films (or most all these newer CGC's for that matter). For one; the music, much better in the older films vr the newer. The animation is better, the look is softer and not as harsh and bright. The stories are better, there more emotionally engaging. I'd have to say most all the older Disney films are better in every way over all these newer films.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

By "older Disney films" do you mean Snow White or are we talking about The Aristocats?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

The interesting thing is that she doesn't have anything against CGI; she loves RPG-style video games with long extended cutscenes done in CGI, so she doesn't object to the artform itself. Just....to the way Pixar does it? I don't know.

I do know that I love my traditional animated Disney films equally as well as I love the Pixar stuff. Different tools, different ways of telling the story, is all. I do prefer animation for certain kinds of storylines (fairy tales, for example, I think are still better done with traditional animation, which is why I avoided the Shrek films like the plague until I was dragged into one (and disliked it as much as I thought I would)), but I enjoy seeing what Pixar brings us too.

Naturally, your mileage may vary.

cheers,
Phil

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Watched this last night. PQ was fantastic. "The Pixar Story" was great too. I really enjoyed seeing clips from all of the pre-Cars Pixar movies in HD. I can't wait for the rest of their catalog to hit BD.

-R

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

We're going to watch Wall-E tonight but as a teaser last night we watched Presto and it was amazing how much more detail we could see (and hear) compared to either of the two times we saw it at the Multiplex. Of course neither time did we manage to score a digital-projection showing but still it was a whole new experience seeing the backgrounds and hearing all the layers of sound effects. I hope watching Wall-E on our new plasma screen is equally rewarding.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Of course. And that's the thing that, for some reason, often gets lost whenever the subject of Pixar films comes up. They seem to invoke strong passions of both love and hate among people.

My opinion is that Pixar has taken over for Disney animation in the sense that Pixar "gets" how to tell a story. That is, they are the actual heirs to Walt's vision of melding a good story with beautiful animation, voice acting, music, etc.

I haven't, on the other hand, enjoyed a single Disney animated film since the 1990s.

I thought I would hate Cars, but gave it a chance and enjoyed it. There are good things in all the Pixar films--even, as earlier stated, the much-maligned A Bug's Life.

As I said earlier, I had some issues with the story development in Wall-E, but am determined to revisit it because of the strong positive feelings toward certain elements of the film.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

The Snow White era of Disney films.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Toy Story clips in HD?!?

I was completely ignorant of "The Pixar Story." This just suddenly zoomed up my priority queue of things-to-watch!

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Through dozens and dozens of viewings, I have yet to NOT notice some new detail each time. It's really amazing.

Too bad ol' Doc Hudson won't be around for the rumored sequel.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

What did you think of Meet The Robinsons and Chicken Little?

Do you think that John Lasseter being head of Disney Animation will help?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

While I thought Disney did a nice job transferring Wilbur Joyce's drawing style and vision to Meet the Robinsons, I thought the storyline suffered greatly.

I haven't seen Chicken Little. I haven't been compelled to see a Disney film recently except Enchanted. The only reason for that was the participation of Alan Menken and the Goofy HT short was supposed to have been attached to Enchanted. I LOVED Enchanted.


I certainly respect his work as a storyteller. When I first heard that news, my reaction was that it can only make things better.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Yeah, Star Wars, Jurrasic Park, and all the pre-Cars Pixar films were given a little HD airtime in that Pixar documentary. As someone who didn't know the entire backstory, I found it quite fascinating.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Okay, an opinion from someone seeing this film for the first time.....

I can see where people felt that Wall-E fell short of other
Pixar films. It does only in the sense that it has a storyline that
doesn't move as smoothly as other films before it. I found myself
a little bored with the first third of the film.

However, the final two thirds of the film are just brilliant. What
I really found myself amazed with was how much emotion was
brought out in a story essentially involving two robots. Without
any vocalization, the animators effectively (and often humorously)
conveyed their communications to the audience. That is where
my appreciation of the film lies.

The Blu-ray presentation is outstanding. This is another one of
those demo quality presentations in both audio and video. The
LFE response is through the roof. During rocket ship take off and
landings, the entire room shook madly.

I was very happy that I chose to buy this BD title blindly. It's
a wonderful, charming film that shows off the brilliance of both
the Pixar writers and animators. Is there nothing Pixar can't do well?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Suck.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Carlos - The Sony S550 has 5.1 analog outputs. Assuming your receiver has 5.1 analog inputs that'd be the player you should get if you're looking for a Sony. Just $326 from Amazon. Check the S550 discussion thread to find out how to set up your player to do the decoding.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

I must say the picture quality on this Blu-Ray disc is beyond reproach. I'd bet a nickel the DVD version of Wall-E has some loss of detail (softening) or compression artifacts during the dusty brownish scenes near the beginning of the movie but it looks crisp and perfect on our 50" screen. And in several places I noticed details in background objects, "set decoration" or even character detailing on the robots that were not visible sitting halfway back in the Multiplex the two times we saw it projected theatrically. Some of the busy-movement scenes on the Axiom were almost three dimensional looking.

As Ron mentioned the sound was outstanding. I noticed that (at least for our Panasonic BD player and Onkyo receiver) there was but one "Audio" option which appeared to be 5.1-channel HD audio. That's all the movie needed because we could hear every detail including Wall-E's little Popeye-like mutterings and asides even when there was other business on the soundtrack. The bombast was there when needed, as in the rocket scenes, but the overall subtlety of the sound mix was polished to...well, I must say to Pixar-like perfection. This is a case where the BD production is as well done as the movie itself.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

I'm glad to hear all the praise for the BD's quality. Mine hasn't arrived yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Saw this in the theater in June and it quickly became one of my favorite films of the year. Pixar has a strong track record, but this might be their best since The Incredibles, which I think was a high point for the studio.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

If you haven't seen "Atlantis: The Lost Empire", I highly recommend it. Brought to us by the same creative team that brought us "Beauty and the Beast", it's really quite excellent and went sadly overlooked at the box office. There was a very nice two-disc special edition released a few years back which I think is out of print now, but you may be able to find it online.

Sadly, that was the last traditionally-animated Disney film I've enjoyed in recent years...the quality had dropped quite a bit. I'm excited to see that Lasseter's reactivated the traditional animation department at Disney and they'll be bringing us some more hand-drawn stuff in the future.

cheers,
Phil

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: WALL-E

Well, I watched the first 45 minutes of Wall-E last night (it's all I had time for) and REALLY enjoyed every blessed minute of it.

My recollection, though, was that it was when action shifted to onboard the Axiom that things took a dive for me. I will report back. But I was laughing out loud and enjoying so many of the moments as Wall-E and Eve began their adventure.

It IS interesting that there are no audio options on the disc. I went to make sure the "right one" was going to be selected or "defaulted to" but there were no options to be had.

I really marvel at the emotions the animating team were able to illustrate as Wall-E stood alone in his little bunker and watched the love scene from Hello Dolly. Those few moments of his expressions, head tilts and holding his own hand continue to amaze me.

It is those kinds of moments that had me desperate to want to see this flick again.


Saw Atlantis in the theater, Phil, with my then-eleven-year-old son. It seemed to be the perfect adventure vehicle for this Disney dad and his young boy...and even my son was bored by it. I was surprised at his reaction. I felt real disappointment at his disappointment. I dunno, but at the time I remember thinking it was awful. Yet I still hoped that at least he would have gotten something out of it. But he gave it an 11-year old thumbs down.

I raised my children on the first wave of Disney animated classics and they luckily came of age during the recent wave of classics (from The Little Mermaid through Tarzan). Outside of the BD of Meet the Robinsons (which was a blind buy for me since the book "A Day with Wilbur Robinson" was a family favorite), the last Disney animated classic in my collection is The Emperor's New Groove. And neither that nor Dinosaurs is something I take off the shelf that much.