DVD Review HTF REVIEW: CARS - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! (2 Viewers)

[JonZ]

"This has been the only Pixar film that I have turned off half way through, and I think I know why"

"But right after the half way point it does get a lot better."

Right. The second half of this movie is much better than the first.

 

[SteveJKo]

Stephen you're not alone. I managed to make it to the end of the film and I agree it's wonderful to look at. There were some charming segments, but for the most part I was bored. This has overtaken "Monsters Inc." as my least favorite Pixar film.

 

[StephenP]

Well, I did go back and finish the film last night, and you guys were right - the second half is far better than the first. It raised my over-all impression of the film, but it is still my least favorite of the Pixars. I would give it a C+, but A+ if you ignore the story and just look at it.

 

[Reagan]

Picture quality on the DVD is great. Unlike most of Pixar's other films, I don't feel as if I'm missing out by not having a supplement-filled second disc. I just don't love this movie, which may explain why. The short "One-Man Band" is a masterpiece.

-Reagan

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Glad you liked it. You can imagine how much it brightened my family's evening!

We've been too busy to finish it yet, though. All these people posting that the second half is even better than the first are making me antsy. . .

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Carl W., I think your post could use a spoiler tag.

 

[Matthew Clayton]

I don't think it's relegated only to Cars... my copy of Toy Story 2: 2-Disc SE defaulted to the 2.0 mix and not the DD-5.1 EX track. I would have to manually switch audio tracks (or go straight to the menu) in order to access the 5.1 mix.

 

[Ben_Williams]

Carl, Thanks for your post. I think it is extremely valuable to express how emotional these films can be. I felt very emotional during several scenes from 'Cars'. It is a very sentimental and sweet movie... and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all! If a movie can move me to tears, it has accomplished a lot. Frankly, I wish more movies could touch me in that way.

Bravo, Pixar... and thank you, John Lasseter!

 

[John Alderson]

Just watched this film to christen my new DVD player (LG DN191H), and I have to ask: where is the layer change? There was one slight hiccup that has me slightly concerned, and it happens every time I pass the scene, but it's VERY late in the film for it to be a layer change, but I didn't notice any other layer change in the film (though there is a nice, still shot about halfway through that could be it, but I don't think so).

Anyway, my glitch is happening at the very beginning of chapter 31 at about 1:46:04. Is that actually the layer change? If so, then it beats the pants off my old player (they used to be painfully obvious), but if not I'll be scratching my head. Like I said, it's the first DVD I've played in this player so I'm paranoid. Thanks!

P.S. Ended up loving the film, but it was slow and kinda uninteresting for about 45 minutes, which is uncharacteristic of Pixar.

 

[David Allen]

I believe the layer change occurs when Sarge plays Reveille and the flag is going up the pole. Some DVD players handle layer breaks better than others.

 

[John Alderson]

Yeah, that would make more sense. I wonder why on earth my player glitches in chapter 31 then... I'm so sick of issues with DVD players.

 

[dpippel]

My feelings as well. While I thought that "Cars" certainly had it's moments and a few great characters, I simply couldn't buy into the universe the filmmakers created here as I have so easily with previous Pixar efforts. However, since I've spent a good portion of my life in Arizona and I could easily identify with the Route 66 themes. I think the main issue I had has already been mentioned - the use of cars as living, breathing characters. It just didn't work for me.

A good film, but in my opinion certainly not a great one. It came across as a "paint by numbers" job from Pixar.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Saw it once in the theater. Loved it. Just watched the DVD this past weekend and it looks fantastic, IMHO. I did notice the audio default issue. Fortunately, I'm so anal retentative about such things that I still instinctively check every new disc before I play it the first time (just to be sure). Nevertheless, it did seem kinda odd that it defaulted to 2.0.

 

[MarkHarrison]

I not only went through the whole movie in 2.0 without realizing it, but I had already read about the problem here and forgotten.

Our family enjoyed it. The 4 year old wanted it really badly, but lost interest halfway through. I think he enjoyed the movie, but that was just too long for him to sit still. So I'm sure we'll be rewatching it at some point and I'll remember the 5.1 for sure this time.