DVD Review HTF REVIEW: CARS - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

I've never watched a NASCAR race, nor am I a fan (obviously). However, this is irrelevant when concerning this fantastic movie from Pixar. It's like being concerned with whether or not you're a gangster in order to enjoy Goodfellas.

Cars felt like a Frank Capra movie... yeah, a bit corny, but with a great message. The contrast between the racing life of McQueen and the peaceful Radiator Springs stresses what's at the heart of the message: we become preoccupied with the destination without thinking about getting there. The gags are all funny. The whole tractor tipping scene made my stomach hurt from laughing. I'm not sure why the issue of the car world is important. I think it's weird that the issue of the car world is important. Movies aren't reality!

The animation is pure eye candy. The amount of detail put into everything, not to mention the beautiful night scenes. The sequence where everyone is cruising at night, especially. I loved the character animation since I was unsure how they could make talking cars work. It only took a minute to forget they're talking cars and watch as if they're just regular people. The signature great voice casting is at work again. I could listen to Paul Newman's gracefully aged voice at any time... wonderful. Owen Wilson and Bonnie Hunt are good in anything. I was really amazed by how well they had Jim "Larry the Cable Guy" Whitney perform his voice role. There's a lot of backlash on his casting, but he was perfect.

My only caveats were a few dumb PDI/Dreamworks pop culture gags that stick out too much. I still give Cars a 5/5.

 

[wally]

As in most PIXAR films, NASCAR is just the metaphor. You don’t have to be a fan of fish to like Finding Nemo do you? I am a NASCAR fan and loved this film.

 

[Matthew Clayton]

The only Pixar films I don't like happen to be "A Bug's Life" and "Finding Nemo". I found the former film annoying and the latter too sweet and maudlin (as well as incredibly overrated). However, I love the rest of Pixar's films, particularly "Monsters, Inc.", "Toy Story 2" and "The Incredibles".

 

[TravisR]

Good point. I'm not purple and furry or a little green guy and I love Monsters, Inc.

 

[Steve Christou]

[lies down on couch] Okay, I like fish, hate bugs, interested in insurance, don't collect toys, enjoy stock car racing but didn't like CARS much. A bit corny? How many acres? I think 'donnie_d' should have added 'Pixar' to his blunt statement and he'd be right.

 

[Craig S]

 

[Colin Jacobson]

But I hear you DO have only one eye!

 

[CraigF]

I am going to get Cars, and I do understand the point being made. I like cars and racing, but don't have much use for NASCAR. So I probably will miss many good more subtle inside jokes, which are the type I enjoy most.

For instance: your talk made me go back and watch The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. I am very familiar with comic book superheroes from the 60's, when I read comics. Tons of great jokes that I'm sure SOME missed and wouldn't know it. Similarly, I used to keep saltwater fish. FN was brilliantly done, IMO the funniest Pixar movie by far, but much of the comedy is ripping comedy stuff done 35 years ago that some might not quite appreciate as much. Comedy is very personal. I recognise many of the toys in the Toy Stories from my day, and appreciate the films, but not very humorous to me, seems a lower intellectual bar was aimed at. A Bug's Life seemed way too Disney story-wise, more like a show-off-what-we-can-do movie. OTOH, though I have all the Airport movies, I still have NEVER watched them! Yet Airplane! is still damn funny to me. Even though I'm probably missing all the "subtle" stuff (yeah, Airplane! has sooo much subtlety).

I'm sure I'll enjoy Cars. I try not to look too hard at the animation details and just enjoy the film/disc, but Pixar is so damn good that it's hard not to.

 

[DouglasRobert]

The concept reminds me of that old cartoon that I remember from my childhood about a little blue car and it's different owners throughout it's life.
"Susie the Little Blue Coupe" from Disney was it's title.

As for the Cars DVD, it'll have to wait because I'm saving up my money to get Forbidden Planet and King Kong on the 14th.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Not true. Toy Story was originally released as a Gold Classic Collection 1-discer, with a film-based transfer. The same film-based transfer was used in the Toy Story 2-pack (in fact, the disc bears the Gold Classic Collection logo!), while the Ultimate Toy Box was an anamorphic digital transfer.

 

[TonyD]

thats available as a free download if you buy it from circuit city.

 

[Ken Seeber]

I'm surprised at the number of people who think "Cars" is so NASCAR-centric. NASCAR bookends the film, but really isn't more than a subplot. The movie really reflects John Lasseter's nostalgia for Route 66 and the post-war Americana that went with it, as well as the decline of smalltown America brought about when the interstate system came into being.

Anyone who grew up along the Mother Road (as I did) got that point clearly. I even recognized most of the businesses in Radiator Springs as being based on real Route 66 landmarks.

"Cars" is about NASCAR in the same way "Doc Hollywood" was about the medical profession.

 

[MarkHastings]

Like I said before, the trailer really makes you think it's all about NASCAR.

 

[Brad M]

If anyone was wondering, the Target bonus disc has:

Behind The Wheels (12:17)
Life-Size McQueen And Sally (2:59)
Meet Pixar's Gear Heads (2:41)
Talkin' Cars (2:23)
Cars Alter Egos (3:34)
Dinner At The Big Texan (3:21)
Day In The Life Of A Producer (3:11)
Hot Laps In Sonoma (3:19)
Worldwide Cars (3:36)

 

[DavidPla]

I remember reading a quote in which John Lasseter said that short inspired the designs of the cars for the movie by putting the eyes on the windshield instead of the headlights. The short can be watched on YouTube here ...

 

[Jason_V]

Yeah yeah yeah...double dip next year, vault...but ya know, I missed it in the theater. I have all the other Pixar flicks and being the anal-retentive one I am, I would miss having it there. I will be picking it up tonight and look forward to watching it. Not a car fan at all, but you never know.

Besides, there's always the resale shops...

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I love New York City (but you need much moolah to keep a family in decent digs there) -- if I won the Lotto, I'd move back there in a heartbeat.

I actually thought Pluto Nash was pretty good -- it seemed like a serious SF script that had been molded into a more comedic vehicle for Eddie Murphy, but there was enough of the thoughtful stuff still in there to make it worth watching.

I totally agree with you about The Piano. I am still trying to recover from that one!

I enjoy auto racing, but I don't find that it makes for good TV, so I don't really follow it. (I love racing board games and video games though.) But I liked Doc Hollywood, so I'm looking forward to Cars.

Normally I'd wait for the inevitable SE of this disc, but my son loves the characters so much, I can't wait to see his reaction to the movie (it'll be his first, although he watched a little of Monster House). I guess if it's good, I'll get the BD eventually.

What's my point? I'm at work and I have a HUGE amount of stuff to do. . .

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Store bonus discs vary widely in quality -- sometimes they're great (for example, Best Buy's extras for Top Gun and Master & Commander; Walmart's extras for Field Of Dreams and Kissology Vol. 1), and sometimes they're just fluff.

I'm interested in hearing how interesting the 35 minutes or so on that Target disc are before deciding whether to splurge for it.

The Walmart extra disc is a CD, no?

 

[BrettB]

No, it's a dvd. It has
Rascal Flatts Life Is A Highway (in 5.1) music video 5:00
A making of the music video 7:00
Cars: The making of the Music 7:00
Under The Hood (ABC Family tv show) 15:52

Quality is a bit dodgy and 4:3.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Ah, so. Thanks for the tip!

Sounds like the bonus DVD for region 4 includes all the stuff from both the Target and Walmart US discs.