HTF REVIEW: "Ice Age" (Highly Recommended) (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[James L White]

Great review, I'm buying this disc blind, I love animation, digital transfers only add to the enjoyment, obviously,

 

[Barry_B_B]

Thanks Ron! My girlfriend and I have been rediscovering the joys of animated films and had been wondering if this movie was any good. Will be adding to my collection.

 

[Greg_C_T]

Great review, Ron! And kudos to Fox for putting out an outstanding set for this underrated movie. My girlfriend and I loved it in the theater, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again in my HT.

 

[ashley c]

Holy sh*t look at those transfers!

 

[Jens Raethel]

Thanks Ron!
Im looking forward for this DVD..

 

[Bill_D]

Ok,I'm in.

 

[Karl L]

Michael-
I'm pretty sure Gary Reber from WSR posted in the AVS Forum's that it would be released in the next wave of movies following Planet of the Apes, High Crimes, and Kiss of the Dragon on Nov. 5th. Its supposedly do out around the same time as Resevoir Dogs, Cast Away, and possibly From Hell.

 

[David Von Pein]

If this one's going to be under the tree December 25th, you might just find your kids (and yourself) still examining the wealth of extras NEXT Christmas Day!
Another first-rate review my Mr. E.!
Ron E.'s reviews are utterly fascinating to view.
Thanks Ron!

 

[Gavin_L]

Once again Fox has done a wonderful job putting out a top of the line product. Wasn't really sure when i saw prevue's for the movie when it was out in theaters, but from you postive review Ron i'll be picking this dvd up for my lil bro.

 

[JosephMoore]

A couple additional items of note:

- If Monsters Inc. is "Disney-like" then Ice Age is kind of "Warner-Bros.-like." It's more fleshed out than any Looney-Tunes short ever was, but it's a similar style of humor so if you dig them, you'll appreciate where Ice Age is coming from.

- This movie skews a little older than Pixar's movies (though not as much as Shrek.) My 3 year old enjoyed it, but it was a bit intense at times, and the story is a little drawn out and complex for the youngest of kids.

- Ice Age features true "ray-traced" computer-graphics. I won't bore you with why this is unusual (it takes an inordinate amount of computer horsepower)... all you need to know is that this rendering process yeilds a picture that is distinctly different from any other full-length motion picture CG you've seen. That fact that it as used to give a cartoon-ish look (it's usually used for hyper-realism) makes it all the more unique.

 

[Jenna]

Ron, thank you for the stunning screenshots! Passed on it's theatrical release so that I could enjoy it on my home theater first (which I find myself doing more and more)without annoying cell phones and loud movie patrons.

Can't wait to see this one in all it's splendor in the comfort of my own home.

 

[Troy LaMont]

Ron,

Thanks for the review.

I can't wait for the D-Theater 1080i High Definition version that should drop on the same day! Whooo hoooo.

Troy

 

[GlennH]

Nice review, Ron. We're buying this one sight unseen.

DVDFile has their review up now too. Interestingly, while Ron says there are no artifacts, Peter saw some:

Alas, the only real disappointment with this transfer is the presence of noticeable compression artifacts. Likely due to the inclusion of both widescreen and full frame transfers, I'm sure detail would have been improved even further and pixel breakup minimized had separate versions been released. As is, I noticed some obvious jittering and even polarization on fades and transitions. It's not severe, but it can distract

I'm sure this is minor, but it's the reason why I'm not at all a fan of putting both versions on the same disc. I'd much rather have separate versions where the bit rate can be maintained high. In my opinion *all* discs should strive for highest possible video/audio first, and worry about extras later.

 

[JosephMoore]

As is, I noticed some obvious jittering and even polarization on fades and transitions. It's not severe, but it can distract

Even if the all possible bandwidth is devoted to video (the max allowed by the MPEG-2 standard) banding (posterization) of gradations is possible. Large (over a lot of the screen,) subtle gradations will *always* do this because their are only so many steps available to reproduce the luminence. Some displays (like CRT's) do a good job of hiding this. Others, like digital projectors, tend to reveal it more. I know of at least one software DVD player that "dithers" between colors and does an excellent job of compensating ... I'd expect that some hardware does the same.

FYI, See this post for an explanation:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...92#post1094270

 

[Kevin_Graham]

I can't wait for this one! Scrat is by far my favorite character.

 

[Marc Carra]

Yup, count me in for the DVHS HD version as well. Ice Age should look astounding in High Def!

Marc.

 

[andrew markworthy]

First, good review, Ron. I personally thought the movie was good but tended to tail off and get a bit cliched towards the end. However, my kids loved it.

One point:

Alas, the only real disappointment with this transfer is the presence of noticeable compression artifacts. Likely due to the inclusion of both widescreen and full frame transfers

The Brit R2 is just a single disc, but the copy I got was widescreen only, with few noticeable artifacts. Furthermore, it has all the 'good' extras, missing the CD-ROM games, but otherwise pretty inclusive.

 

[Robert McClanahan]

I missed this one in the theater.I will buy it sight unseen though.My son saw it with his mom and I will trust his review and Ron's.

 

[Louis C]

Ron, great review as always.

I saw this at the cineplex with my six-year-old. She was completely captivated by this film. Some parts are intense, but kids six and up should do fine.

We both loved this movie, and I look forward to the DVD and to show Scrat to mom.

cheers

 

[Jeremy Allin]

I've just reviewed my copy as well. I enjoyed the movie in theatres and enjoyed it again on DVD. A top notch transfer that is an inch behind Pixar's DVDs in terms of quality. Great DD5.1 track, too!

Scrat's Missing Adventure 'Gone Nutty' is a riot! Love that little guy!