Blu-ray Review The BFG Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Matt Hough

The BFG Blu-ray Review

Steven Spielberg's The BFG, a precocious fantasy set in the early 1980s, contains the magic and mirth that have come to be associated with the filmmaker at his most playful and child-like.

[review]
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[TravisR]

I agree that this one will gain fans through the years.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I think this film got caught in the wake of Finding Dory (pun somewhat intended), which was much more successful than Disney expected, and The BFG was just released too close to the Pixar hit.

 

[benbess]

Haven't seen this one yet, but I'll probably pick it up at some point. Hook was actually a moderate success, at least compared to this one. Box office mojo has an inflation-adjusted list of all of Spielberg's movies, and this one is almost last. He actually has an amazing record. This list is US grosses only. Worldwide The BFG earned $178m, but compared to a production cost of c. $140, and given the fact that I think the director gets c. 20% of first dollar gross—it looks like the studio and the financial backers lost a lot of money on this one


http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=stevenspielberg.htm

Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation
Rank Title (click to view) Studio Adjusted Gross Unadjusted Gross Release
1 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Uni. $1,221,365,800 $435,110,554 6/11/82
2 Jaws Uni. $1,102,758,600 $260,000,000 6/20/75
3 Jurassic Park Uni. $791,448,000 $402,453,882 6/11/93
4 Raiders of the Lost Ark Par. $762,215,600 $248,159,971 6/12/81
5 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Col. $478,505,400 $132,088,635 11/16/77
6 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Par. $460,917,600 $179,870,271 5/23/84
7 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Uni. $429,724,700 $229,086,679 5/23/97
8 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Par. $425,476,000 $197,171,806 5/24/89
9 Saving Private Ryan DW $393,882,300 $216,540,909 7/24/98
10 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Par. $380,256,400 $317,101,119 5/22/08
11 War of the Worlds Par. $314,688,600 $234,280,354 6/29/05
12 Hook TriS $247,003,100 $119,654,823 12/11/91
13 Catch Me If You Can DW $236,053,100 $164,615,351 12/25/02
14 The Color Purple WB $228,423,000 $98,467,863 12/20/85
15 Schindler's List Uni. $197,967,400 $96,065,768 12/15/93
16 Lincoln BV $195,722,800 $182,207,973 11/9/12
17 Minority Report Fox $195,722,500 $132,072,926 6/21/02
18 A.I. Artificial Intelligence WB $119,591,800 $78,616,689 6/29/01
19 1941 Uni. $108,931,100 $31,755,742 12/14/79
20 The Terminal DW $107,968,700 $77,872,883 6/18/04
21 Always Uni. $90,230,800 $43,858,790 12/22/89
22 War Horse BV $87,165,400 $79,884,879 12/25/11
23 The Adventures of Tintin Par. $84,802,100 $77,591,831 12/21/11
24 Amistad DW $81,701,000 $44,229,441 12/10/97
25 Twilight Zone: The Movie WB $80,499,200 $29,450,919 6/24/83
26 Bridge of Spies BV $71,591,500 $72,313,754 10/16/15
27 Munich Uni. $62,585,400 $47,403,685 12/23/05
28 The BFG BV $56,135,800 $55,483,770 7/1/16
29 Empire of the Sun WB $47,530,000 $22,238,696 12/11/87
30 The Sugarland Express Uni. $34,532,100 $7,500,000 3/31/74

 

[David Sal]

This movie should be premiering at theaters now, not in the summer.

 

[ScottHM]

Haven't seen this one yet, but I'll probably pick it up at some point. Hook was actually a moderate success, at least compared to this one. Box office mojo has an inflation-adjusted list of all of Spielberg's movies, and this one is almost last. He actually has an amazing record. This list is US grosses only. Worldwide The BFG earned $178m, but compared to a production cost of c. $140, and given the fact that I think the director gets c. 20% of first dollar gross—it looks like the studio and the financial backers lost a lot of money on this one


http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=stevenspielberg.htm

Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation
Rank Title (click to view) Studio Adjusted Gross Unadjusted Gross Release
1 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Uni. $1,221,365,800 $435,110,554 6/11/82
2 Jaws Uni. $1,102,758,600 $260,000,000 6/20/75
3 Jurassic Park Uni. $791,448,000 $402,453,882 6/11/93
4 Raiders of the Lost Ark Par. $762,215,600 $248,159,971 6/12/81
5 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Col. $478,505,400 $132,088,635 11/16/77
6 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Par. $460,917,600 $179,870,271 5/23/84
7 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Uni. $429,724,700 $229,086,679 5/23/97
8 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Par. $425,476,000 $197,171,806 5/24/89
9 Saving Private Ryan DW $393,882,300 $216,540,909 7/24/98
10 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Par. $380,256,400 $317,101,119 5/22/08
11 War of the Worlds Par. $314,688,600 $234,280,354 6/29/05
12 Hook TriS $247,003,100 $119,654,823 12/11/91
13 Catch Me If You Can DW $236,053,100 $164,615,351 12/25/02
14 The Color Purple WB $228,423,000 $98,467,863 12/20/85
15 Schindler's List Uni. $197,967,400 $96,065,768 12/15/93
16 Lincoln BV $195,722,800 $182,207,973 11/9/12
17 Minority Report Fox $195,722,500 $132,072,926 6/21/02
18 A.I. Artificial Intelligence WB $119,591,800 $78,616,689 6/29/01
19 1941 Uni. $108,931,100 $31,755,742 12/14/79
20 The Terminal DW $107,968,700 $77,872,883 6/18/04
21 Always Uni. $90,230,800 $43,858,790 12/22/89
22 War Horse BV $87,165,400 $79,884,879 12/25/11
23 The Adventures of Tintin Par. $84,802,100 $77,591,831 12/21/11
24 Amistad DW $81,701,000 $44,229,441 12/10/97
25 Twilight Zone: The Movie WB $80,499,200 $29,450,919 6/24/83
26 Bridge of Spies BV $71,591,500 $72,313,754 10/16/15
27 Munich Uni. $62,585,400 $47,403,685 12/23/05
28 The BFG BV $56,135,800 $55,483,770 7/1/16
29 Empire of the Sun WB $47,530,000 $22,238,696 12/11/87
30 The Sugarland Express Uni. $34,532,100 $7,500,000 3/31/74

I hadn't realized I've missed so many Spielberg films. I've only seen 11 of the 30 films listed above. Maybe I should give The BFG a try.
---------------

 

[Malcolm R]

This movie should be premiering at theaters now, not in the summer.

Agreed. It seems like a natural for the holiday season, rather than a summer tentpole.

Studio scheduling leaves me perplexed at times. I guess they thought they had to concentrate on pushing Moana and Rogue One this holiday season, and with competition from Illumination's Sing closer to Christmas.

 

[TravisR]

If they had released The BFG in November, it would have been competing with Doctor Strange, Trolls, Fantastic Beasts and Moana and all of those movies would have left The BFG in the dust too.

 

[Mark Booth]

We watched 'The BFG' last night (RedBox Blu-ray rental). I was really impressed with little Ruby Barnhill's performance as Sophie. Clearly she was frequently required to act opposite a green screen or some stand-in character (temporary). She did an amazing job!

Overall, we enjoyed the film. It was a bit too childish at times, but that was easy to overlook considering it's safe for even younger children.

The Booth Bijou gives the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, or a score of 70%.

Mark

 

[Keith Cobby]

We also watched this last night. Agree with Mark about Ruby's performance which was charming. The film itself was lacking something for us and I don't think it is destined to be a future classic, unlike Paddington.

 

[haineshisway]

Instant classic. I think if ET was released today it would be a big flop, just like this one. We simply don't live in a world anymore where a film like this or ET will be a hit. It's not big, it's not loud, it has whimsy, it's not an "it" movie - but it IS a film with a wonderful screenplay, terrific performances, a great score - I laughed out loud several times, I was touched, and I don't honestly know what people want out of a movie anymore, but I do understand that the flavor today is very different than it used to be - this isn't a sequel, it's not a Marvel (but is a marvel), it's not Oscar bait - it's just a beautifully done movie and it will be reassessed just as AI has been.

 

[Dick]

For those with 3D set-ups (while Disney continues to jerk U.S. customers around):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-BFG-Bl...vd&ie=UTF8&qid=1482727604&sr=1-3&keywords=bfg

Still no word on a European or domestic Blu-ray of PETE'S DRAGON.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

Matt - we watched this film on Christmas Day and I think your assessment of the film is spot on. I was able to connect with the film a little more than my wife as this was required reading when I was in school (and we had fun reading it in class, despite our humourless and strict English teacher). The technical precision of the film is remarkable and Mark Rylance as the B.F.G and young Ruby Barnhill as Sophie were a joy to watch. I found the film utterly charming and had a silly smile on my face for much of the movie. A shame it did not fare well and the box office as this type of entertainment is in short supply. And I agree that this film will gather deeper (and hopefully wider) appreciation through the years.

Thanks for your review!

 

[Mark-P]

Has anyone bothered to import the 3D Blu-ray from the UK? I guess Disney doesn't have worldwide rights to this one as it is released by Entertainment One over there. It has been confirmed that the disc is region B locked, however I'm not sure whether the release has Dolby Atmos or not.

 

[David Norman]

Has anyone bothered to import the 3D Blu-ray from the UK? I guess Disney doesn't have worldwide rights to this one as it is released by Entertainment One over there. It has been confirmed that the disc is region B locked, however I'm not sure whether the release has Dolby Atmos or not.

By reports from the UK posters -- it definitely is Region B locked, but does have Atmos.

The India release is Region Free, but does not have Atmos.