The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Blu-ray Combo Pack)
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
Studio: Disney
Year: 2010
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rating: PG
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 French, Spanish
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish, French
Region: A-B-C
MSRP: $ 39.99
Release Date: November 30, 2010
Review Date: November 17, 2010
The Film
2.5/5
With a title like The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, one expects to see a sequence where mops and brooms go crazy with a magical cleaning spell, and sure enough, there is one of those in Jon Turteltaub’s otherwise tiresome and cacophonous fantasy. What could have been a charming flight of the imagination featuring an inexperienced magician’s assistant learning the ropes instead turns into one of those noisy Jerry Bruckheimer-produced special effects epics where great magicians are pitted against one another laying New York City to waste in the wake of their war against each other. This is movie making-by-the-numbers and so predictable that you’ll actually be able to quote dialogue before it comes out of the mouths of the characters and know going in that lovers will be united or reunited, evil will be vanquished (with a suggestion that it’s only been temporarily halted in case there’s enough interest for a sequel), and the bumbling bumpkin at the center of the story will rise to the challenge and save the day.
For centuries, sorcerer Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage), one of the acolytes of Camelot’s Merlin, has been searching for the Prime Merlinian, a sorcerer so innately powerful that only he can defeat the great sorceress of evil, Morgana (Alice Krige) who has been imprisoned with her followers in a Grimhold, a nesting doll-like container, but who is destined to be released. He eventually discovers him in 2010 New York City in the character of university physics nerd Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel). Dave is on his way to becoming the prototypical absent-minded professor due to his single minded interest in his physics experiments that he hopes will earn him a degree. His natural clumsiness and dim hold on the real world causes him to accidentally release the evil sorcerer Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina) from the top layer of the Grimhold. Hovath immediately taps his own apprentice, show biz magician Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell), and together they begin to systematically destroy the city in search of the Grimhold which in the last holder in the container rests Morgana.
The so-familiar story (by Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Matt Lopez; script by Lopez, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard) is way too familiar: bumbling newbie must be guided by an experienced older man to save something valuable (producer Bruckheimer and director Turteltaub already played this story card in their National Treasure films, and Bruckheimer’s recent Prince of Persia also tapped into many of the same beats of this framework). Special effects magicians have certainly worked overtime to make the fantasy elements come to life, but these dazzling magic tricks just don’t awe us as they once did. We’ve seen it all before (well, there is one mirror bit that seemed fresh, but it’s over in seconds during an otherwise irksome chase sequence), and the climactic confrontation with Morgana in Central Park (they’re in New York; of course, it happens there) follows in exasperating lockstep every story point since David and Goliath first met: pitting a smaller, less experienced combatant against a stronger more powerful adversary. Yes, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” homage sequence (even riffing on Paul Dukas’ music) works as well for Jay Baruchel as it did for Mickey Mouse, but it’s less a dazzling achievement than a pleasant reflection on something masterful which has come before. Moment by moment, we’re constantly being let down by a breathtaking lack of imagination despite the millions of dollars of effects work that transforms, explodes, or morphs things before our very eyes.
Nicholas Cage gets first billing (he’s also listed as an executive producer), but he doesn’t seem to be fully invested in the performance. Often, he seems to be merely going through the motions without real involvement in what’s happening. Jay Baruchel goes into dork overdrive as Dave, so much so that he’s more a nuisance than a delight as we see him stumble and bumble through the events of the film, and his romance with cute Becky Barnes played by Teresa Palmer doesn’t really convince either. With the juicier villain roles, Alfred Molina and Toby Kebbell as wicked master and apprentice have fun with their parts, practically salivating in their nastiness and malevolence and always worth watching. Monica Bellucci as Balthasar’s love interest and Alice Krige as the evil Morgana get limited chances to show what they can do.
Video Quality
4.5/5
The film has been framed at its theatrical 2.40:1 aspect ratio and is presented in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Sharpness and color density are beautifully achieved in the transfer with details quite well captured and brilliant hues popping throughout (especially eye-catching is the Chinatown street scene which is an explosion of color from beginning to end). Only the black levels are sometimes a bit less than impressive; most of the time the image with its natural flesh tones and excellent contrast is a handsome high definition transfer. The film has been divided into 21 chapters.
Audio Quality
5/5
As with most Bruckheimer-produced epics, the sound design is expressive and expansive throughout. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix spreads all number of whooshing, swooping, and gushing sound effects throughout the soundfield, and the LFE channel is almost constantly active with an impressive display of deep bass. Dialogue shows up clearly and cleanly in the center channel. It’s another reference quality soundtrack that will keep your sound system working overtime.
Special Features
3/5
All of the bonus features are presented in 1080p.
“Magic in the City” is the first in a series of EPK featurettes dealing with various facets of the production. In this one, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Jon Turteltaub, and the stars of the film discuss using actual locations in New York City to film the movie. There are also some minor comments about the special effects work on location along with the use of soundstages converted to look like specific places in the city. This runs 12 ¾ minutes.
“The Science of Sorcery” focuses on how the magic in the film was achieved and how they wanted viewers to note the role in science in producing real-life magic through the ages. This runs 10 ¼ minutes.
“Making Magic Real” is a discussion of how the director wanted to produce as much magic in real time in the camera as he could. We see how real models of the flying eagle from the Chrysler Building, the bull, and the dragon were utilized and how some of the mirror world shots were done. This runs 11 ¾ minutes.
“Fantasia: Reinventing a Classic” focuses on the homage scene to Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in showing how it was filmed and the work that went into making it a true tribute to the original moment in Fantasia. This lasts for 10 ¼ minutes.
“The Fashionable Drake Stone” is a brief interview with actor Toby Kebbell as he describes the outlandish wardrobe he has to wear playing his character in the movie. It runs for2 ¼ minutes.
“The Grimhold: An Evil Work of Art” has the movie’s production designer describing the permutations the prop went through before arriving at its final look in this 3 ¾-minute featurette.
“The Encantus” is the magical guidebook the characters refer to during the movie, and this prop is discussed by the prop master and the production designer in describing how it was compiled. This runs 2 ½ minutes.
“Wolves & Puppies” introduces us to the trained wolves used in the subway scene in the movie and how they had to be transformed into snarling creatures in the movie. This runs 3 ¼ minutes.
“The World’s Coolest Car” is Nicholas Cage’s actual Rolls Royce Phantom used as the prototype for his character’s vehicle in the film. This runs 1 ½ minutes.
There are five deleted scenes which can be viewed individually or in one 7 ¾-minute grouping.
The film’s outtake reel is not very interesting (mostly just a montage of breaking up), but it’s here, and it runs 3 ¼ minutes.
The disc features trailers for upcoming Disney 3D on Blu-ray releases, Tron: Legacy, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, and Alice in Wonderland (1951).
The second disc in the set is the DVD copy of the movie.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a family adventure fantasy that may play better at home than in the theater with its predictable action and cardboard characters. The Blu-ray release looks and sounds simply splendid, and there are a few fluffy featurettes showing some behind-the-scenes activity on the set that fans may find interesting.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
