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Blu-ray Review We Bought a Zoo Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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Matt Hough

Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo hits all of the familiar notes in telling its story of a family hard hit by the death of the mother striving to move past their grief and build a new life. And yet, familiar as all of the adversarial conditions are that make rebuilding the family an uphill struggle, the director and his co-writer keep the story emotionally pitch perfect making for a dramedy with an appeal that will spread from the oldest to the youngest members of the family.



We Bought a Zoo (Blu-ray Combo Pack)
Directed by Cameron Crowe

Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2011
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1   1080p   AVC codec
Running Time: 124 minutes
Rating: PG
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 French, Spanish
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish

Region: A
MSRP: $ 24.99


Release Date: April 3, 2012

Review Date: April 4, 2012




The Film

3.5/5


After the death of his wife Katherine (Stephanie Szostak), Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) looks for a way to begin again, to take himself and his family on a new adventure they can share together, and he finds it in a nearly abandoned Rosemoor Animal Park out of the city which he is willing to invest his life savings in to bring up to code. The park has a skeleton crew still on hand paid for by the estate of the former owner maintaining what’s there but without resources to make any improvements. Zookeeper Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) knows her business and keeps her crew on task, but Benjamin’s main problems involve reaching his belligerent, rebellious fourteen year old son Dylan (Colin Ford) who wants no part of the zoo, dealing with a hypersensitive zoo inspector Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins) who can pull the plug on the whole project on a whim, and the ever-present need for money to make vital improvements so the park can be opened to the public in the summer and start to pay for itself.


The screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna and director Cameron Crowe is based on the real-life story of a British man whose family took over the Dartmoor Zoological Park but here Americanized with some details in the story changed. What’s present in both stories are enormous amounts of heart and good will, and it would be virtually impossible not to watch the film and not begin identifying with these damaged people who are trying to rebuild both the zoo and their own emotional cores. As is the case with so many stories of this type, every adversity that’s overcome only braces the protagonists for another even greater calamity to befall them and which must be met with pluck and determination. With such a formulaic underpinning, some viewers may find the 124 minutes of the film a trifle long, but director Crowe makes it such that every affecting moment earns its place in the story, even when some of the problems (an escaped bear, the aged-related illness of one of the park’s primary attractions) seem like sequences which weren’t entirely necessary. He also fills the story with lots of eccentric characters even though some of them (Patrick Fugit’s Robin Jones always with a monkey perched on his shoulder, Angus MacFadyen’s animal wrangler Peter MacCready) don’t get the development they deserve, and a couple of tentative romances (both Mee men with their respective female attractions) seem more by-the-numbers than necessary.


Matt Damon gives a very warm and rich portrait of a widower struggling to begin anew, and all of his scenes with insubordinate son Dylan (played rather one-note by Colin Ford) amplify that struggle making their eventual epiphany one of the film’s real highlights. Thomas Haden Church as Benjamin’s older brother Duncan chastising him for possibly squandering his inheritance on a pipe dream but nevertheless standing by to lend a helping hand makes a solid impression. As in his Jerry Maguire, Crowe has found a delightfully precocious child to bring joy and spirit to the proceedings: Maggie Elizabeth Jones as seven-year old daughter Rosie. Her involvement with the animals is delightful to watch, and her conversations with her father throughout the film really punctuate the movie with a loving and devoted tone. Scarlett Johansson’s Kelly knows what she’s doing in the park, but the character hasn’t been given much of a backstory to make her a more important character in the narrative.



Video Quality

5/5


The transfer is presented in its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is offered in 1080p resolution using the AVC codec. Sharpness is exemplary throughout, and the close-ups of the animals are so vivid that one can count spines on porcupines and see individual hairs on the lion’s mane. Color is richly saturated with accurate flesh tones prevailing, and contrast is spot-on making for a vivid pictorial presentation. The film has been divided into 32 chapters.



Audio Quality

4.5/5


The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix doesn’t quite reach reference levels with not enough ambient sounds of nature reaching into the surrounds to give a real you-are-there aspect to the aural representation of this nature park. But dialogue has been well recorded and placed in the center channel, and the music, a combination of pop standards featuring the likes of Neil Young and Bob Dylan and a background score by Jonsi, gets a very impressive spread through the soundstage though it might occasionally be a bit on the loud side.



Special Features

4.5/5


The audio commentary is by director Cameron Crowe, film editor Mark Livolsi, and actor JB Smoove who plays the minor role of a real estate agent in the picture. Crowe and Livolsi tend to defer to Smoove to chitchat at random intervals, but the actor’s tendency to babble becomes irritating after a time making the commentary something of a trial to sit through.


With one notable exception, the bonus features are presented in 1080p.


There are twenty deleted/extended scenes which may be played separately or in one 37 ½ minute grouping.


The movie’s gag reel runs for 7 minutes.


“We Shot a Zoo” is an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. Narrated by Cameron Crowe, this 75 ¾-minute feature begins with the real story of the Mee family and then brings events to Southern California where a location for the zoo is found and the park built, rehearsals with the actors are held, and then filming commences. Throughout there are interviews with all of the principal actors, and the owners of the animals are also around for interviews and interactions with the actors. This is in 1080i.


“Their Happy Is Too Loud” concentrates on director Cameron Crowe and composer Jonsi working together to bring the right emotional pitch to various scenes. This runs 17 ½ minutes.


“The Real Mee” gives us the real stories of Benjamin Mee and his family as we see them at their actual zoo home and watch children Milo and Ella feed and discuss the animals. This runs 28 ½ minutes.


A photo gallery contains dozens of stills (production shots, portraits, behind-the-scenes shots) photographed by Crowe’s best friend Neal Preston.


The film’s theatrical trailer runs 2 ½ minutes.


The disc is BD-Live ready, but there was no exclusive material concerning this film on the website.


The disc contains Scrat’s Continental Crack-Up Part 2 and a promo trailer for Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.


The second disc in the set is the DVD copy of the movie.


The third disc in the set is the digital copy of the film with enclosed instructions for installation on PC and Mac devices.



In Conclusion

4/5 (not an average)


A fine film for the whole family, We Bought a Zoo provides a satisfying combination of comedy and drama even if most of the emotional keys it hits are familiar ones. Superb audio and video highlight the package which also contains a generous cross-section of bonus features. Recommended!




Matt Hough

Charlotte, NC


 

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This was one of the few titles I was willing to go out and pay to see in a cinema but that ship sailed and I was waiting for Netflix rental to see if I would want to buy it. it was on my very very short list of potential buys. I almost NEVER buy a movie sight unseen, especially since one movie I was sure I would love turned out SO dull. Already knew the plotline, etc. After reading your review I got that it was a good value with the "generous extras" and checked out the trailer and 2 min preview on Vudu. Briefly considered using my last Vudu credit to watch it now, but checking Amazon, I found a Like New (how used can it be now?) copy on Amazon for $16.68 shipped from - same city as me! Knowing first class is cheapest rate for a DVD, I should get it in a couple days. Thanks Matt for your new zoo review - confirming the value. PS: think the commentary is as bad as the one on the Muppets (where it sounds like they're all stoned)?
 

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