The Film
Considering their dad's part-time job as a gear and disc reviewer and full-time love of everything home theater, it may seem strange that my two children don't watch a lot of television. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with TV or movies – I'd be a hypocrite if I suggested otherwise – but there'll be plenty of time for that in the years ahead. For now, at this early stage, my wife and I would rather encourage reading, make-believe or outdoor play.
Come to think of it, Danny (5) and Abby (3) might be the only kids in town who couldn't tell Mickey Mouse from Mighty Mouse or pick Donald Duck out of a police line-up. But they know Pixar. To date, my kids have seen a mere eight to ten films and at least half of them of them have been Pixar titles. Why, you ask? Put simply, there is a unique blend of sweetness, intelligence and intense joy that emanates from every masterpiece Pixar creates. And Wall-E might just be their best effort to date.
During my first viewing of Wall-E, I was taken aback by the sheer scale of the film and the story Pixar was attempting to tell. If you have yet to see the film, it would be a disservice to divulge too much in the plot department. Suffice to say, Wall-E is a wistful, trash compacting robot left on Earth to clean up our mess – that's a collective "our" – and his mundane existence is suddenly and violently interrupted by the arrival of Eve, another robot with a very different directive. Beneath its beautifully-animated exterior, Wall-E will surprise you at every turn with inventive visual comedy, a thought-provoking message and one of the most beautiful on-screen romances in recent memory.
The Picture
After a pair of reference quality video transfers for the Blu-ray editions of Cars and Ratatouille, it should come as no surprise that Wall-E easily clears the bar set by its Pixar predecessors - and it even manages to raise it a few pegs. The film's AVC/MPEG-4 encode is pristine from top to bottom with a vast and gorgeous color palette. Disney sent along the standard DVD for comparison purposes and the high def edition easily trounces it. The DVD image, while perfectly adequate in its own right, simply cannot compete with the staggering sense of image depth and three-dimensionality that's visible on the Blu-ray's 1080p offering.
The Sound
Once again, the folks at Disney/Pixar have outdone themselves with a robust and engaging soundtrack. The only option is a DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 track but it's superb in every department. From its spacious, room-filling opening song to subtle, ambient effects sounds (love that car alarm!) to the intense, low-end bass accompanying the landing of Eve's rocket, Wall-E delivers an immersive and thrilling soundtrack from start to finish.
The Extras
In a surprising move from Disney, Wall-E makes its high def debut in two different Blu-ray editions. Both versions are identical, containing two discs chock full of Blu-ray content. The 3-disc version simply adds a Digital Copy version of the film and it's playable on both iTunes and Windows Media-based portable devices. The third disc carries with it a suggested $5 premium, but Amazon is only charging 50 cents extra at the time of this writing. As a result, one has to wonder if the 2-disc offering was really necessary.
Whether you opt for the 2-disc or 3-disc Blu-ray edition, you'll enjoy hours of quality bonus material and more Wall-E –themed fun than you can realistically ingest at one sitting. Considering this set's embarrassment of riches, let's talk highlights. Whatever you do, don't miss "The Pixar Story," which is a lengthy and wonderfully-produced documentary on the history of Pixar and its magic makers. You'll also want to check out "Burn-E" and "Presto" – a pair of hilarious Pixar short films, the latter of which ran in front of Wall-E during its theatrical run.
Exclusive to the Blu-ray editions are two great enhanced commentary tracks. The first is called "Cine-Explore" and it features director Andrew Stanton as he offers an insightful and witty look at the making of the film while photographs, storyboards and other items pop up on screen to support what he's saying. It's well executed and definitely worth a listen. The other commentary is decidedly goofier but it's also a lot of fun. It's called "Geek Track" and it features four Pixar collaborators (aka "the geek squad") sitting on a couch MST3K-style, offering amusing anecdotes and poking fun at the film while it unfolds. Finally, one last extra that deserves a mention is the "Axiom Arcade." This collection of four Wall-E –themed video games is an addictive treat and shows us how much is possible with Blu-ray technology. And for all you Atari fans, Eve's Bot Blaster is great if you need an Asteroids fix!
Wall-E is the latest Disney title to make use of BD-Live, but remember that you'll need a Profile 2.0 player to take advantage. For this review, I finally broke down and set up an account on Disney's BD-Live Network and the process was fairly painless. However, like most of the BD-Live content I've looked at so far, it's rather slow to load and the payoff rarely feels like it was worth the wait. Make no mistake, I have high hopes for the future of BD-Live; for now though, it's only worthwhile for the extremely patient consumer.
Final Thoughts
This summer I experienced one of those milestone moments in parenting – taking my kids on their first trip to the movie theater. The first smile, the first crawl, the first walk – they're fine. However, for a movie buff, the first trip to the theater is a momentous occasion. What should that first BIG SCREEN movie be? This is not a question to ponder lightly. As luck would have it, Pixar released Wall-E this summer and consequently my difficult decision became a no-brainer.
The film's online trailer, which featured a cute little robot doing cute, little things had my kids in stitches long before we stood in line for a ticket – but one question lingered in my mind: could a film with almost zero dialogue in its first thirty minutes really hold the attention of little kids? For that matter, could it hold the attention of those same kids' parents? Fortunately, the answer is "Absolutely." And whether you missed it in the theater or you're just dying to see it again, this 3-disc, feature-laden Blu-ray edition from the folks at Disney is absolutely the way to see it. Highly recommended.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
- Director: Andrew Stanton
- Actors: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver
- Audio/Languages: English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
- Region: All
- Number of discs: 3
- Rating: G
- Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: November 18, 2008
- Run Time: 98 minutes
- List Price: $35.99 (2-disc), $40.99 (3-disc)
