Movie Info:
Writer: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Cast: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft, John Ratzenberger, David Kaye, Elie Docter, Jeremy Leary, Mickie McGowan, Danny Mann
Rating: PG
Studio: Pixar
Release Info:
Original Theatrical Release Date: May 29, 2009
DVD Release Date: November 10, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99
Seldom do I find that animated films make me actually feel a selection of emotions while watching. The majority of features, especially by Pixar, are happy, somewhat predictable stories that are bound to end with a happy, feel good ending. Well, UP has to be the most realistic of the Pixar films. UP made my emotions run the gamut from sadness to hope, happiness to frustration.
The realism in this beautifully rendered, animated feature is part of why I believe this is Pixar’s greatest release. The story deals with some heavy subjects that may go over the littlest Pixar fans’ heads, but the topics aren’t too boring that the youngsters won’t enjoy the story. Subjects like grief, accepting death, and growing old are told in ways that won’t overwhelm children, won’t bore adults, and will strike a chord in older audiences. I loved the story, which I felt was a little more sappy then I was expecting, but it was sappy in a good way.
One thing I really like about UP is how likable the characters are. Carl Fredricksen is the most awesome, hilarious, old man. He’s the grandfather you’d love to have, even if he is a little curmudgeon-y and cranky. This is understandable given the circumstances he has to endure. Russell could have become annoying, but instead he’s portrayed as a fun, inquisitive, delightful youth. You want Mr. Fredericksen to take Russell under his wing, especially when you hear about his absent father. Even Dug and Kevin do not get annoying, providing comic relief to a somewhat heavy story.
When all the elements of humor, realism, relatability and excellent storytelling come together, Pixar has discovered a new kind of magic, missing from earlier releases. I was surprised by just how much I fell in love with UP, the film’s characters, and the beautifully told story. I’m going to tell you now. You need to own this film. It is WELL worth the purchase. This review will focus on whether purchasing the Blu-Ray is worth it or not. However you plan to purchase this film really doesn’t matter, as long as you do purchase it.
UP Plot
The story begins several decades ago with young Carl Fredericksen. He is watching a film about his adventurer hero, Charles F. Muntz. Muntz departs for South America, because he is told he faked a discovery of a skeleton system he found near Paradise Falls. The skeleton is of a very large bird, and Carl is upset because this ruins Muntz’s reputation. Muntz, vowing to find a living species heads back to South America in his Zeppelin, and nothing is heard of him again.
Around the neighborhood, young Carl finds a tomboy, Ellie, who is also an aspiring adventurer and Muntz fan, in an abandoned house. The two form an adventurer club and soon the years begin to pass. We see Ellie and Carl marrying and enduring life’s hardships as a couple. They save up to take a trip to South America and Paradise Falls, but life gets in the way and they constantly end up spending their money. When Ellie eventually dies, Carl is lost without her.
With developers building all around his house, Carl refuses to sell. He is visited by a young wilderness scout, Russell, who is looking to get his last scout badge by helping the elderly. Carl sends Russell off on a goose chase, and deals with a very hard life without his beloved wife. When one of the developers breaks his mailbox, the mailbox Ellie put up, Carl snaps and hits him on the head with his cane. He is forced to go to court, where they order him to go live in a retirement home, giving the land to the developers.
Before he can be taken away, Carl devises a plan. He used to sell balloons, so he takes all of them he can find, fills them with helium and sets his house adrift. He has added controls to the house to steer it. Little does he know, young Russell is on the porch when he takes flight, so the boy must come with him. Russell uses his GPS to get them to South America, but they land a ways away from Paradise Falls. The two decide their best bet is to tether themselves to the house and float it with them as they travel to the falls, and to Ellie’s dream location/dream adventure destination, by foot.
Along the way, the two are aided by Kevin, a very tall bird who is trying to find her babies, and Dug, a taking dog that is the laughing stock of the talking dogs of Paradise Falls. With the talking dogs working for a mysterious figure, one with potentially bad motives, Carl must determine what is really important and still find a way to keep his adventurer promise (to get to Paradise Falls) to Ellie.
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Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
This is Pixar so you can be pretty sure that what you get is going to be top quality. UP beats every expectation for a Blu-ray that I could have. Normally the action films get the most attention from me, but UP is beautiful from start to finish with nothing at all to complain about in between. Using MPEG-4 AVC with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 has ensured the result is absolutely flawless. The colors are lavish and vibrant, the blacks are strong, and the entire picture just jumps off of the screen.
The best part is that everything works together perfectly and the result is just magnificent. Nothing stands out to mesmerize you and take you away from the beauty of the story, but you know that it’s top notch and it never disappoints. The character movements, their facial expressions, and the overall development of the look and feel of these characters is by far the most impressive visual element here.
The Dolby Digital Master Audio 5.1 is equally as impressive. You won’t find a better track, especially in an animated picture. You will hear the tiniest sound humming in the background, but it just adds layers to everything in the final offering. You can hear little things like the wind and the movements of the balloons or the house settling, but these things never take center stage.
It’s clear that the movie itself and the story is always the most important thing. The dialogue is perfect and the score is beyond beautiful. This is the perfect audio to go with the phenomenal video that has been presented. Along with the English audio, there are French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, an English DTS-HD 2.0 option and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
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Audio:
Bonus Features:
Pixar at least attempts to wow movie buyers with the DVD packages that they offer. In the case of UP you might believe that this is the best Blu-ray purchase of the year. When you add in the audio and visual quality, as well as the movie storyline, the added discs, and the special features, I must agree with you.
UP has it all and that includes a large selection of featurettes, plenty of animated shorts, and several other things that fans will adore. This completes a perfect end to a perfect movie.
This combo pack includes the DVD, Blu-ray, and a Digital Copy should you need one. I cannot comment on the worthiness of the digital copy because I never use them. I can say that both the DVD and Blu-ray are stellar though. Naturally, I recommend the Blu-ray, but both look brand new and come flaw free. Things get rolling with two animated shorts. “Partly Cloudy” and “Dug’s Special Mission” are both less than six minutes, with “Cloudy” being the longer of the two. “Partly Cloudy” allows you to see the miracle of child creation through the clouds and the sadness that it brings the stork when one cloud can only produce scary looking babies. In “Dug’s Special Mission” you get a chance to see what Dug’s life was like prior to meeting up with Mr. Fredricksen and Russell.
If you want to learn about the research that went into making UP, you will find all of that out and more by watching “Adventure is Out There!” This 22 minute documentary takes you and the research team to South America. Prior to making the movie, a group actually went into the jungles to explore and learn about the area where much of the movie would be taking place. Adrian Warren led the group to the top of the mountain, which was particularly thrilling for many of them since not a lot of people have had a chance to set foot up there. This was a great featurette and fans will really enjoy watching it.
Next up is “The Many Endings of Muntz.” This is a shorter featurette, coming in at just less than five minutes of screen time. Apparently, Pixar wasn’t positive about the way that Muntz would get it in the end. In this featurette you get a chance to see some of the different ways that they considered getting rid of him. This is another fun featurette that fans will want to watch.
Under the Documentaries tab you have between 45 minutes to an hour (give or take) worth of documentary style featurettes. You won’t want to miss one of these. The documentaries include: “Geriatric Hero,” “Canine Companions,” “Russell: Wilderness Explorer,” “Our Flightless Friend Kevin,” “Homemakers of Pixar,” “Balloons and Flight,” and “Composing for Characters.” Time wise, the shortest piece is “Homemakers of Pixar,” which lasts for around four and a half minutes, and the longest is “Canine Companions,” which tops out at over eight minutes. Below are a bit about each piece.
“Geriatric Hero”: Here we learn that researchers visited an old person’s home to study the look of the elderly. In addition to this information you get to hear the group talk about the experience of aging as a whole.
“Canine Companions”: If you want to know about the dogs in the movie, this is where you should look. A dog behaviorist was called on to get information on dog psychology. In this eight minute look back you get to see some of the lectures that he gave the crew to make the dogs seem funny and more realistic in their own way.
“Russell: Wilderness Explorer”: Russell is highlighted here in just about every way possible. They talk about the design of Russell and how he evolved as a character. Pete Sohn is also highlighted and how he is similar to Russell.
“Our Flightless Friend Kevin”: This is all about Kevin and what she is or could have been at one point. Since she is hardly a common looking bird, she went through a number of mythological and traditional changes that are shown here. I found the god bird that breathed fire to be one of the most humorous options of the bunch. Of course, the link between man and dinosaur would have been fun, as well.
“Homemakers of Pixar”: This is all about making the Fredricksen house, a home. A model of the house was made and photographed at different times, in order to get the lighting right based on the time of day and location. While shorter than some of the other documentaries, this is definitely one that is worth watching.
“Balloons and Flight”: Techies will enjoy this more than the rest of the crowd, as it’s more about the physical properties of balloons and less about the actual movie.
“Composing for Characters”: Michael Giacchino’s wonderful score is highlighted here. This is an awesome feature for both music lovers and for fans of the movie, as a whole.
“Alternate Scene: Married Life”: shows how important it was to show the sequence at the beginning of the film. Though wordless, it really highlights the romance and the love that Ellie and Carl shared. Despite the fact that it was set to just music, there were themes shown here that were unconventional for a children’s film. Showing the miscarriage was a surprise, but one that I appreciated. I imagine that will go over the heads of most children, but I liked that it was there from an adult standpoint.
You learn how the process of this scene came together from drafts and storyboards to the inclusion of music. This is interesting because you get to see the alternate option for the same sequence. I like the version in the movie, personally, but this version should be watched at least once, too.
“UP Promo Montage”: This offers various moments of the characters doing various things. You get to see Kevin floating through the air with the help of some balloons and Russell working on setting a trap. Despite them being short, I can certainly see why they helped to get people hyped about the film. They were all quite funny and fans will definitely enjoy them.
Two theatrical trailers can be found under the “Worldwide Trailers” header. This doesn’t make a lot of sense, considering there does not appear to be an international trailer. Still, if you want to see the trailers, you know where to find them.
“Cinexplore with Pete Docter and Bob Peterson”: This serves as the commentary track, but it goes above and beyond with the visual aspects that are included. I am not a huge fan when it comes to commentaries, but this is really a delight to watch and listen to. It’s fun to hear and see people that love their work as much as these guys seem to love it. Between the well timed art work and the lively conversation there is no way that you will be bored watching this.
Another HD feature is available via BD Live. It’s a board game for the kids, “Global Guardian.” I only played it for a short time and it didn’t manage to hold my attention for long. Of course, it’s obviously made for small kids, so in that respect it makes perfect sense.
One Easter Egg is available if you hit the left remote button on the main menu screen. This is just a small documentary that lasts for around two minutes and it’s called “The Egg.” The featurette is about Muntz and the reason that he started tracking Kevin. Apparently Kevin’s eggs were meant to provide him with eternal youth. It’s obvious the motivation for this storyline changed, but it’s fun to check it out none the less.
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Bottom Line:
If you purchase any animated feature this holiday season, you need to pick up a copy of UP. I highly recommend purchasing this in Blu-Ray if you have a Blu-Ray player. The quality on Blu-Ray is far superior to any standard DVD capabilities. This film looks brilliant. The bonuses on the Blu-Ray disc are abundant and you get a copy of the DVD (we use ours for portable DVD travel in the car, with the kids), thanks to this being a DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack. I cannot praise this movie any more than I already have. UP is beyond being highly recommended. It is a MUST HAVE Blu-Ray and/or DVD. Buy it now!
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Technorati Tags: Up, Mr Fredricksen, Russell, Kevin, Balloons, Blu-Ray, DVD Combo, Combo Pack, Pixar, Disney Studios, Family, Movie Review, Blu-Ray Review
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Written by Ashtyn - Visit Website
Ashtyn Evans is a writer, advocate, free thinker, and all around cynical person. Always quick to find the negative in anything pop culture, she loves being a part of that which she despises. Ashtyn and Dominick own numerous blogs together, as well as a full-time writing business. In her spare time she is a full-time college student studying History and Psychology. She plans to one day give up her freelance career and be a full-time blogger, novelist, and domestic goddess. She can be contacted for writing projects, fan mail, or just to say hi. She really is friendlier than we make her look.
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