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Up Blu-ray Review

Nathan M Rose Pixar, A Disney Company that you either love or you love to hate:  For one that usually falls right in the middle, I watched Pixar’s latest film, “Up”, with no expectations… and was pleasantly surprised.

“Up” features a character named Carl Fredricksen, a widower, who has lost his beloved wife, Ellie.   The two had been saving their entire married life for a special trip to Paradise Falls in South America; yet Ellie dies just as they are ready to embark on their journey.   Devastated from his loss, Carl becomes a recluse.  As the years go by and life goes around him, he becomes a bitter man.  However, one day he decides that he will indeed make that trip to Paradise Falls, just as he had promised Ellie.  Being a retired balloon vendor, Carl makes an airship out of thousands of helium filled balloons, and lifts his house away to South America.  Little does he know, however, that he has a stowaway named Russell.   Russell is a Wilderness Explorer who is trying to earn his badge for “Assisting the Elderly”.  He happened to be on the porch of Carl’s home when it took off.   Through some rough traveling conditions, the pair make it to South America and discover that adventure is right around the corner.

When the DVD was first released to the market, Pixar was a natural choice to fully take advantage of the format with their digital-to-digital transfers.  Now, with Blu-ray, Pixar has taken the next step and by becoming the pioneer for digital-to-digital, high-definition transfers.  The disc is an AVC 1080p encode at 24 Mbps, and is presented at 1.78:1 aspect ratio.  It is absolutely flawless.  There are no edge enhancements or blemishes of any kind.  In fact, if you were ever looking for a demo disc to show off your home theater to your friends, this is it!

The audio is lossless DTS-HD Master Audio with 5.1 channels - 24 bits resolution at 48 kHz.

When it comes to extra, Disney and Pixar usually go all out, and “Up” is no exception.  Extras include:

·  Global Guardian Badge Game:  Players try to locate countries and states around the globe in a multi-layered Blu-ray Disc® Exclusive and geography game enhanced by BD-Live;
·  Cine-Explore:  The making of, by director Pete Docter, and co-director Bob Peterson;
·  Dug's Special Mission:  An all new film original short that follows the hilarious misadventures of Dug as he attempts to complete his ''special mission'';
·  The Many Endings of Muntz:  Many ideas were hatched about how to dispose of the film's arch villain, Muntz; and now viewers can see the many alternate endings proposed during story development;
·  Partly Cloudy:  The hilarious short film that preceded screenings of Up.  In it, a fanciful world where cherubic clouds jovially create the earth's cuddly animal newborns -- one depressed cloud must find the silver lining in his assignment -- fashioning the less-loved critters like crocodiles and porcupines;
·  Adventure is Out There:  This documentary tells the story of the filmmakers' visit to the Tepuis Mountains of South America to research the design and story of the film;
·  Geriatric Hero:  A character study of Carl and Muntz, from research to realization including art and design, rigging, animation and story.  It focuses on the issues of aging, ''simplexity'', shape-language and compelling character arcs;
·  Canine Companions:  For anyone who ever wondered where CG puppies come from, an introduction to the design, behavior and language of dogs
·  Russell:  Wilderness Explorer -- A character study of Russell from inspiration and design to finding the character arc and authentic voice for this wilderness ranger;
·  Our Giant Flightless Friend, Kevin:  Find out how Avian Research & Development at Pixar helped bring a mythical, 11-foot tall iridescent bird to life;
·  Homemakers of Pixar:  Carl and Ellie's house is an important ''character'' in the film.  Fans follow the development of the house from story to art to its ultimate realization in the computer;
·  Balloons and Flight:  Carl's house and Muntz's dirigible presented the filmmakers with two different problems – 1) how could they make a physical impossibility possible? and 2) in the case of the dirigible, how would they unearth a fallen giant and let it soar?
·  Composing for Characters:  The collaboration between the Pixar filmmakers and Up composer Michael Giacchino;
·  Married Life:  An alternate scene - Expanded Character Backstory;
·  Up Promo montage Theatrical Trailers.
 
“Up” is simply amazing and is pure Disney/Pixar magic. If you are a fan of animation, a dog lover, or just a lover of great films, run, don’t walk, to pick up this release.

-- Nathan M Rose

Cast: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger, Delroy Lindo, Jordan Nagai
Directed by: Pete Docter
MPAA Rating: PG
Genre: Animation/Family
Running Time: 96 minutes
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures

Be sure to visit FlickDirect's movie database for more information about Up.

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