DVD Review: 'Up' and Others

Virginia Pilot

'Up'

Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2009, PG for some peril and action

Best extra Cine-Explore Commentary enhanced for Blu-ray as picture-in-picture video with directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson (who also plays the voice of talking-dog Dug)

"Up" ranks way up there for Disney/Pixar when it comes to their computer-generated, animated films. And the four-disc bonus pack containing the Blu-ray, DVD, bonus features and digital copy will make a welcome addition to any movie library.

The bonus features are a nice mix of to-the-point mini- documentaries, eight which are in hi-def and exclusive to Blu-ray, animated shorts and a cool game that just might teach your children something about geography.

But the greatest thing is, even without the extras, this Blu-ray would be worth buying - with its exquisite animation and attention to detail, poignant score and wonderful story line.

All-in-all, this is the No. 1 holiday disc for the family. Own it and enjoy it over and over again.

- Toni Guagenti

'Monsters, Inc.'

Blu-ray widescreen, 2001, G for the whole family

Best extra All new to the Blu-ray, "Filmmakers' Round Table" with directors Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, producer Darla K. Anderson and story supervisor Bob Peterson, filmed at Hidden City Cafe, the Pixar commissary

Leave it to Disney/Pixar to release a movie on Blu-ray with so much stuff to do and watch that you don't have time to do it in one sitting. The four-disc combo pack of "Monsters, Inc." provides many opportunities for entertainment, including a new 100-doors game that puts the player through a lot of questions to get a job at the factory. Answer more, and your job offer is sweet. Answer fewer ... you get the picture.

Docter introduces the stunning Blu-ray version of the film and explains what's new and what has been carried over from the DVD. Another new bonus is a look at Disney's new "Ride and Go Seek" Monsters' Inc. Ride in Tokyo - the closest you'll get to downtown Monstropolis, Docter says.

Have fun weaving your way through the myriad features, including a digital copy and BD-Live opportunities.

And, for all the DVD owners, Pixar's chimp returns.

- Toni Guagenti

'Forrest Gump: Sapphire Series'

Blu-ray widescreen, 1994, PG-13 for drug content, some sensuality and war violence

Best extra "Musical Signposts to History," a pop-up "Gump" soundtrack trivia track that can be accessed while watching the film, with writer, performer and music critic commentary

Praise to Paramount, for releasing a first-rate movie on Blu-ray and putting new bonus features on the two-disc set.

These include the fabulous pop-up trivia track hosted by Ben Fong- Torres, former Rolling Stone journalist, director Robert Zemeckis and music supervisor Joel Sill. This can be run automatically during the movie, or can be accessed piecemeal. Each of the movie's 45 songs that span more than three decades are explained with detail.

Other new bonuses, in hi-def, include a diary during production filmed mostly in South Carolina and Georgia; a great explanation of the adaptation of Winston Groom's book by the same name ; an explanation of how Gump pushed digital technology into a new era; and a look at little Forrest's (Michael Conner Humphreys) influence on his adult counterpart. There's also a movie roundtable recorded earlier this year in California with Zemeckis, Tim Roth (screenwriter), Tom Hanks (Gump) and Gary Sinise (Lt. Dan).

This wonderfully transferred, fabulous-sounding, Academy-Award winning flick is one for the movie library.

- Toni Guagenti

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