James & The Giant Peach [Blu-ray] [US Import]

The Roald Dahl novel "James and the Giant Peach" made it to the big screen 35 years after it was published, thanks to Disney Pictures and Director Henry Selick (also Director of "The Nightmare Before Christmas").

The simple story is about James (Paul Terry), a young boy who is orphaned at a young age when his parents are eaten by a dark rhino! He is forced to live with his evil aunts, Spiker and Sponge (Joanna Lumley and Miriam Margolyes). They beat him, starve him, and use him to do all of the work on the deserted island that they live on. Just as he reaches the pit of despair, having nothing to hope for, he is given a great gift by a mysterious stranger. A magical peach begins to grow, and with a group of new friends that James makes, he is able to face his fears and go after the dream he and his parents shared together: to visit New York City and The Empire State Building. Definitely a family-friendly movie, although there are some dark parts, especially with the orphaning of James and the evil treatment he receives from his Aunts (no worries...they get their retribution!).

It took 22 soundstages and 3 years to make it, and now it has been released in High Definition on Blu-ray for the first time. How does it look? There does appear to be a high amount of noise/grain that has been added. It doesn't really detract from the heavily stylized movie, but in some scenes it is more noticeable than others. The colors are vivid, and just like in the theater, the cinematography evokes a bygone art deco era. Sound is dynamic where it needs to be (especially the scenes with the Rhino and when the peach begins to grow!). Sadly, other than the game included, the rest of the special features on this disc are not in high-def.

AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio * French 5.1 * Spanish 5.1
SUBTITLES: English, French, Spanish

SPECIAL FEATURES:

* Games & Activities: Spike the Aunts Game. The goal is to score as many points as possible by "spiking" Aunt Sponge and Spiker with a rhinoceros as they spin around on a rotating wheel. It's a difficult game to get right, and I found myself bored very quickly. The Aunts don't even resemble the characters from the movie.

* BDisneyLive! The Disney BD Live Network is your portal to a community suite of online content that enhances your movie viewing experience.

* Sneak Peaks:
1. "Beauty & The Beast" on Blu-ray
2. Disney Movie Rewards
3. An anti-piracy message, encouraging people to buy actual Disney Blu-rays & DVD's rather than pirate them
4. "Prince of Persia"
5. Disney Nature: "Oceans" & "The Crimson Wing"
6. 60th Anniversary Edition of "Alice in Wonderland" on Blu-ray
7. "A Christmas Carol," the CGI version with Jim Carrey
8. "The Lion King" Diamond Edition on Blu-ray, Fall 2011
9. Disney Parks
10. An ad for Disney Blu-ray movies and how your family can enjoy them together.
11. "Tangled," formerly known as "Rapunzel" has a short and mysterious ad for its Fall 2010 release; so mysterious, that they don't even name the movie they are plugging!
12. "Tinker Bell and The Great Fairy Rescue" on DVD/Blu ray Fall 2010. It's a shame this one is also going straight to video, as the premise and quality of animation seem good.

Special Features carried over from the previous DVD edition:

1. Production Featurette (4:34): A short look at the making of this movie. It truly is amazing how much work goes into a stop-motion movie; only 1 minute of useable film is produced in a week's time. Director Henry Selick thought that using stop-motion animation for the miracle world and then mixing it with live action at the end was a great way to bring Roald Dahl's novel to life. Actress Susan Sarandon (voice of Miss Spider) felt that this movie was "empowering for kids, telling them that fears won't have any power unless you give it to them." Jane Leeves (best known from "Frasier") was excited to do this movie (the voice of Ladybug) because it was her little sister's favorite book, and she often read it to her when they were growing up. Selick loved the book because like Dahl's other stories, it teaches children how to solve their own problems. Unlike other Tim Burton films, this one uses Randy Newman for the music.

2. Theatrical Trailer: shown here in a regular 1.33:1 ratio, it is interesting to hear the music from "Nightmare Before Christmas" underscoring it.

3. "Good News" music video sung by Randy Newman. This music video goes from 1.33:1 and low def for the Newman segments, and then up to 16:9 and high def when showing clips from the movie.

4. Learn how to take your favorite movies on the go: Disney File Digital Copy - a brief lesson on how to download your movies from the included disc to use on your computer and wherever else you wish to watch them.

If you buy this combo pack. Just to let you all
know! The blu-ray disc HD is not that good for remaster of
"JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH". It"s better if you buy the DVD only.

I was so excited about this release! GatGP seems to always be the movie everyone forgets, and I was so happy it was getting the Disney Blu Ray treatment... then I read a bunch of bad reviews about the transfer quality online and was too scared to pay the $20+ for it. After renting it from blockbuster, though, I am proud to say that the nay sayers have greatly exaggerated, or maybe even invented, the transfer flaws.

There are admittedly a few scenes that look a little grayish and dingy, but my only explanation for that is that must have been the way Henry Selick envisioned it, because the rest of the movie looks absolutely stunning. The live action and animation are equally beautiful. I'm truly shocked that anybody could rate the video quality anything less than 4/5 stars. I'm also disappointed in myself for not trusting Disney to deliver a quality Blu Ray release. So far they are always on the money and take high definition very seriously.

About the extras, I rarely watch special features on any dvd release, so it doesn't bother me that the Giant Peach doesn't have anything new. Hardcore fans will probably be disappointed by that, and understandably, but my biggest concern was the video and audio quality and since they both excelled my expectations I feel confident in my 5 star rating.

Overall, if you've never seen this movie before then buying or renting the blu ray is a great way to experience it. I will say, though, that not everybody is crazy about the movie and since Disney doesn't want to hand it out out cheap, I wouldn't recommend getting it as a blind buy unless you just have to have everything by Disney. If you've seen it before and know you'll love it, I think this HD upgrade is worth getting, probably even if you own the DVD. Maybe 10 years down the road we'll get another transfer that will blow this one out of the water, but if so it'll be remarkable because I think this release is extremely faithful to the original look and feel of the movie while still offering the shiny perfection of 1080p.