Studio and Year: 20th Century Fox – 2011
MPAA Rating: G
Feature running time: 96 minutes
Genre: Family/Animation
Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 2.40:1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, English/French/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jessie Eisenberg, George Lopez, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Will i Am, Tracy Morgan, Jemaine Clement
Directed by: Carlos Saldanha
Music by: John Powell
Written by: Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jeffrey Ventimila, Sam Harper
Region Code: A
Blu-ray Disc release Date: August 2, 2011
[singlepic id=27 w=214 h=317 float=left]Synopsis (courtesy of imdb.com):
When Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, meets the fiercely independent Jewel, he takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with this bird of his dreams.
My Take:
As far as storyline go, albeit it’s acceptable, it’s cliche. One can almost predict the entire movie from beginning to the end minutes after the movie started. What makes it different is the delivery of the movie. The creative story telling not unlike the old-school Disney fare have made the simple story to be engaging from beginning to the end.
The picture quality is amazingly colourful, vibrant, and filled with primary colours. If I didn’t see the opening scene where it’s stated that the movie was produced by someone else but Pixar, I wouldn’t believe it. This is what Disney have missed in the past several years… sad, really, especially for a big Disney fan like myself. The sound design is even more amazing. The subtle holographic movement of various elements in the movie have created a 3D sonic environment like I’ve never experienced before. Just for this movie I will still use my current rating standard and give this movie audio quality an 11 out of 10.
The closing chapter of Rio have now officially become my reference demo track for my theatre room replacing Disney’s Bolt from three years ago.
Equipment used for this review:
• Anthem MRX-700 Receiver
• Grandviewscreen 96” 21:9 matte-white 1.0-gain screen
• PSB Century 300i (front and surround speakers)
• PSB Image C5 (centre speaker)
• PSB Subseries 300 (subwoofer)
• Panasonic PT-AE4000U projector
• Pioneer BDP-LX55 BD player
• Ultralink Ambiance MKII speaker wires
• Viewing room is as per THX and SMPTE recommendation with 45-degree Field of View
Audio: 11/10 (yes, this one goes to 11)
Video: 10/10
Storyline: 8/10
