Blu-ray Review: Cars

THE MOVIE: 4 3/4 stars out of 5

Another in a string of excellent animated films from the folks at Pixar, Cars tells the story of race car Lightning McQueen, who is living life in the fast lane until he hits a detour on his way to the final race for the Piston Cup. Stranded in a forgotten town of Radiator Springs before the race, Lightning meets Sally, Mater, Doc Hudson and a variety of quirky characters who help him discover that there is more to life than trophies and fame. The film features the voices of Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen and Paul Newman as Doc Hudson along with Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, George Carlin, Cheech Martin as well as Pixar favorite John Ratzenberger, who, it seems, must appear in every Pixar film.

While I enjoyed this film in the theater, it did not impress me as among Pixar's best. However, the film has grown on me after several viewings. This is one film that gets better the more you see it. While the story is not quite up to the level of those in the two Toy Story films as well as Bugs Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and my personal favorite, The Incredibles, it is only a small notch below. The animation is spectacular however, and every bit as impressive as those other films. Highly recommended.

THE VIDEO: 5 stars out of 5

Simply put, the video presentation on Blu-Ray is flawless. Encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:39:1, this disc looks amazing. The colors really pop. Black levels are deep producing a totally three dimensional image. Detail is simply amazing from the sheen of the cars to the sparkling paint to the backgrounds, there is simply nothing to fault on this transfer. This is the best looking animated film I have seen on either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, surpassing the recent Meet the Robinsons.

THE AUDIO: 5 stars out of 5

The audio is presented in uncompressed PCM at 48 kHz/24 bit and sounds superb. The overall sound is smooth and dynamic with an open soundstage. All sound elements are presented beautifully in the mix. Bass is clean and tight and not overblown. Dialogue is full, rich, clear and distinct and well placed in the soundfield. Audio details are impressive, from being able to hear air around the voices in the dialogue track to the music which is rendered beautifully. Needless to say, the racing scenes sound amazing, with cars flying all around the room as well as directly over your head. The opening Pixar sequence has never sounded better to me either at home or in the theater. You are able to hear every little squeek of the bouncing lamp as he moves and turns and jumps on the I in Pixar. I was never able to hear these details as clearly even in the theater. I know that is a little detail, but it shows just how much care went into producing this audio encode. Very well done.

EXTRAS

This disc is chock full of extras including Cine-Explore, a Car Finder game (featuring BD-Java interactivity), a never before seen deleted scene, Radiator Springs featurettes and a movie showcase which provides instant access to select movie scenes. Also included are the features included with the original DVD release.

IN CONCLUSION

To those fans of the film and Pixar in general, this is a must have disc. The audio and video presentation in Blu-Ray surpasses that on the DVD release by leaps and bounds, which is impressive, given that the DVD release was no slouch. Highly Recommended.

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