THE PLOT THUS FAR
Pixar’s landmark classic goes full throttle off the screen and into your living room for the first time ever in spectacular Blu-ray 3D. From the acclaimed creators of Toy Story, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo comes a high-octane adventure comedy that shows life is about the journey, not the finish line.
Hotshot rookie race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is living life in the fast lane until he hits a detour on his way to the most important race of his life. Stranded in Radiator Springs, a forgotten town on the old Route 66, he meets Sally, Mater, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) and a variety of quirky characters who help him discover that there’s more to life than trophies and fame. Treat your crew to turbocharged entertainment with this Cars 3D Ultimate Collector’s Edition. It’s flat-out fun with a sensational soundtrack, thrilling bonus features and revved-up picture and sound.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Cars” is about rural folk teaching racing hot star Lightning McQueen how to behave. In this hillbilly hell of a town, he is punished for speeding and tearing up the road by the sheriff. As he serves his sentence with community work, he discovers the town is inhabited by rejects and misfits, who all have hearts of gold. Can they change Lightning and make him over to have positive traits like honesty, integrity, respect, honor, sacrifice, humility, and compassion? That’s the drama that unfolds. Lightning is a hard case, and the outcome is always in doubt.
The cars/people are incredible. Shortly into the movie you forget that the people are cars or the cars are people, you suspend disbelief, and you just begin to watch an engaging story about real people. The windshields are their eyes, and the grilles are their mouths, and they display emotions as well as any human actor. The story is serious and light-hearted at the same time. The puns are too numerous to catch. And this is a must-see-twice-to-get-it-all movie.
But what’s really nice about this film is how director John Lasseter and the writers effectively tell the story and how they pump up the visual feast with humor and sincere emotions. It still all boils down to the story and how it is told – the very essence of cinema. Granted, when it comes to the standards set by previous Pixar films, it isn’t quite up there with it’s predecessors; but considering how lofty the bar has reached and the mediocrity that has become of the genre in general, “Cars” more than gets the job done.
The Blu-Ray comes with a 2D and 3D transfer, Digital Copy and a DVD copy. You also get bonus shorts, featurettes, gag reel, epilogue, games and documentary shorts. The audio track has been upgraded from a PCM track on the 2007 disc to a rocking DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track. That opening in the raceway will make your home theater shake to its core. But, let’s talk about that 1080p transfer.
The 2D presentation is on par with the initial release. However, the 3D transfer is where we see field of depth and range on par with the 3D presentation of “Prometheus”. Sometimes, 3D works better when it’s about bringing you into a world rather than just chucking stuff out of a screen at you. It’s truly revolutionary and it leaves me to applaud Disney/Pixar’s stunning work here. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 10/29/2013