Planes
(2013/Disney Blu-ray w/DVD + Digital Copy)
Picture:
A-/B Sound: A-/B Extras: C- Film: C
With
the success of Cars and
Cars 2 it is no
surprise that Disney would venture into other forms of transportation
for inspiration. Not surprisingly though was the less than stellar
reception to the high flying animated film Planes.
Seemingly
set in the same universe as Disney/Pixar's Cars
(though Pixar set this adventure out), Planes
follows Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane
Cook) as he looks to spread his wings (pun intended). You see, Dusty
was made to, well, dust crops; but has bigger dreams as he looks to
the skies and hopes to win a race around the world. After some
missteps and luck during the qualifying rounds, Dusty enters the
Wings Across the World
competition to win it all (sorry for the spoiler). This predictable
foray into the world of airplanes is uninspiring to say the least.
The plot is humdrum as the characters are do little to bring the
feature film to life and unlike Cars,
Planes has little
redeeming features. The target audience for this film seems to be
the youngest of the young as plot falls to the wayside, instead
sporting flashy visuals and a somewhat disturbing plot point that I
am more than certain flies over kids' heads. When all is lost, it is
not skill, heart, or even the help of friends that allows Dusty to go
for the gold; it is the illegal use of fuel enhancers (pronounced
illegal performance drugs in sports) by another plane that saves the
day for Dusty on a technicality.
I am
certainly not one bothered by controversy, nor am I one that would
divert children's eyes from learning drugs are
bad; in fact I fondly remember GI Joe
reminding me of just that, Scruff McGruff sniffing out crime, and
even Smokey the Bear telling me only I could prevent forest fires,
but something about Planes use
of performance enhancers
as a plot point just didn't sit right. This is only exacerbated by
the fact that toward the end of the film (spoiler
alert), Dusty in dire need of help swaps
out his old plane parts for faster, better ones. To me that is
conflicting messages; is it not? I found it laughable at first, but
then as I remembered the target audience I found it more disturbing.
So Disney's intended message was just be you
and you can do anything, but subsequently has
the star of the film change who he is to go for the win. Confusing
to say the least. Do I think this was intentional? No. Merely just
misguided as a simple, uninspiring plot fell apart.
Planes
in no way means Disney needs Pixar to make a
CGI hit, in fact they have proven with films like Frozen
that they each are strong in their own right. Planes
just proves that you can't keep going back to
the same well hoping for success. Sure, the film was transportation
inspired like that of Cars,
but failed to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences of all
ages due to its weak concept and less than stellar plot.
Whereas
the film itself may have floundered, the visuals/sound quality
remained stunning. The picture is presented in a 1080p, 1.78 X 1
widescreen that is beautiful from beginning to end. The clarity is
perfect, the colors are vibrant, the blacks are framing, and textures
give it a realistic edge. There was some noticeable banding here and
there, but nothing overly distracting. The sound is a DTS-HD Master
Audio 7.1 lossless surround track that uses the entire speaker range,
making for an engulfing experience. The dialogue and music is crisp
clean and clear, but it is the panning effects of planes that takes
the soundscape to the next level.
Like
Most Disney Blu-ray releases this includes a DVD as well. The DVD is
a clear downgrade from the inspiringly good Blu-ray.
The
extras are short/weak and include only a few features. Extras are as
follows:
