Grendel,
Grendel, Grendel
(1980/Umbrella Region Free PAL Import DVD)/LEGO
DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League Vs. Bizarro League
(2015/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD)/101
Dalmatians: Diamond Edition
(1961/Disney Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
C+/B & C+/B & C+ Sound: C/B & C+/B & C+
Extras: D/C+/B- Main Programs: B-/C+/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Grendel
Import DVD is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, can only play on DVD players that can
handle PAL DVD and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
three very different animated releases you should know about....
Alexander
Stitt's Grendel,
Grendel, Grendel
(1980) is a rare animated feature film from Australia made in the
style of The Beatles' Yellow
Submarine
(1968, reviewed elsewhere on this site) telling an alternate version
of the Beowulf & Grendel tale, yet despite choosing and sticking
to that style, it is superior to the disappointing motion capture CGI
version Robert Zemeckis made a few years ago (reviewed elsewhere on
this site) that dragged on and on and on and on, as well as a live
action version with Gerard Butler that has nearly developed a cult of
sorts, but one we were not impressed with as this link will
confirm...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4117/Beowulf+and+Grendel
This
one has several songs too that may not be particularly strong on
their own, but are smart in adding up to the sometimes surreal
narrative they tell. Peter Ustinov (between his Poirot feature
films) voices the title character, joined in equally effective, fun
voicing by Keith Mitchell, Arthur Dignam (as Beowulf the Dragon), Ed
Rosser, Ric Stone and Julie McKenna among others. An interesting
twists here is that the script is also based on a Grendel novel and
not just the Beowulf poem. This is well done and I don't know why it
was not a bigger hit or rediscovered by now, but this DVD is a good
start. Stitt made another animated feature a few years later in Abra
Cadabra,
which I now want to see after this one.
Recommended,
but there are sadly no extras.
Brandon
Vietti's LEGO DC
Comics Super Heroes: Justice League Vs. Bizarro League
(2015) is a comical, if rather short 49 minutes program that has the
major DC heroes taking on humorous Bizarro-created clones of each of
them in what is somewhat of a one-joke narrative, but it is amusing
while you watch. Too bad it is not longer and does not offer more,
yet the makers knew the limits and apparently quit while they were
ahead.
Anyone
expecting realism from this one can forget it. This is for a
child-safe audience, yet the whole family can enjoy it. It is a nice
companion to The LEGO
Movie (reviewed on
Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) and other DC/LEGO releases now and to
come, but there's not much more here. I do think youngsters will
find rewatchability to it, but older viewers likely will not.
Extras
in this compact gift packaging include a Batman Bizarro LEGO figure,
plus Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes
capable devices, while the discs add Be-Leaguered bloopers, Me
Am Bizarro!: League Of Opposites
featurette and a Batman:
Be-Leaguered TV special.
Disney's
original, animated 101
Dalmatians (1961) is
finally hitting Blu-ray in a new Diamond
Edition, including the
DVD we reviewed years ago at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6691/101+Dalmatians:+2-Disc+Platinum+Edition+(1961/
At
this point, even the Disney Company had to cave into the rising costs
of animation and with Sleeping Beauty not being the outright
blockbuster the studio (and animation fans) had hoped for, a new
approach was needed at the time to cut costs on production. To save
on animation and labor, xeroxing of cells was introduced, which also
saved some production time. The film lands up being a mix of the
lesser style of TV animation of the time with still comparatively
more money in the production that often sports the style of the art
of Jazz record covers. The result was a hit that kept the company
going and was later remade in two live-action film versions (reviewed
elsewhere on this site).
Extras
include those from the DVD we covered, Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy
for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices, while the Blu-ray
adds DisneyView interactive features, a black and white TV version
dubbed 'The Best Doggone Dog In The World' in 1.33 X 1
framing, Lucky Dogs featurette in which Disney people discuss
the film, Cameron Boyce yells at us about the film in Dalmatians
101 so we can know the film is important (!?!) and we get a new
animated short The Further Adventures Of Thunderbolt.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.66 X 1 image on Grendel is from a
decent print and though this transfer is a little soft, there are
some fine shots and the color range is impressive throughout, meaning
a Blu-ray should be a knockout.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on LEGO is a
nice, clean, consistent enough digital production as smooth as
previous DC Comics/LEGO releases, though the DVD version is a bit
soft, especially as compared to the Blu-ray which has superior color
range.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Dalmatians
can show the age of the materials used a bit, but this is far
superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film and though
we get more than our share of monochromatic color to suit the dogs,
the film was originally issued in 35mm
dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints and you can see how good
that would look often throughout, so it looks as good as the film has
in a long time. The 1.33 X 1 DVD repeats the older DVD, which I
always thought was a bit soft and is passable at best.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Grendel
is a little on the weak side with a low level of audio transfer, so
be careful of volume switching, as well as expecting some background
hiss an other signs of age.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on LEGO
is the one new recording here and is the most dynamic, if not the
sonic blast of The
LEGO Movie
with a consistent soundfield throughout and good recording of all
elements. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD lacks the warmth,
depth and soundfield of the DTS-MA.
Dalmatians
has a new upgraded sound mix, but the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1
choice just spreads the original theatrical monophonic sound around
way too much, watering it down and thinning it out too much, so I
actually recommend the superior DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 1.0 lossless
Mono mix that really shows off how well recorded and mixed the film
was for its time. The lossy Dolby Digital choices on the previously
released DVD pale in comparison to that warm DTS-MA Mono mix.
To
order either of the
Grendel
Umbrella import DVD, go to this link for it and other hard-to-find
releases:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
