Big
Hero 6: Collector's Edition (2014/Marvel Comics/Disney Blu-ray
w/DVD)
Picture:
A/B Sound: A/B Extras: B- Film: A-
Inspired
by the Marvel Comics series of the same name, Big Hero 6 is
Disney's latest venture into CG animation sans Pixar.
Like
many comic book series the basic premise centers on good vs. evil; in
this case a young robotics genius gathering a superhero team to
battle a masked villain. The 14-year-old Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan
Potter) is a virtuoso in robotics and uses his skills to take part in
back-alley robot fights in the futuristic city of San Fransokyo.
Hiro's older brother Tadashi sees him squandering his gifted mind and
introduces him at the robotics lab at his University. There, Hiro
meets a host of characters including Tadashi's big, white, personal
healthcare bot named Baymax (voiced by Scott Adsit). Immediately
fascinated by the robotics lab, Hiro decides to apply to the
University; presenting a project he calls micro-bots as his
application to Professor Callaghan.
These
micro-bots are an assembly of many small robots that swarm together
to form anything and everything imaginable. Hiro is quickly
accepted, but his joy is not long lived. A fire breaks out at the
University and Tadashi rushes in to save Professor Calaghan; but the
building explodes and both perish. Hiro distraught at the loss of
his brother emotionally shuts down and secludes himself from the
world. After inadvertently turning on Baymax one day, Hiro follows
Baymax and a micro-bot to an abandoned warehouse; here he discovers
that someone has stolen his micro-bot design and put them into mass
production. Suddenly, Baymax and Hiro are attacked by a masked man
controlling the micro-bots, but narrowly escape. Hiro decides that
something must be done and makes upgrades (armor and weapons) to
Baymax, while concurrently assembling a superhero (superHIRO!) team.
The team is composed of Tadashi's robotic lab friends; Fred (voiced
by TJ Miller), Go-Go (voiced by Jaime Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans),
Honey Lemon (voiced by Genesis Rodriguez). Each individual has a
personality and skill to add to the team, making the Big Hero 6
a cohesive and worthy entity.
The
film is amazingly fun, creative, and all around entertaining! This
is the first time Disney has used a Marvel property (now a Disney
property) as a feature length animated film. And why not?! Comic
books are the modern day fairy tales or telling of the Greek gods;
mythos and archetypes that made Disney what it is today. Big Hero
6 is a standout film with a solid storyline, memorable
characters, fantastic action, beautiful animation, and a standout
imaginative tale. Every moment of Big Hero 6 is amazing and
is sure to please audiences young or old.
The
picture and sound presentations on this Blu-ray release are just as
amazing as the film itself. The picture is an immaculate 2.29 X 1,
1080p high definition presentation; brilliantly boasting bright
colors, crystal clear image, solid/inky black levels, great texture,
and detail beyond compare. The image is truly demo quality
(something Disney is known for) with a balanced, life-like, fine
texture. The sound is just as good in its lossless 7.1 DTS-HD Master
Audio (MA) surrounds that light up the room as the entire speaker
range is used from beginning to end. The musical score, the high
impact action, clean/clear dialogue all shine through in this
presentation making the viewing experience an entertaining pleasure.
The
included DVD is a not worthy adversary to the Blu-ray as it is a
noticeable downgrade.
The
extras are minimal, but include some:
With
the film being a multi-award winner I bet a new edition will hit the
shelves soon with more supplements; but with it being such a
wonderful film and looking PERFECT on Blu-ray, who would wait?!
-
Michael P. Dougherty II
