Dr.
Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas: Grinchmas Edition
(2000/Universal Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B-
Jim
Carrey stars in the live action adaptation of The
Grinch That Stole Christmas
(2000) directed by Ron Howard, that is masterfully presented here on
Blu-ray disc in this collectible new edition just in time for the
holiday season. Having not seen the film in a while, I found it a
refreshing take on the source material with incredible production
design and special effects makeup with a fun performance by Carrey
that would be hard for any other comedian to match. This is the
second time the film has been issued on Blu-ray and it seems to have
the same presentation as the previous release only this time with a
few new extras.
The
curmudgeonly recluse Grinch (Carrey), who hates Christmas, becomes
annoyed with the out-of-control Christmas festivities in Whoville,
the town lying below his cave dwelling on Mt. Crumpit. But after the
Grinch conspires to deprive the Whos of their favorite holiday by
sneaking into town on Christmas eve to steal everything associated
with the holiday, he learns that the spirit of Christmas goes much
deeper than tinsel and toys.
The
film is presented in pristine 1080p high definition with a widescreen
aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a powerful, lossless DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 mix that brings the film to life in your home. There are
also several multi-language tracks masters in lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1
and a digital copy of the film is also included. Special Features
include:
Seussian
Set Decoration
Who
School
Makeup
Application and Design
Visual
Effects
Music
Video: Faith Hill "Where Are You Christmas?"
Theatrical
Trailer
Deleted
Scenes and Outtakes
Spotlight
on Location
Feature
Commentary with Director Ron Howard
To
me, this is one of the quintessential films to watch during the
Christmas season and one of the best Seuss adaptations to film with
the exception of Horton
Hears A Who
(which also featured Carrey) and far outweighs the horrible Cat
In The Hat
adaptation with Mike Meyers. It's too bad Universal doesn't make an
anthology film with several short Seuss adaptations, I think that
would almost be better than stretching out the story to feature
length. Regardless, if you like this film and haven't seen it on
Blu-ray I would suggest the upgrade but if you already have the 2009
Blu-ray release, there isn't much new here aside from extras.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films