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James and the Giant Peach
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"James and the Giant Peach" is the second film from the creative team of Tim Burton and director Henry Selick. Although it's not as successful or stunning as the duo's first effort(1993's wonderful "Nightmare Before Christmas), it's still enjoyable in the way that it uses entertaining new forms of animation that look smooth and seamless in this film.
"James" is the tale of a young man who loses his parents early on in his childhood and is forced to live with his evil two aunts (one played by the always funny Joanna Lumley from "Absolutely Fabulous"). James always has dreamed of going to New York and he gets the chance when a giant peach magically grows outside the house. Soon enough, James finds himself magically allowed access to inside the Peach, where insects have taken up residence. One day, the Peach (with James inside) rolls away, and the adventure begins.
The film's musical numbers aren't that great, and only seem like filler for a film whose story is only about 75 minutes or so. Still, the voices and performances are engaging and the script has quite a few funny one-liners. All-in-all a very cute and entertaining kids picture that has some great animation.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although Disney's non-anamorphic transfer for "Nightmare Before Christmas" was pleasing, their non-anamorphic transfer for "James and the Giant Peach" is a dissapointment. Images are occasionally soft and lack clarity. Detail is okay, but not great. It's all the more unfortunate with such a beautiful looking film with great sets and animation.
A few scenes from the film are slightly grainy, and some brief, slight pixelation is also noticable. The print used is less than clean, with some occasional slight marks taking further away from the film. Colors still break free of the rest of the presentation, looking bold and vibrant, with no visible flaws.
At best, such as the first scenes where James meets his new bug friends, the picture looks moderately pleasing, but still less than well-defined.
SOUND: Where the picture quality leaves something to be desired, the sound quality for "James and Giant Peach" is extremely fun and often wonderfully enjoyable. As with "The Nightmare Before Christmas", Disney has offered the viewer the choice of either Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 audio.
The audio uses the surrounds very effectively throughout the film, and their use is often playful and creative, making for some entertaining moments. They also create a strong sense of space and dimension, frequently enveloping the viewer in the scenes. Deep bass also makes its presence known at times. When I looked at who was responsible for the film's audio, I realized that Gary Rydstrom was part of the team responsible for the sound presentation of "James". Like the rest of the films that he has worked on ("A Bug's Life", "Haunting", "Saving Private Ryan"), opportunities to create an entertaining sound presentation within specific scenes are not missed.
Also a star of this show is the score by Randy Newman, which sounds wonderful on this DVD. Dialogue is clear and easily heard, as well. Both the Dolby Digital and the DTS soundtracks are enjoyable, but the DTS is an improvement - sounding smoother, richer and more detailed. The DTS audio really is a fabulous presentation that's very active and agressive at times.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds. The usual for Disney animated films, with the exception of "Nightmare Before Christmas". Obviously, something could have been added , such as Newman's score in the background or an animated intro.
EXTRAS:: Here's where the disc also runs into trouble. Calling itself a "special edition", all we get is a short featurette, music video, gallery, and trailers for "James" and "Nightmare Before Christmas".
Final Thoughts: The image quality is not as good as it could be; Disney really stretches the definition of "special edition" - but, the DTS soundtrack is fantastic and the film is very enjoyable. This certainly could have been a better DVD, but still this may be worth a look for children as a rental.
"James and the Giant Peach" is the second film from the creative team of Tim Burton and director Henry Selick. Although it's not as successful or stunning as the duo's first effort(1993's wonderful "Nightmare Before Christmas), it's still enjoyable in the way that it uses entertaining new forms of animation that look smooth and seamless in this film.
"James" is the tale of a young man who loses his parents early on in his childhood and is forced to live with his evil two aunts (one played by the always funny Joanna Lumley from "Absolutely Fabulous"). James always has dreamed of going to New York and he gets the chance when a giant peach magically grows outside the house. Soon enough, James finds himself magically allowed access to inside the Peach, where insects have taken up residence. One day, the Peach (with James inside) rolls away, and the adventure begins.
The film's musical numbers aren't that great, and only seem like filler for a film whose story is only about 75 minutes or so. Still, the voices and performances are engaging and the script has quite a few funny one-liners. All-in-all a very cute and entertaining kids picture that has some great animation.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although Disney's non-anamorphic transfer for "Nightmare Before Christmas" was pleasing, their non-anamorphic transfer for "James and the Giant Peach" is a dissapointment. Images are occasionally soft and lack clarity. Detail is okay, but not great. It's all the more unfortunate with such a beautiful looking film with great sets and animation.
A few scenes from the film are slightly grainy, and some brief, slight pixelation is also noticable. The print used is less than clean, with some occasional slight marks taking further away from the film. Colors still break free of the rest of the presentation, looking bold and vibrant, with no visible flaws.
At best, such as the first scenes where James meets his new bug friends, the picture looks moderately pleasing, but still less than well-defined.
SOUND: Where the picture quality leaves something to be desired, the sound quality for "James and Giant Peach" is extremely fun and often wonderfully enjoyable. As with "The Nightmare Before Christmas", Disney has offered the viewer the choice of either Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 audio.
The audio uses the surrounds very effectively throughout the film, and their use is often playful and creative, making for some entertaining moments. They also create a strong sense of space and dimension, frequently enveloping the viewer in the scenes. Deep bass also makes its presence known at times. When I looked at who was responsible for the film's audio, I realized that Gary Rydstrom was part of the team responsible for the sound presentation of "James". Like the rest of the films that he has worked on ("A Bug's Life", "Haunting", "Saving Private Ryan"), opportunities to create an entertaining sound presentation within specific scenes are not missed.
Also a star of this show is the score by Randy Newman, which sounds wonderful on this DVD. Dialogue is clear and easily heard, as well. Both the Dolby Digital and the DTS soundtracks are enjoyable, but the DTS is an improvement - sounding smoother, richer and more detailed. The DTS audio really is a fabulous presentation that's very active and agressive at times.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds. The usual for Disney animated films, with the exception of "Nightmare Before Christmas". Obviously, something could have been added , such as Newman's score in the background or an animated intro.
EXTRAS:: Here's where the disc also runs into trouble. Calling itself a "special edition", all we get is a short featurette, music video, gallery, and trailers for "James" and "Nightmare Before Christmas".
Final Thoughts: The image quality is not as good as it could be; Disney really stretches the definition of "special edition" - but, the DTS soundtrack is fantastic and the film is very enjoyable. This certainly could have been a better DVD, but still this may be worth a look for children as a rental.
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