Actors & Directors
- Peter Docter
- Mary Gibbs
- Lee Unkrich
- John Goodman
- David Silverman
- Steve Buscemi
- Billy Crystal
- Jennifer Tilly
Release date: 2002-09-07 Run time: 88 min. RRP: £17.99 Price: £7.20
Review Monsters Inc. [2002] / Buena Vista Home Entertainment:The monsters in Monsters, Inc. are just so incredibly cute-and they know it. Whereas Woody, Buzz and pals in the Toy Story saga were filled with self-doubt about just how much the children in their lives would continue to love them, here our heroic monsters and their impossibly lovable human ward Boo have no such worries, at least when it comes to the cinema audience. And that's why Monsters, Inc. , for all its wondrous computer-animated artistry, its smart humour and its family-friendly appeal, doesn't quite capture the naïve charm of its predecessors. Nevertheless, John Goodman and Billy Crystal, as scare-champions Sulley and Mike, are a great double-act whose comedy never goes over kids' heads but still reaches up to make their parents laugh. The film's central conceit-that monsters in the bedroom closet are just doing a night's work in order to generate power from screams for the city of Monstropolis-is funny and cleverly worked out; and kids will of course love the fact that the monsters are mortally afraid of the very children they are trying to frighten. The animation is extraordinarily detailed (Sulley's fur is a marvel in itself) and the set-piece action sequences top anything that has gone before for sheer audaciousness. But overall Pixar play things very safe, from the hissable villain to the end credit "outtakes". A bolder film might have taken inspiration from The Nightmare Before Christmas; instead, a little of that Disney disease of knowing cuteness seems to have crept into the formula. [+]
-Mark Walker.
Actors & Directors
- Drew Seeley
- Monique Coleman
- Zach Effron
- Ashley Tisdale
- Corbin Bleu
Release date: 2008-07-21 Run time: 203 min. RRP: £17.99 Price: £13.93
Review High School Musical Encore/ High School Musical 2 (Duo Pack) [2006] / High School Musical:High School Musical (Encore Edition) The Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical is a combination of backstage action and Grease without the unwholesome habits. It's a smash hit with tween audiences (ages 6 to 10), but appealing for all ages. At a New Year's Eve party, Troy (Zac Efron) has a chance meeting with Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) when they share a karaoke song. Lo and behold, when school resumes, they discover that Gabriella has just transferred to Troy's East High School, a campus divided into tight cliques of jocks, cheerleaders, brainiacs, and skater dudes. Eager to recapture the magic they'd discovered during karaoke, Troy and Gabriella consider auditioning for the school's upcoming musical, much to the dismay of the school's frost queen/theatre goddess, Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale). Problem is, Troy is also the star of the basketball team and Gabrielle is being recruited to compete in the Scholastic Decathlon. Will they give up their cliques to start something new, or will they do as the show's first big anthem urges and "Stick to the Status Quo"? Well, this is a Disney movie, so maybe the sacrifices won't be that hard, and even the hints of romance are mild. The bestselling soundtrack is catchy in that Disney-pop kind of way, mixing in a dash of hip-hop ("Getcha Head in the Game," punctuated by squeaky basketball shoes and other sound effects), salsa ("Bop to the Top"), and the endearingly hammy ("What I've Been Looking For" performed by Sharpay and her brother, Ryan, played by Lucas Grabeel). It's not hard to imagine High School Musical becoming a semi-staple for high school groups to perform themselves. -David Horiuchi High School Musical 2 What time is it? Time for High School Musical 2, the sequel to the Disney Channel smash. [+]
School is out, and Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) are looking forward to a summer to remember, but Troy also needs to earn money so he can go to college. As it turns out, Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), the self-proclaimed primo girl of East High, has her eye set on primo-boy Troy, and gets him a job at the country club her parents own. It looks great for Troy when Gabriella and the rest of the Wildcats are hired also, but when he gets preferential treatment from the club manager (Mark Taylor) and others, it puts all of his relationships in hot water. Everyone's back from the original movie, including Zac's buddy Chad (Corbin Bleu), Sharpay's brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), and Gabriella's friend Taylor (Monique Coleman). And the songs on the hit soundtrack often parallel the originals and are just as catchy: the Troy-Gabriella duet ("You Are the Music in Me," which is later Sharpay-ized into a rock version), the sports-flavored hip-hop number ("I Don't Dance," but this time on the baseball diamond instead of the basketball court), the Gabriella lament ("Gotta Go My Own Way"), the climactic stage duet ("Everyday"), and the mass-ensemble closer ("All for One"). But the sequel doesn't just stick to the status quo. Other songs include a flashy opener ("What Time Is It"), Sharpay's poolside feature ("Fabulous"), a percussive ensemble number ("Work This Out"), and Zac's solo ("Bet On It"), and the dances are even bigger this time around, relentlessly high-energy and often spectacular. In addition, the "let's put on a show" angle is only a subplot and the romance is now front and center-which means High School Musical has lost a bit of its innocence. But it's still wholesome viewing for tweens of all ages. -David Horiuchi.
Release date: 2007-05-07 Run time: 80 min. RRP: £17.99 Price: £9.82
Review Robin Hood [1973] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:
Release date: 2002-08-12 Run time: 78 min. RRP: £17.99 Price: £4.86
Review Winnie The Pooh - The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh [1977] / Walt Disney Home Video:
Actors & Directors
- Mark Hamill
- Irvin Kershner
- George Lucas
- Alec Guinness
- Ian McDiarmid
- Carrie Fisher
- Harrison Ford
- Richard Marquand
Release date: 2008-10-06 Run time: 371 min. RRP: £29.99 Price: £17.98
Review Star Wars - The Original Trilogy [1977] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Peter Cushing
- George Lucas
- Mark Hamill
- Carrie Fisher
- David Prowse
- Harrison Ford
Release date: 2006-09-11 Run time: 120 min. RRP: £22.99 Price: £5.98
Review Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Limited Edition, Includes Theatrical Version) [1977] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Annie Potts
- Tom Hanks
- John Ratzenberger
- John Lasseter
- Jim Varney
- Tim Allen
Release date: 2005-11-28 Run time: 77 min. RRP: £19.99 Price: £7.98
Review Toy Story - 10th Anniversary Edition [1995] / Walt Disney Home Video:
Actors & Directors
- Alan Napier
- Karl Swenson
- Norman Alden
- Vera Vague
- Rickie Sorenson
- Wolfgang Reitherman
Release date: 2008-08-18 Run time: 76 min. RRP: £17.99 Price: £11.18
Review The Sword In The Stone (45th Anniversary Edition) [1963] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:As far as Disney is concerned, The Sword in the Stone was a portent of things to come, with slapstick upstaging storytelling, and cultural in-jokes substituting for wonder. Based on TH White's beloved novel The Once and Future King, this Disney version chronicles King Arthur's boyish adventures. There's much to enjoy here as coach Merlin the magician shows the young Arthur, nicknamed Wart, the skills that will help him become the future ruler of the Britons. The transformation sequences, where the boy is turned into a fish, a bird and a squirrel are vintage Disney. The oft-repeated scene of Merlin battling it out with mean old Madame Mim still is worth a few chuckles, but it underlines the problem with most of the film-most of its scenes are only played for laughs. References by Merlin to television and other items of modern life also mar the generally innocuous landscape. Younger children will like it, while older kids will find it slower compared with recent Disney films. -Keith Simanton.
Actors & Directors
- Bert Lahr
- Victor Fleming
- Richard Thorpe
- King Vidor
- Judy Garland
- Jack Haley
- Ray Bolger
- Frank Morgan
- Mervyn LeRoy
Release date: 2006-06-19 Run time: 98 min. RRP: £18.99 Price: £4.94
Review The Wizard Of Oz [1939] / Warner Home Video:Like the Tin Man's heart, the true test of a real classic is how much it is loved by others. The enduring charms of The Wizard of Oz have easily weathered the vicissitudes of changing fashions making the film one of the world's best-loved, most-quoted and frequently imitated movies. It's now as ubiquitous an American pop-cultural icon as McDonald's, making judging the movie purely on its own merits an almost impossible task. Judy Garland's tragic later life, for example, makes her naïve and utterly beguiling Dorothy seem all the more poignant in retrospect. But this at least is clear: much of this movie's success depends on the winning appeal of Garland's "Everygirl" figure, who creates the vital identification and empathy necessary to carry the audience with her into the land of Oz. We always care deeply about Dorothy, her quest for home and the strength of her friendship with her companions. Garland's assured dancing and singing routines with her ideally cast Broadway comedy co-stars Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley are still endlessly delightful, of course, and the songs and score (by Arlen, Harburg and Stothart) are as good as anything in the Hollywood musical canon. It is Garland's deeply felt rendition of "Over the Rainbow" that is both the film's emotional core and the reason why adults as much as children the world over still respond so strongly to this movie. So long as people long for home and the love of their friends and family, the nostalgic appeal of Oz will never fade. On the DVD: another splendid digital restoration from the MGM vaults keeps this wonderful classic as vivid and alive as it was back in 1939, if not more so. [+]
The 1. 33:1 picture is clear and defined, bursting with the vibrant colours of Oz (you can even see the wires holding up the Lion's tail). Even more remarkably, because the original microphone tapes have been preserved the soundtrack has been remastered in 5. 1 stereo, thereby accentuating the lush tones of the MGM orchestra and Garland's famous singing. The disc is also chock full of extras, including outtakes, audio sequences, composer Harold Arlen's backstage movies, extracts from earlier silent Oz films, clips from the Academy Awards and interviews with the stars among many other fascinating nuggets. The new 50-minute documentary hosted by Angela Lansbury, and irritatingly narrated in the present tense, is oddly the weakest part, with too little hard information and too much padding about how everyone loves the movie. The only gripe is Warners' trademark cardboard slipcase, which is awkward and easily damaged. But this is still an essential disc for the young at heart everywhere. -Mark Walker.
Release date: 2008-09-22 Run time: 67 min. RRP: £17.99 Price: £11.97
Review The Little Mermaid 3: Ariels Beginning [2008] / The Little Mermaid:
Release date: 2008-09-29 Run time: 89 min. RRP: £12.99 Price: £7.99
Review Pokemon - The Rise Of Darkrai [2007] / Network:
Actors & Directors
- Frederik Du Chau
- Jason Lee
- Jim Belushi
- John Slattery
- Amy Adams
Release date: 2008-06-16 Run time: 78 min. RRP: £14.99 Price: £4.48
Review Underdog [2007] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:What happens when mad scientist Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage) and a former police beagle Shoeshine (voiced by Jason Lee) are involved in a fiery lab accident? A dog with superpowers (soon to be dubbed "Underdog") is born, and Dr. Barsinister becomes a man obsessed with revenge and bent on genetically modifying the entire population of Capital City. An unwitting former policeman, Dan (James Belushi), and his son Jack (Alex Neuberger) adopt Shoeshine in the hope of improving their strained relationship. What follows is a typical scene of home destruction by a young dog, multiplied exponentially by the incredible strength, speed, and newly developed language skills of one super dog. While Jack and Shoeshine struggle with the conflict between Shoeshine's desire to be a regular dog and Jack's insistence that he use his newfound powers to help people, mayhem reigns in Capital City as Barsinister and his henchman Cad (Patrick Warburton-Emperor's New Groove) wreak havoc on the entire city and Jack's dad, schoolmate Molly (Taylor Momsen) and her dog Polly (voiced by Amy Adams-Enchanted) are all unwittingly dragged into the conflict. Underdog dedicates himself to good, quickly becoming revered as a superhero, but ultimately it will take the combined efforts and understanding of Underdog, Jack, Dan, Molly, and Polly to defeat Barsinister and save Capital City from destruction. Based on the original animated Underdog television series, this live action film is entertaining, if not great. Bonus features include deleted scenes with director introductions, bloopers, a 5-minute glimpse of the logistics of shooting animals and blending live action with animation, and the first Underdog cartoon "Safe Waif. " (Ages 3 to 12) -Tami Horiuchi.
Actors & Directors
- Mark Hamill
- Kenny Baker
- Richard Marquand
- Harrison Ford
- Carrie Fisher
- David Prowse
Release date: 2006-09-11 Run time: 255 min. RRP: £22.99 Price: £5.19
Review Star Wars Episode VI:Return Of The Jedi (Limited Edition, Includes Theatrical Version) [1983] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:
Release date: 2007-05-07 Run time: 64 min. RRP: £17.99 Price: £7.63
Review Dumbo (Special Edition) [1941] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:
Actors & Directors
- Glynis Johns
- David Tomlinson
- Julie Andrews
- Hermione Baddeley
- Dick Van Dyke
- Robert Stevenson
Release date: 2005-03-07 Run time: 133 min. RRP: £19.99 Price: £8.94
Review Mary Poppins (2 Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition) / Buena Vista Home Entertainment:There is only one word that comes close to accurately describing the enchanting Mary Poppins, and that term was coined by the movie itself: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Disney's pioneering mixture of live action and animation (based on the books by P. L. Travers) still holds kids spellbound. Julie Andrews won an Oscar as the world's most magically idealized nanny ("practically perfect in every way," and complete with lighter-than-air umbrella), and Dick Van Dyke is her clownishly charming beau, Bert the chimney sweep. The songs are also terrific, ranging from bright and cheery ("A Spoonful of Sugar") to dark and cheery (the Oscar-winning "Chim-Chim Cheree") to touchingly melancholy ("Feed the Birds"). Many consider Mary Poppins to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career-and it was the only one of his features to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award until Beauty and the Beast in 1991. -Jim Emerson A pioneering film within Animation, Musicals and Fantasy, Walt Disney's Mary Poppins is possibly one of the warmest and dearest films ever made. Based on a story by PL Travers we find Julie Andrews on fine form in her debut lead role (for which she would win the "Best Actress" Oscar). She is practically perfectly teamed with Dick Van Dyke as the lovable chimney sweep Burt, whose cockney accent is endearingly inaccurate. Along with a fine supporting cast, where even the child actors hold their own without appearing like stage school wannabes, Poppins and her crew take you on a magical ride through chalk pictures, the roof tops of London and show you that laughter is not always the best medicine (even with a spoon full of sugar) when you can't get down. [+]
In total Mary Poppins clocked up five Academy Awards including Best Song and Best Visual Effects and has made it into the staple diet of family viewing across the world. On the DVD: Mary Poppins has certainly cleaned up a treat, restoring her to 1. 85:1 widescreen glory and 5. 1 Dolby digital sound-which is guaranteed to be music to your ears. The special features are "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" with the "Sing Along with the Movie" subtitles for all your favourite songs when they appear in the movie and the "I Love to Laugh" game offering Uncle Albert flying high in his parlour once more. "The Movie Magic of Mary Poppins" lets you look behind the scenes at how the magic was done and is fun, informative and easily understandable-pity the same cannot be said about the narrator. "Hollywood goes to a World Premiere" is a warm and amusing reminder about how premieres and stars used to be in 1964. The only disappointment is the lack of commentary-Dick Van Dyke would surely have offered a gem of a cockney voice-over! -Nikki Disney.
Actors & Directors
- Wolfgang Reitherman
- Eva Gabor
- Phil Harris
Release date: 2008-02-04 Run time: 76 min. Creator: Robert B. Sherman RRP: £19.99 Price: £9.93
Review The Aristocats Special Edition [1970] / Walt Disney:Often forgotten about in the Disney back catalogue, The Aristocats is actually a fun, lively feline adventure, with plenty of zest and some terrific tunes too. Arriving in the wake of The Jungle Book, it's not vintage Disney, but it still sets itself a high standard. The Aristocats is set in France in 1910, and tells the tale of a high society cat and her trio of kittens who are dumped into the backstreets of Paris by an angry Butler when they inherit a fortune from their owner. Here, they're soon befriended by Thomas O'Malley (voiced by the unforgettable Phil Harris, who also lent his tones to Baloo in The Jungle Book) and a wild cast of characters, and it's as much a cue as is needed for some jazzy tunes, fast-paced animation and a fun family adventure. As the last film to have been supervised by Walt Disney before his death, The Aristocats inevitably has a significant place in the back catalogue at Disney HQ. Yet many still overlook it, and that's a real shame. There are well-realised Parisian locations, a good few chuckles, and a genuinely strong soundtrack that'll stick in your head long after the credits have rolled. It's good, too, to see Disney finally give the film the special edition it richly deserves. -Simon Brew.
Actors & Directors
- Fred Willard
- Jeff Garlin
- Ben Burtt
- Andrew Stanton
- Elissa Knight
- John Ratzenberger
Release date: 2008-11-24 RRP: £20.99 Price: £12.98
Review WALL-E (2 Disc Special Edition) [2008] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:Pixar genius reigns in this funny romantic comedy, which stars a robot who says absolutely nothing for a full 25 minutes yet somehow completely transfixes and endears himself to the audience within the first few minutes of the film. As the last robot left on earth, Wall-E (voiced by Ben Burtt) is one small robot-with a big, big heart-who holds the future of Earth and mankind squarely in the palm of his metal hand. He's outlasted all the "Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class" robots that were assigned some 700 years ago to clean up the environmental mess that man made of earth while man vacationed aboard the luxury spaceship Axiom. Wall-E has dutifully gone about his job compacting trash, the extreme solitude broken only by his pet cockroach, but he's developed some oddly human habits and ideas. When the Axiom sends its regularly scheduled robotic EVE probe (Elissa Knight) to earth, Wall-E is instantly smitten and proceeds to try to impress EVE with his collection of human memorabilia. EVE's directive compels her to bring Wall-E's newly collected plant sprout to the captain of the Axiom and Wall-E follows in hot pursuit. Suddenly, the human world is turned upside down and the Captain (Jeff Garlin) joins forces with Wall-E and a cast of other misfit robots to lead the now lethargic people back home to earth. Wall-E is a great family film with the most impressive aspect being the depth of emotion conveyed by a simple robot-a machine typically considered devoid of emotion, but made so absolutely touching by the magic of Pixar animation. Also well-worth admiring are the sweeping views from space, the creative yet disturbing vision of what strange luxuries a future space vacation might offer, and the innovative use of trash in a future cityscape. Underneath the slapstick comedy and touching love story is a poignant message about the folly of human greed and its potential effects on earth and the entire human race. [+]
-Tami Horiuchi, Amazon. com.
Actors & Directors
- Rachael Taylor
- Michael Bay
- Josh Duhamel
- Shia LaBeouf
- Tyrese Gibson
- Megan Fox
Release date: 2007-12-03 Run time: 143 min. RRP: £19.99 Price: £3.99
Review Transformers (2007) / Dreamworks Home Entertainment:As sci-fi action blockbusters go, they don't come much bigger than Transformers. Maybe it's because of the subject matter: it's based on a toy line from the 1980s, concerning giant robots from outer space engaged in a civil war that pits the heroic Autobots against the evil Decepticons. They have the ability to disguise themselves as vehicles and other mechanical objects, transforming back into robots when it's time to stomp each other senseless. As a premise, it's rather silly. But it's also very simple, and that's why it works. The heroes are truly heroic: the noble and powerful Autobot leader Optimus Prime is one of the most iconic characters of the 1980s, and getting the original voice actor (Peter Cullen) to give him life was a stroke of genius. The villains, meanwhile, are just plain evil: Decepticon leader Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) is motivated by absolute power, and his soldiers are not above a bit of wanton destruction to achieve their goals. Mix in a bit of mysticism in the form of the Allspark, the source of life for all Transformers, and the result is pure cinematic magic. It's not a perfect film: there are some characters and sub-plots that are unnecessary and which go nowhere, and at almost three hours, it's a lot of movie. But the Transformers themselves, rendered in CGI, have a very realistic size and weight on screen, and look particularly good as they switch from one mode to the other. [+]
Moreover, director Michael Bay is smart enough to realise that appealing to kids doesn't mean pandering to them-the cutest robot on screen is a manic little psychotic killer with the apt name Frenzy. The humans in the film, meanwhile, keep the film grounded, whilst never detracting from the real robot stars. Unlike The Matrix trilogy, which tried to be too clever, or The Lord of the Rings films, which were too clever, Transformers is probably the best science fiction epic since the original Star Wars trilogy. -Robert Burrow.
Release date: 2007-03-12 Run time: 74 min. RRP: £19.99 Price: £6.59
Review Peter Pan (2 Disc Special Edition) [1953] / Peter Pan:Peter Pan has a special place in the realm of classic animated Disney films: it instills an element of childlike wonder. The 1953 version of James M. Barrie's story is colourfully told and keeps on the straight and narrow of the book. Barrie's wondrous focus on child's play is the key to its longevity: kids who don't grow up, shadows that run away from their owners, pirates, a fairy, and the magic ability to fly. In short, you can't help wishing the adventure would happen to you. Fueled by a few memorable songs (the stunner being "You Can Fly") and the strong impression of the pixie fairy Tinkerbell and the goofy Captain Hook, Disney's version of this story neither supplants nor lessens the Broadway version with Mary Martin that was produced for television the same decade. Unlike some classics, Peter Pan never ages along the way. -Doug Thomas.
Actors & Directors
- Demi Lovato
- Daniel Fathers
- Matthew Diamond
- Jonas Brothers
- Maria Canals
- Julie Brown
Release date: 2008-12-01 RRP: £15.99 Price: £11.98
Review Camp Rock [2008] / Disney:
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Models & Brands: Monsters Inc. [2002], High School Musical Encore/ High School Musical 2 (Duo Pack) [2006], Robin Hood [1973], Winnie The Pooh - The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh [1977], Star Wars - The Original Trilogy [1977], Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Limited Edition, Includes Theatrical Version) [1977], Toy Story - 10th Anniversary Edition [1995], The Sword In The Stone (45th Anniversary Edition) [1963], The Wizard Of Oz [1939], The Little Mermaid 3: Ariels Beginning [2008], Pokemon - The Rise Of Darkrai [2007], Underdog [2007], Star Wars Episode VI:Return Of The Jedi (Limited Edition, Includes Theatrical Version) [1983], Dumbo (Special Edition) [1941], Mary Poppins (2 Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition), The Aristocats Special Edition [1970], WALL-E (2 Disc Special Edition) [2008], Transformers (2007), Peter Pan (2 Disc Special Edition) [1953], Camp Rock [2008] |