Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Disney Movies Anywhere

Star Wars is simply back! Forget the awkwardness of the prequels and trying to bring The Force into the scientific world, this is the return to the spirit of the original trilogy! While there is nothing better than seeing old friends from the original trilogy back on the big screen, it is truly the action, the humor as well as the energy that has been recaptured here.

The Force Awakens introduces to us a whole new group of actors who will move the franchise forward. The new cast will impress you. The dynamic between John Boyega's Finn and Daisy Ridley's Rey is wonderful. It feels warmly familiar and yet different all at the same time. They seemlessly blend in with the established cast of Han Solo, Leia and Chewbacca. But the real strength is Adam Driver's performance as Kylo Ren. Kylo is powerful, cruel and angry. BB-8 is a complete joy and if you haven't fallen in love with him yet, you will.

The Force Awakens also recaptures the feeling of A New Hope. That feeling that just in front of you is adventure and greatness. These things were definitely missing in the prequels. The same sense of hope and wonder from the original trilogy is here in The Force Awakens.

The familiarity here has as much to do with the dialogue as it does with the use of both practical and computer effects. Lawrence Kasdan brought that level of familiarity to The Force Awakens. Having rewritten The Empire Strikes Back and co-writing Return of The Jedi, no one understands the characters of Han Solo, Leia and Chewbacca better and it shows here. J.J. Abrams brings with him his clear understanding of tightly controlled storytelling, with a fantastic ability of setting things up and paying them off and a real feel for action. The lightsaber battles feel more fluid and realistic than even the ones we witnessed in the prequel trilogy. Even the X-Wing and TIE fighter battles have a real sense of physicality that not even the prequels could come close to.

J.J. Abrams and his team have created a film that lives up to not only the Star Wars name, but to fan expectations as well. But perhaps the films greatest achievement is that the film can be enjoyed without having seen the original trilogy. I cannot wait to see what both Rian Johnson and Colin Tevorrow have planned for the following sequels.

Video Quality:

The 1080p transfer is amazing! Disney always brings us some of the very best transfers and this one is no exception! The deep dark blacks of space, the color of the sand on Jakku and the bright green of Takodana all pop off the screen! The bright blues and reds of the lightsabers are crisp. Details from facial features, to textures, to set pieces show off every nuance. A reference quality transfer and easily the best any Star Wars film has looked!

Audio Quality:

The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is terrific! The soundtrack is encompassing. Wait until you hear to the scenes aboard the Millennium Falcon. The sounds inside the ship make you feel as if you are in the cockpit. John Williams' score has never sounded better. Dialogue is crisp and clear. Lasers sounds like they are literally bouncing all around you. X-Wings and the TIE fighters swoop around you and you feel as if you are in the middle of the battle. Amazing audio to compliment a superior video presentation! 

Bonus Material:

A large amount of bonus material is found here. Sadly there is no audio commentary. 

• Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey (1080p, 1:09:14 total runtime): A four-part making-of feature
  • Chapter One: Focus on the beginning of Star Wars under the care of Disney, to bringing in J.J. Abrams to direct, taking a look at the first ideas, the return of many of the people that worked on the original trilogy to this project, staying faithful to the original trilogy, and taking a look at the new characters and familiar returning ones. 
  • Chapter Two: The next chapter takes a look at the actual filming. We literally get to look at Day One, development of the new characters, building the Millennium Falcon, and a look at two old friends in Han Solo and Chewbacca. 
  • Chapter Three: The third chapter takes a look at the new cantina and the creation of the new characters that populate it, some of the digital work on new characters such as Maz Kantana and Supreme Leader Snoke, working with droids, a look at the return of Princess Leia and details on Kylo Ren. 
  • Chapter Four: The final chapter looks at the end of Han Solo. We get a better look at the decision behind this send off to everyone's favorite smuggler. We also get final thoughts from the cast and crew on the movie and the franchise.
• The Story Awakens: The Table Read (1080p, 4:01): We only get parts of the first table read of the script with the cast and crew. 
• Crafting Creatures (1080p, 9:34): A far too short look at the building of many of the characters for the movie.
• Building BB-8 (1080p, 6:03): A look at everyone's new favorite droid from early design, to construction, to BB-8's place in the movie and the different variations of BB-8 to be used for different situations in the movie.  
• Blueprint of a Battle: The Snow Fight (1080p, 7:02): A closer look at  the epic lightsaber duel between Rey and Kylo Ren from the construction of the set and the physical preparations for the scene. 
• ILM: The Visual Magic of the Force (1080p, 7:55): Another far too short look at how digital effects work together with the movie's practical effects. 
• John Williams: The Seventh Symphony (1080p, 6:51): A look at John Williams' work on all the Star Wars movies.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Finn and the Villager (0:31), Jakku Message (0:47), X-Wings Prepare for Lightspeed (0:22), Kylo Searches The Falcon (0:50), Snow Speeder Chase (0:48), and Finn Will Be Fine(0:23).
• Force for Change (1080p, 3:22): A look at the charity efforts of the film.

Conclusion:

The return to a galaxy far, far away is an amazing one. We get to see old friends and make new ones. We get an amazing film that lives up to not only the Star Wars name but to fans expectations as well. We get an amazing reference quality transfer with audio to match and an impressive amount of bonus material. One of the best blu-rays out and it is only April. Star Wars: The Force Awakens deserves a place on your shelf or in your digital collection. 

Review of Pixar's The Good Dinosaur on Disney Movies Anywhere

The premise of The Good Dinosaur is a simple one, what if the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs never hit the earth? The answer is that the dinosaurs would have been the dominate form of life on the planet and learned to speak. So, with that, we meet a family of apatosaurs, who are farmers and have three children who are learning to carry on the work.

The smallest child is Arlo, who is afraid of his own shadow. His father is set to make his son believe in himself. But Arlo cannot even do the job that his poppa created for him, which was to keep "critters", in this case humans, away from their corn. A human gets caught in the trap Arlo and his poppa made but Arlo can't bring himself to get rid of the human. This sends the two along a raging river during a storm and the two become separated. Arlo finds himself far away from home. He makes a friend with a human, who Arlo names Spot. Now this becomes a classic boy and his dog story with Arlo being the boy and Spot being the dog. Arlo and Spot slowly become friends and the two now set off to get Arlo home.

Visually, this is Pixar's finest effort. The photo-realistic backgrounds are stunning. It is almost as if the animators took real footage. The effect is convincing and adds to the vastness of the space making even a dinosaur as large as Arlo look tiny in comparison. This adds to how lost Arlo is and how far away home is. Arlo and Spot encounter several dinosaurs on their journey but none with a greater impact than a family of  T-Rexes. They help Arlo discover that it's not only ok to be afraid, but how to face that fear.

Video Quality:

The video quality is simply reference material spectacular even for a digital movie. The textures of the environment have to be seen to be believed. The details of the environments look like they were filmed out in nature and created on a computer. The trees and the leaves may make you pause the video to get a closer look at the details. The colors are vibrant and stunning. The colors on the dinosaurs are in stark contrast to the rest of the environment to really help them stand out.  Another incredible video transfer from Disney.  

Audio Quality:

The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack is just as amazing as the video quality. Dialogue is focused on the center channel and comes across crisp and clean. The surround channels add ambient sounds such as rushing water, wind, insects and more that you would hear out in the wilderness. The score covers the entire sound channels, being dominate through the front channels but moving to the back channels when it needs to. 

Bonus Features: 

There are a wide range of bonus features here.

• Sanjay's Super Team (1080p, DTS-HD MA 7.1, 7:07): This short is as charming and heartfelt as any of Pixar's best shorts. This is a very personal story from director Sanjay Patel. It shows the difference between little Sanjay and his love of Saturday morning cartoons, while his father holds on to his Hindu beliefs and wants his son to embrace his culture and heritage. Who will win out? Watch this heartfelt short to find out.
• True Lies About Dinosaurs (1080p, 1:56): A look at the fictitious elements about dinosaurs used in the film.
• Recyclosaurus (1080p, 6:19): Some of the awesome folks at Pixar build dinosaurs out of donated goods.
• The Filmmakers' Journey (1080p, 7:54): A great look at the team who worked on the film. Director Peter Sohn discusses the challenges of making his first film. He also gives us a look at the story themes, the creation of the film, scouting for locations, some fun team building and other great insight into the making of the movie. 
• Every Part of the Dinosaur (1080p, 6:08): A look at creating a character and how much work goes into bringing a character to life. 
• Following the T-Rex Trail (1080p, 6:58): The film crew meets to a real cattle ranch family, The McKays, that ended up being the inspiration for a T-Rex family in the movie. 
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Two scenes that were deleted from the movie with explanation from Director Peter Sohn.
• Audio Commentary: Participating in this audio commentary are Director Peter Sohn; Story Supervisor Kelsey Mann; Animation Supervisor Mike Venturini; Director of Photography, Lighting Sharon Calahan; and Supervising Technical Director Sanjay Bakshi. There is an absolute wealth of information about the film and every aspect of putting it together. Learn about everything from the story, to themes, to animation, to locations and so much more. 
• Dino Bites (1080p, 4:15): A montage of silly footage of the characters having fun in front of the camera.
• Hide and Seek (1080p, 0:59): Arlo and Spot play hide-and-seek.
• Trailers (1080p): Three different trailers including one from Russia and another from Germany.

The Good Dinosaur is a truly heart-warming and emotional family film, with some great humor! The digital copy provides a stunning streaming experience in terms of video and audio. There is also a wealth of bonus material that any movie fan will truly enjoy. This is a solid additional to any library.