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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Muppets (2011)

The Muppets (2011)

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Released 16-May-2012

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Family Main Menu Audio & Animation
Outtakes
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2011
Running Time 98:31
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (65:20) Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By James Bobin
Studio
Distributor

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.
Starring Jason Segel
Amy Adams
Chris Cooper
Rashida Jones
Steve Whitmire
Eric Jacobson
Dave Goelz
Bill Barretta
Case ?
RPI ? Music Christophe Beck


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Romanian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
Spanish
Portuguese
Romanian
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The Muppets were huge when I was a kid and I loved them, however, I was somewhat surprised when I heard there was a new major theatrical movie on the way. Another TV movie maybe, but a major studio theatrical release? Well, they made it; it went well at the box office around the world and then perhaps even more surprisingly won an Oscar for Best Original Song. Jason Segel, from How I Met Your Mother, actually came up with the concept and pitched it to the studio and went on to write the script and star in the film. The outcome is a lot of fun and a thoroughly enjoyable addition to The Muppets canon.

     As you might expect the story is straight forward. A pair of brothers, one human, one muppet has grown up in Smalltown, USA. The human one, Gary (Jason Segel) has been dating Mary (Amy Adams) for ten years but he can't tear himself away from his brother, the muppet one, Walter. Gary and Mary decide to take a vacation in Los Angeles and Gary convinces Mary they should take Walter along and visit Muppet studios which Walter is obsessed with. While visiting the studios, Walter overhears a discussion between an oil baron, Tex Richman (a hilarious Chris Cooper), and his henchmen about how they are going to buy the studios, tear it down and drill for oil. In order to stop him the Muppets must quickly raise $10million to buy the studios back. Gary, Walter and Mary head off to find Kermit the Frog so they can get him onto raising the money. He decides to get The Muppets back together and put on a concert and telethon to raise the required money. He needs to find the muppets who have all started other careers such as Gonzo, the plumbing entrepreneur, Miss Piggy, plus size Vogue editor and Fozzy who is singing in a tribute band in Reno. Animal must be released from his anger management rehab.

     This is a really well put together film which is funny throughout and includes lots of cute ideas and some very catchy songs (it is a musical in style). My pre-teen boys loved it and were very keen to watch it again on DVD despite having seen it at the movies. There are lots of cameo appearances from Jack Black, Alan Arkin, Zach Galifianakis, Emily Blunt, Whoopi Goldberg, Dave Grohl and the kid from Modern Family, Rico Rodriguez.

     Highly recommended for family fun.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is excellent for DVD. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is close to the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was very clear and sharp throughout affected a little by blur during motion but no worse than normal for DVD.

     The colour was generally excellent for DVD, showing of the colours of sets, muppets and costumes.

     There were no obvious artefacts.

     There are subtitles available in English which are clear and easy to read. There are also tracks in English for the hearing impaired, Spanish, Portuguese & Romanian.

     There is a layer break at 65:21 which was not noticeable during playback.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is excellent for DVD but I am sure it would be significantly better on a Blu-ray.

     This disc contains a English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 plus an Audio Descriptive track in Dolby Digital 2.0 and other Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. The overall volume was somewhat low causing me to turn my amp up significantly.

     Dialogue was a bit quiet in the mix but generally clear once the overall sound level was turned up.

     The score is by Christophe Beck which is very suitable to the film but the songs are the highlight here including the Oscar winning, Man or Muppet. The music and songs fill the whole sound field giving a very immersive experience for DVD.

     The surround speakers got lots of use during this film for the songs, explosions and various direction effects such as flash bulbs and off screen vocals.

     The subwoofer was also well used for the explosions, music and other LFE.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menu

     The menu is fun featuring all the muppets doing silly things.

The Longest Blooper Reel Ever Made (8:11)

     Maybe not the longest but it is certainly a funnier blooper reel than most. Well worth a look.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This DVD seems to be very similar globally. The Blu-ray includes many more special features.

Summary

     A funny and entertaining family film which sees The Muppets re-entering the theatrical feature world.

     The video quality is excellent.

     The audio quality is excellent but a little quiet.

    There is one extra.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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