Escape from Planet Earth (Blu-ray) (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Making Of Featurette-Behind The Scenes Deleted Scenes Music Video
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	89:09
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	?
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Cal Brunker
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Brendan Fraser Rob Corddry Ricky Gervais Jonathan Morgan Heit Jessica Alba Sofía Vergara
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Aaron Zigman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Another animated kids film comes off the production line. This one is serviceable but doesn't really have much that makes it stand out from the pack.

     The story here involves a couple of brothers from the planet Baab, Scorch Supernova (voiced by Brendan Fraser) and Gary (Rob Corddry). Scorch is an action hero, loved by everyone on the planet for his daring deeds and risk taking missions to protect the planet. Gary mans mission control, helping Scorch to get out of difficult situations. Scorch is quite dumb whereas Gary is the brains of the operation. They have been arguing and Gary is sick of not getting any credit for the missions. When an SOS is received from an especially dangerous planet, known as Earth, Scorch goes rogue and sets off to be the hero and save the day. Of course, he is captured on earth and sent to Area 51 under the control of the baddie, General Shanker (William Shatner). Gary must set out to save Scorch and escape from Planet Earth.

     Escape from Planet Earth is good without being anything special. The animation is pretty impressive especially on Blu-ray but without doing anything particularly new. The voice cast does a good job with Ricky Gervais standing out as the sarcastic computer, Mr James Bing. Other voices include Sarah Jessica Parker, Sofia Vergara, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch & Steve Zahn. The theme of family being important is quite well done. The story unfolds in a fairly simple way introducing animated film clichés like the oddball sidekicks and wisecracking friends. The music is a real drag in this film, annoying light pop tunes which don't fit the feeling of the movie. The core audience will enjoy themselves with this film but probably won’t ask for too many replays.

     The disc includes both 3D and 2D versions of the film. An ultraviolet version is also included.

     This film is amusing and entertaining without setting the world on fire. It is enjoyable but instantly forgettable.

Video

     The video quality is excellent.

     The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p HD encoded using the AVC codec.

     The picture was extremely clear and sharp throughout. Shadow detail was excellent.

     The colour is eye-poppingly excellent, with all the colours and details looking spectacular.

     There are no noticeable artefacts.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1, along with a Dolby Digital 2.0 Audio Descriptive track. The main track includes lots of ambiance and atmosphere along with a variety of directional effects in actions scenes.

     Dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout.

     The music sounds good aurally however is certainly not to my taste or I believe well suited to the material featuring acts like Owl City & Cody Simpson.

     The surround speakers provided ambiance and atmosphere. They also come to life during action scenes providing lots of surround effects.

     The subwoofer added bass to the music and action scenes throughout.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     A decent selection of extras are included, although not as many as most animated films.

Menu

     The menu includes scenes and music.

How to Make an animated film (3:41)

     Short piece on the steps in the process such as storyboards, pre-viz, animation and lighting with a voiceover by the director. Designed for kids as it is too short to provide much insight.

Behind the Scenes Special (21:15)

     Pretty standard featurette featuring the voice cast talking about their characters and the composer talking about the music. Includes lots of scenes from the film.

Alternate Takes & Deleted Scenes (3:53)

     Short and silly extra pieces which don't add much.

Cody Simpson Featurette (2:44)

     Recording session for the song Shine Supernova including short interview.

Owl City Music Video - Shooting Star (4:15)

     Scenes from the film plus the group performing.

Delta Rae performs What Matters Most (4:03)

     Best of the music, this includes the song and a short interview.

    The Region A version includes two separate Blu-rays, one for 3D, one for 2D plus a DVD copy. This is probably excessive  however a director audio commentary is also included which is not present locally. The Region A is superior due to this inclusion.

     An average and clichéd children's animated film.

     The video quality is excellent.

     The audio quality is very good.

    The extras are decent.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall