LEGO Movie, The (Blu-ray) (2014)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Audio Commentary Short Film-Multiple Featurette-Behind The Scenes Featurette-Multiple Music Video Deleted Scenes Outtakes Teaser Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2014
Running Time	100:35
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Phil Lord Christopher Miller
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Chris Pratt Will Ferrell Elizabeth Banks Liam Neeson Will Arnett Morgan Freeman
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Mark Mothersbaugh

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 English Audio Commentary 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

"Everything is Awesome"

     Big budget children's animated films based on toys have been around for a while and one based on LEGO has been mooted for some time. Would it be rubbish like Battleship or bring a new dimension to one of the world's favourite toys? Well, The LEGO Movie is a marvellous film for kids and adults alike with lots of fun, a good message and heaps of sly humour for adults.

     The story concerns a very ordinary construction worker called Emmett (voiced by Chris Pratt) who goes to work every day, following his instructions diligently, like a good LEGO man would. The only problem is that even in this regimented world he doesn't seem to make much impact with his co-workers, they don't really find him terribly interesting. The whole world is controlled by the Octan Corporation including the construction work, entertainment, over-priced coffee and more. The head of Octan is also the leader of the world, President Business (voiced by Will Ferrell). One day at work, Emmett sees someone entering the building site after work, which is definitely against the instructions. He follows and sees a young woman, Wyldestyle (Elizabeth Banks) who is obviously a member of some sort of resistance against Octan. He tries to warn her but instead falls for her and falls into an area where random LEGO bricks have fallen. When he awakes he finds that he has a non-standard piece of plastic attached to his back and has been arrested by the police led by Good Cop/Bad Cop (Liam Neeson). They want to know where he found the 'Piece of Resistance' which is attached to him. He soon learns that there is a legend that 'The Special One' will come and rid the world of tyranny by finding the 'piece of resistance'. With Wyldestyle's help Emmett escapes and together they try to work out how to stop President Business and his evil plans, despite everyone's concerns that Emmett is just not that special. Along the way they go through various LEGO lands and meet characters like Batman (Will Arnett), Vitruvious the blind sage (Morgan Freeman) and more.

     The film is completely animated using LEGO bricks (digitally created ones of course) except for a short live action sequence towards the end. The software used in making the film for building digital LEGO (or at least a version of it) is available for download and my kids enjoy it greatly. The film is constantly inventive visually and incorporates many of the things that kids the world over love about LEGO like the use of instructions, the ability to make things without instructions and the numbered pieces. The voice acting and dialogue are also excellent, with Will Arnett and Liam Neeson the standouts. The theme tune is insanely catchy and my kids have been singing it since they first saw the film at the cinema. They have gone out of their way to learn all the lyrics including the rap parts so they can sing it in its entirety. Despite the song, adults will thoroughly enjoy this film, especially those of the age group who loved LEGO as children, like me.

     This Blu-ray set includes a 2D Blu-ray and a 3D Blu-ray as a separate disc. All the extras are on the 2D disc. I was not provided with packaging however I believe this is known as the 'Everything is Awesome' edition and includes some extra things like a 3D photo and a LEGO figure.

     Highly recommended. The film is 'awesome'.

Video

     The video quality is 'awesome'.

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

     The detail and clarity is wonderful showing of the quality animation. The film does have that 'shot for 3D' look about it with some scenes having very sharp close detail but backgrounds being a bit soft.

     The colour is also excellent bursting from the screen.

     There are no obvious artefacts.

     There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired. They 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 'awesome'.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1, an Audio Descriptive track in Dolby Digital 5.1 and a Commentary track in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout.

     The score by Mark Mothersbaugh is lots of fun and certainly adds to the film. The theme song is used in a variety of ways during the film.

     The surround speakers are in constant action with lots of directional effects, voices and adds to the overall immersive nature of this sound design.

     The subwoofer was also used constantly for music, thuds, thumps and the action sequences.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     The extras are 'awesome'.

Menu

     The menu includes music from the film.

Audio Commentary - Filmmakers and Cast

     Includes the two co-directors/writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller along with cast members including Will Arnett, Chris Pratt, Charlie Day and others who join on the phone. They joke around quite a lot due to the presence of comedians, however there is also worthwhile information shared along the way. Decent but not completely 'awesome'.

Batman - A True Artist (1:12)

     A fan film by a 6 year old featuring LEGO Batman. Fun stuff.

Michelangelo and Lincoln - History Cops (1:21)

     A funny animated short.

Enter the Ninjago (2:13)

     Another funny animated short about the studio trying to get Ninjago LEGO included in the movie. 'Awesome'

Behind the Scenes: Bringing LEGO to life (12:36)

     A making of featurette hosted by Emmett including brief discussions of the directors, production design, story, casting, animation and the production being based in Australia. Worthwhile

Everything is Awesome : Singalong (3:19)

     A video clip for the song with on-screen lyrics. My kids have watched this a lot.

See It - Build It (0:50, 3:53, 2:55, 0:41, 2:11, 1:41)

     A set of featurettes which show you how to build the Double Decker couch and Emmett's car both in actual LEGO and on the LEGO Digital Designer software. There are introductions from a LEGO designer and from a movie Modelling artist. 'Awesome'.

Stories from the Story Team (4:08)

     Storyboard views of the scene where Emmett and Lucy meet.

Fan Made Films - Top Secret Submissions (3:57)

     Featurette about the competition run by the film makers to get fans to submit stop motion LEGO films. The winners were used in the film itself. 'Awesome'

Outtakes (2:33)

     Funny stuff, alternate dialogue and silly jokes. 'Awesome'

Additional Promotional Content (3:50)

     Various short promos which are mostly quite amusing.

Alleyway Test (0:55)

     The first animation test made for the film.

Deleted Scenes (3:28)

    Storyboard version of scenes considered and rejected. Worth watching.

    The Region A release is the same. Locally you can get a DVD/UV or Blu-ray/UV combo or a 3D Blu-ray/2D Blu-ray combo as reviewed here. There is a 2D Blu-ray/DVD combo available in Region A.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall