Paper Planes (Blu-ray) (2015)

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General		Extras
Category	Family	Featurette Featurette-Making Of
Rating
Year Of Production	2015
Running Time	96:23
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Robert Connelly
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Ed Oxenbould Peter Rowsthorn David Wenham Deborah Mailman Sam Worthington
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

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

     Dylan (Ed Oxenbould) lives with his dad in the outback of Western Australia. His dad (Sam Worthington) initially seems like a bit of a deadbeat, lying around on the couch all day, not working and not really looking after his son. However, as we learn later, Dylan's mom died a few months earlier and his dad is really not coping with the loss. One day at school a student teacher runs a lesson teaching the kids how to make paper planes which inspires Dylan. The plane he makes flies the furthest of his class and the teacher tells him that if he can throw 25 metres he can attend the state championships and possibly represent the state at the national championships. Despite his father not really showing an interest, Dylan manages to get to the state championship and then qualifies for the nationals in Sydney. With the support of his teacher Mr Hickenlooper (Peter Rowsthorn), his Grandpa George (Terry Norris), an ex-champ, Maureen Prescott (Deborah Mailman) and his mate Kevin (Julian Dennison), the world championships are within his reach. Can he qualify and if so how will he be able to get to Japan to compete for the world title?

     This is a good quality family film from well-known Australian producer/director Robert Connelly, director of quality films such as The Bank and Balibo. It is based on the true story of a couple of young guys, Dylan and James who went through a similar journey to the Dylan character in the film, ending up competing internationally in paper plane competitions for Australia. They now run their own business running paper plane courses and other related enterprises. They were featured on Australian Story on the ABC a few years ago. The film is well shot, showing off some outback locations, and the story is well told, without schmaltz. The acting is generally of good quality and the music is well chosen and backed by a good score. My only real criticism of the film would be that the character and characterisation of Dylan's father is hard to understand or sympathise with.

     If you are looking for something with a more Australian context than most kids films, this one is definitely worthwhile.

Video

     This video transfer is very good although not quite as spectacular as major release Blu-rays. The picture is sharp, clear and colourful and there are no obvious artefacts to mar your enjoyment. Technically it is 1080p and 2.35:1 which is the original aspect ratio. There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired. They are clear and easy to read. Quality Blu-ray video with no issues to report.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The soundtrack is very good, enhancing what is a fairly laid back soundtrack, certainly compared to the DVD version. The dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout. The music sounds great and is a combination of a score and various pop and rock songs such as Cold Chisel. The surrounds display excellent definition in some effects and there is significant atmospheric activity. The subwoofer is mostly used to support the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     A small set of extras.

Menu

     The menu features music and motion.

Paper Pilots Clips (6:08)

     The guys who the film is based on, Dylan and James, take us through making some planes, how to fly them properly and how you can mount a school exercise to test and fly paper planes. Not bad but pretty short.

Paper Planes Featurette (3:45)

     Promo style making of including scenes and interview snippets.

    This seems to be the only release of this film currently.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall