G-Force (2009)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Director Featurette Featurette-Making Of Outtakes Deleted Scenes Music Video-3
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	84:43
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Hoyt Yeatman
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Bill Nighy Sam Rockwell Will Arnett Jon Favreau Zach Galifianakis Nicolas Cage
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Trevor Rabin

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Flemish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Dutch Hungarian Arabic	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

   'Yippee, Ki-yay, Coffee Maker'

 Jerry Bruckheimer has a reputation for producing big, noisy (and generally dumb) blockbuster action films directed at teen and adult audiences. This however, is probably the first time one of his projects has been directed exclusively at the pre-teen audience. The basic premise here is quite good (if not really original), a team of highly trained Guinea Pigs working for the government. They are trained secret agents and must save the world while battling their agency superiors, coffee makers turning into attack robots and possibly a traitor in their own team. The team consists of

• Darwin (voiced by Sam Rockwell) - Team Leader

• Blaster (voiced by Tracy Morgan) - the obligatory 'urban' team member

• Juarez (voiced by Penelope Cruz) - The obligatory 'female' and obligatory 'Latino' team member

• Speckles the Mole (voiced by Nicolas Cage) - The obligatory techo geek team member

   This team is organised by a human handler, Ben (Zach Galifianakis). Their key enemy is international electronics mogul Leonard Saber (played by a vastly underused Bill Nighy) who seems to be plotting to take over the world using coffee machines and other appliances. Along the way they meet Hurley (voiced by Jon Favreau), another Guinea Pig who may or may not be Darwin's brother and Bucky (Steve Buscemi), a very territorial hamster.

    The film was released theatrically in 3D which is mentioned constantly during the commentary. This is slightly annoying considering that the DVD is only in 2D. Regardless this is entertaining and amusing children's entertainment, despite the cliches and the obvious popular culture references like the one I quoted above. There is very little here for adults and the plot does bear any close scrutiny. As you would expect with Jerry Bruckheimer and a special effects guy (Hoyt Yeatman) directing his first movie at the helm, the CGI and effects are pretty incredible with the CGI hamsters fitting extremely well into their environment. Of course some stuff is right over the top but anyone who has seen another Buckheimer film would surely expect that. My boys saw it at the cinema and were certainly excited to see it again.

    Good rental for the kids.

Video

    The feature is are presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The picture was very clear and sharp with lots of excellent detail, especially in the foreground. Shadow detail was also excellent. There were some minor MPEG artefacts during motion but they were certainly not obvious.

    The colour was excellent as you would expect from a big budget children's film.

    Artefacts included one spot of minor aliasing at 74:50.

    There are optional subtitles in English, English for the hearing impaired, Dutch, Hungarian & Arabic.

    The layer change was not noticeable.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    This DVD contains six audio options an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 384Kb/s and tracks of the same technical specs in Dutch, Hungarian & Flemish. There is also an English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192Kb/s plus the Audio Commentary which is the same technically.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand throughout. There were no audio sync issues.

    The music by Trevor Rabin was perfectly suited to the material but will not be winning the Oscar for best soundtrack.

    The surround speakers were well used for action scenes and atmosphere and subwoofer added thumps, thuds, bumps and bass to the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu has an intro, lots of motion and music. Quality stuff.

Commentary - Director Hoyt Yeatman

    This is an OK commentary if you are interested in technical detail and someone explaining the thinking behind onscreen action. Carrying on about how good it was in 3D is not advisable when the DVD does not feature 3D. Not my cup of tea.

Blaster's Boot Camp (4:40) 

    Blaster takes the kids through the various gadgets the team use during the movie explaining what they do. The kids will enjoy it.

G-Force Mastermind (4:12) 

    Promo featurette about the genesis of the idea which came from the director's son, Hoyt VIII.

G-Farce : Bloopers (1:48) 

    Short blooper reel including voice recording footage.

Deleted Scenes (0:52, 0:25, 0:32, 1:46, 1:17, 1:00) 

    Mildly amusing but ultimately disposable.

Music Video - Jump by Flo Rida (4:06) 

Music Video - Ready to Rock by Steve Rushton (2:31) 

Music Video - Go G-Force (1:27) 

    Cutest one of the three featuring the Guinea Pigs singing and dancing.

    The film is available in two DVD formats in the US, a standard edition which has no extras and all and a deluxe edition which has the same extras plus a digital copy. From a standard edition perspective, I think the local release is the best. This film is also available on Blu-ray both here and in the US.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    A numerous but unspectacular set of extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall