Cars 2 (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Main Menu Audio & Animation Short Film-Hawaiian Vacation Short Film-Air Mater
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	102:38
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	John Lasseter Brad Lewis
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Larry The Cable Guy Owen Wilson Michael Caine Emily Mortimer Eddie Izzard John Turturro Brent Musburger
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	Michael Giacchino Stephen Schaffer Jay Shuster

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired English Titling	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Welcome to my 900th review for michaeldvd.com.au!

     A few years ago now, Pixar Animation released Cars, which at the time was a bit of a critical failure but has grown into a marketing and movie tie-in phenomenon over the proceeding years. Personally, I loved the original movie and enjoyed watching it with my kids and it has graced the DVD player a few times since then. Now in 2011, along comes Cars 2, a highly anticipated sequel around our house. What a disappointment it is then to find a film which bears little relationship to the original, relegates most of the characters from the original film to being bit players and has a weak story and script. On the plus side, the animation is awesome and there are some great action sequences (probably too many though) and as usual some funny quips from Mater.

     The story focuses mostly on Mater from the original crew, getting him mixed up in an international spy storyline as Lightning competes in the World Grand Prix. The main story focuses on the creator of a new alternative fuel, Allinoil, Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard). In order to promote the fuel he arranges the World Grand Prix and invites famous race cars from all over the world to compete. Meanwhile a group of baddies led by Professor Z are trying to disrupt the racing and prove the new alternative fuel to be dangerous. Lining up against them are the British and American secret services including Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Mater's new love interest, Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer). The racing and Lightning are really only used as a backdrop to the spy story. The story jumps around a fair bit and smaller kids will probably find it confusing. However, they will enjoy the continuous action sequences and jokes.

     The core audience will enjoy this film anyway but it is disappointing to see a film from Pixar which lacks the heart and joy that they have become famous for. It is a decent film but not at the standard which Pixar have been at for the past few years. The kids will still get some fun out of it, despite its issues.

     Worth a rental for the kids.

Video

     The video quality is excellent for DVD. The feature is 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 throughout but suffered from a little bit of motion blur which I am sure the Blu-ray version would not. Shadow detail was excellent. The colour is magnificent throughout, but I am sure the Blu-ray would absolutely blow its socks off.

     There were no other noticeable artefacts.

     There are English for the hearing impaired subtitles which are clear and easy to read, along with an automatic subtitle stream for foreign languages.

    There is no obvious layer change 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. This disc contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 Kb/s) plus an English Audio Descriptive track in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was mostly easy to understand although sometimes a little hard to catch.

     The music by Michael Giacchino is very good, providing appropriate support to the action.

     The surround speakers were used for music, bullet sounds, racing car noises and lots more. The subwoofer was used reguallrly for car rumbles and to the support the music and action sequences.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     Only two extras, which is a surprise for Pixar.

Menu

     The menu featured the Disney Fast Play system.

Hawaiian Vacation (5:40)

     The same short animated film which accompanied the movie at the cinema. This is a Toy Story based short about the toys' new owner, Bonnie going on Vacation to Hawaii. Ken and Barbie try to stow away in her backpack but only make it is a far as her bedroom. This is a funny short and an excellent addition to the disc.

Air Mater (5:12)

     Another funny short this time based around the idea of Mater learning how to fly. Funny stuff and probably based on a better idea than the movie itself.

    The Region 1 DVD also includes the director's commentary which is exclusive to the Blu-ray in our region. Region 1 wins.

     A disappointing follow-up from Pixar to the original Cars movie.

     The video quality is excellent. The audio quality is excellent for DVD.

     Extras are two high quality shorts (which are usually the extras highlights for Pixar films anyway).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall