Inside
Out 3D: Ultimate Collector's Edition (2015/Disney/Pixar
Blu-ray 3D w/Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture:
A/A/B Sound: A/A/B Extras: B Film: A-
As
one of the best movies (animated or otherwise) of the year, I highly
recommend Disney/Pixar's Inside
Out
(2015), a fantastic, imaginative tale filled to the brim with kind of
action, adventure, and emotion that only the team over at Pixar could
deliver. With their previous tales taking places such as deep
beneath the sea, outer space, and in a world of superheroes; the team
took their skills to perhaps one of the most mysterious places, the
mind of a child.
Inside
Out follows
the inner workings of a little girl named Riley from birth up to the
age of 11. The first 10 years seem to fly by in the film as we see
the child develop both inside and out; most of her life being about
exploring and discovering the world around her. Whereas Riley is the
main character of the film, it is the characters in her head that
take center stage. In a 'control room/super computer' like setting
the emotions of Joy (voiced by Amy Pohler), Fear (voiced by Bill
Hader), Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Anger (voiced by Lewis
Black), and Disgust (voiced by Mindy Kahling) are the
personifications of Riley's emotions; each taking their turn at the
controls according the situation at hand. The filmmakers brilliantly
managed to distill the complexities of thought and emotion into
relatable medium to display the inner workings of a child's mind.
There are 'Islands of Personality,' orbs to represent stored
memories, and literal 'Trains of Thought' to transports those
memories/ideas.
The
catalytic event that changes Riley's life forever is when her family
moves from her beloved Minnesota town to San Francisco for her
father's new job. Every emotion in Riley's head springs into action
during the move; fear, joy, anger, disgust all have their own unique
input on the move. This puts Riley in a whirlwind of emotions, with
mostly Joy and Sadness at the helm. It is soon discovered that if
Sadness touches any of the happy memory orbs (from her life in
Minnesota) it quickly and irreversibly turns to a blue (sad) orb. At
first Joy attempts to keep Sadness occupied and out of the way, as to
not muck things up; but Sadness (almost instinctually) continues to
be involved.
After
some mechanical errors with the memory orbs up on the control deck,
Joy and Sadness are whisked off to the Memory Bank where we as an
audience are introduced to a host of interesting characters. Joy and
Sadness know they must get back to the control deck to make Riley
whole again, but getting back will be no easy task; and leaving
Anger, Disgust, and Fear alone at helm leaves Riley confused as her
personality is slowly chipped away. Sadness and Joy travel through
Imagination Land where they meet a certain character that sets the
film up for some its best and saddest moments; giving viewers the
opportunity to experience every emotion.
The
film is truly astonishing, as it vividly displays emotions and
development in a tangible manner. To say the film is profound is a
simplification; as director Pete Docter and his team managed to
capture the essence of human emotion with visual personifications
that never feel forced. The orbs, and trains, and islands, and
everything else the film uses as incarnations of what exists inside
all of us (young or old) is spot on.
The
film is palpable, as it will leave viewers with tears in their eyes
and a lump in their throat as Inside
Out gets
it. What is 'it' you ask? That something inside all of us that is
nearly possible to explain, that something inside that makes us who
we are; and something (that somehow) Pixar purified into a beautiful
animated film. Bravo.
The
technical features on this Disney Pixar 3D Blu-ray release are nearly
as amazing as the film itself. Of all the studios out there,
Disney/Pixar has been at the forefront of delivering beautiful at
home presentations. This particular 'Ultimate Collectors' Edition'
set reviewed here comes complete with the 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD,
and Digital Copy of the film. The picture on the Blu-ray and Blu-ray
3D is a 1.78 X 1 MVC MPEG-4 presentation that is incredible with
bright colors, fine-fine-fine detail, brilliant light/dark balance,
and inky blacks. The crisp, clean, clear image of the 2D Blu-ray
translates nicely into 3D and is demo quality, being one of the
finest 3D Blu-rays I have seen to date. What makes the 3D so good is
its balance; many 3D presentations are either lackluster or gimmicky,
but Inside
Out manages
to deliver a steady, consistent presentation that caters to both 'pop
out,' 'in your face' effects and tasteful depth. The sound is a
lossless DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio presentation that engulfs the viewer
in sound. Viewers will find themselves in the heart of the action
with spot on panning effects, while concurrently getting chills from
the surrounding musical scores. With solid directionality,
crisp/clean dialogue, and admirable prioritization Inside
Out may
be viewers new go to Demo film.
The
DVD is merely a downgrade of both Blu-ray presentations and the
Digital copy (good until the year 2020) is nice for viewers on the
go.
The
extras are held on a second Blu-ray disc and include the following:
Disney/Pixar
short film 'Lava'
Audio
Commentary
Disney/Pixar
Short Riley's
First Date
Path
the Pixar: The Women of Inside
Out
Mixed
Emotions
Mapping
the Mind
Story
of the Story
Our
Dads, the Filmmakers
Mind
Candy
Into
the Unknown: The Sound of Inside
Out
The
Misunderstood Art of Animated Film Editing
Deleted
Scenes
Trailers
-
Michael P. Dougherty II
