Bridge To Terabithia (Blu-ray + DVD-Video)
Picture: B+/B- Sound: B+/B- Extras: C/C+ Film: C+
Gabor Csupo
is an animation producer whose name is most closely associated with The
Simpsons, but everyone in the creative field directs sooner or later if they
are successful enough and he makes his feature film debut with Bridge To Terabithia (2007) starring
Josh Hutcherson and Annasophia Robb as opposites at school in track until crazy
circumstances bring them together.
Though
the film boasts being a Fantasy/Adventure film, most of it is actually a
formula melodrama for children that only arrives at its fantastic parts later
in the film. Though it is not terrible,
this is far from exciting and never picks up much. For many, this will be boring, while Robert
Patrick and Zooey Deschanel are the only recognizable faces among a mostly
unknown cast. When all is said and done,
this plays like Pan’s Labyrinth lite
and maybe you should read the book first.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is shot by Director of Photography
Michael Chapman, A.S.C., who used to work with the likes of Martin Scorsese,
but is now sought after for much more commercial fare since his work on The Fugitive. Unfortunately, that has been too broad and
produced competent professional work at best.
He has no major challenges here except for visual effects integration
and is one of the main reasons the film is as watchable as it is. The anamorphically enhanced DVD version is
not bad, but softer and less defined by comparison, though the digital effects
look phony in both cases.
Both
discs also have fairly good Dolby Digital 5.1, but the Blu-ray adds a PCM 48/24
5.1 mix that is the highlight of the disc with its dynamic and interesting
sound design. Sure, it has much
dialogue, but even that is warm and clear in the PCM version. I did not like the songs (especially the one
Bryan Adams co-wrote) and Aaron Zigman’s score is lite. Extras on both versions include two
featurettes and as Music Video by Robb (!) while the DVD has adds two feature
length audio commentary tracks. One is
Csupo, writer Jeff Stockwell & producer Hal Lieberman while the other
offers producer Lauren Levine, Hutcherson & Robb.
- Nicholas Sheffo
