Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

A Dog's Journey Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 20, 2019

Director Gail Mancuso's A Dog's Journey follows the story of Bailey, the dog introduced in 2017's A Dog's Purpose, the film adaptation of W. Bruce Cameron's 2010 novel of the same name. Cameron also wrote Journey, published in 2012. This film follows many of the same essential beats that defined its predecessor, seeing a single dog reincarnated several times, changing sizes and genders but maintaining a singular focus of love and emotional protection across a span of many years. It's a tearjerker, so be prepared. It teeters on manipulative, but even through its curiously morbid beats it maintains a feel for reality, for several canine lifetimes worth of the human experience crammed into 100 minutes. Mancuso juggles the tones and time constraints quite well, building a bridge through time made of the connective fibers that draw heart and soul together through joy and adversity alike.

Elder pooch Bailey is living the happy life on Ethan and Hannah’s (Dennis Quaid and Marg Helgenberger) farm. But their recently widowed daughter-in-law Gloria (Betty Gilpin) is carelessly and mindlessly “raising” her daughter CJ (Emma Volk) on the farm; she’s selfish and lacks focus on her daughter, leaving CJ’s proper care to Ethan and Hannah. Unfortunately, Bailey is diagnosed with cancer and there’s no choice but to put him down. Around the same time, Gloria takes CJ away, believing Ethan and Hannah are after the money her late husband left the family. Nine years later, Bailey is reincarnated as a female Beagle named Molly. And, as happenstance, or maybe fate, would have it, Molly reconnects with CJ, now 11 years old (Abby Ryder Fortson). CJ adopts the dog without telling her mother, who is still selfish and neglectful, driving a seemingly immovable wedge between herself and her daughter, reinforced by CJ’s understandable resentment. As the years pass, CJ grows into a young adult (Kathryn Prescott) with dreams of her own and Bailey still at her side, who is still bent on protecting her now as a Biewer Terrier named Max.

This is an effective, but curiously dark, movie. It introduces and explores, in fairly stern and direct detail, deep and dense human drama and shows characters who engage in despicable behavior and commit deplorable actions. The movie deals emotional blow after emotional blow, as the good characters in the film, human and canine alike, suffer under the weight of the traumas and the aftermaths of several unspeakably bad actions and the physical chaos that follows and emotional scars that result. The movie is a challenge to view without at least welling up, if not outright weeping, for the hurts and pains that come to the characters, by others' actions or by the realities of nature.

Indeed, A Dog’s Journey deals with the hard realities of life, but it also counterbalances the negativity with the hopeful pursuits of love and companionship and, yes, purpose. The cast is terrific throughout, human and canine alike, at always digging out of the dark holes and fighting -- scratching, clawing -- to find and grab any silver lining. There’s an undercurrent of hope through the hate, clarity through the confusion, aspirations for something more through the anguish. This is a pointedly real movie in the guise of fiction and light fantasy. It betrays the cute-and-cuddly vibes that promotional materials and beautiful animals might suggests, so grown-ups should be ready to answer some hard questions after the movie, and keep that box of tissues handy.

A Dog's Journey Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Dog's Journey arrives on Blu-ray with a five-star 1080p transfer from Universal. The digitally sourced image is as reliable as the canines it depicts. Clarity is on the high end of the Blu-ray spectrum. Details are exacting, exploring fine animal fur, human skin, natural elements around the farm, and plenty of denser urban areas with precision clarity and revealing textures. Every shot is a delight; there's never any visual flub getting in the way of pinpoint and pleasing details through the film's time and place spectrums. The color palette is also healthy and crisp. From natural greens around the farm and New York's City parks to the grays around the city's urban centers, colors offer precisely tuned contrast and a natural vibrance from beginning to end. Skin tones are healthy and black levels are strong. A sprinkling of noise appears in a few lower light shots but is of no concern. This is a pristine new release from Universal.

A Dog's Journey Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Dog's Journey's Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack has ample opportunity to stretch its legs, even if the sound elements are not of a prodigious nature. The track handles its fairly ordinary duties quite well, delivering music with pleasing depth and detail in its full-stage delivery. Front right and left channels carry the bulk of the material but the surrounds do help to more fully and naturally integrate the score, and a few pop songs, into the stage for a well-rounded presentation. Listeners will enjoy some good immersive ambience around some of the New York exteriors; a cafe scene in chapter 16 allows the audience to be pulled into one of the film's more critical scenes while lighter atmospherics around the farm draw the listener into the serene world. Dialogue propels the film, both Josh Gad's voiceover work and dialogue amongst human characters; it is always perfectly detailed and well prioritized, flowing from a front-center channel location.

A Dog's Journey Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

A Dog's Journey contains deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, several featurettes, and an audio commentary track. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, 10:32 total runtime): Included are It's Gonna Work, A Song for Molly, You Can Stay Here, Just Do the Laundry, Let's Get Started, Gloria Looks at Henry's Things, This Place Is Huge, It's Really Happening, and I've Loved You Forever.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 7:00): Humorous human and canine moments from the shoot.
• Working with Dogs (1080p, 5:35): Cast and crew talk up working with their four-legged co-stars.
• A Dog's Sequel (1080p, 5:13): A brief exploration of the film's emotional pulls, its cast and characters, and Gail Mancuso's direction.
• Everyone's Best Friend (1080p, 3:55): A discussion of why dogs truly are "man's best friend." There's also a look at the actors' real-life pets.
• A Healing Journey (1080p, 3:09): A quick look at the movie's essential premise and larger purpose.
• Scoring the Journey (1080p, 3:22): A brief exploration of the film's music with Director Gail Mancuso and Composer Mark Isham.
• Audio Commentary: A well-spoken track with Director Gail Mancuso that explores themes, shooting locations, tie-ins to the first film, cast and characters, working with dogs, and much more. It's a well-rounded presentation that makes for a nice compliment to the movie.

A Dog's Journey Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Dog's Journey deals with some grim topics that challenge the characters both physically and emotionally, and the hurt is definitely transferred through the screen; it's difficult to imagine even the most hard-hearted viewer not being moved at some point through the film, if only for the accumulated hardships and traumas that pile up over the course of 100 minutes. But the movie always maintains a direction towards hope. It's only as light as the comic relief allows, and adults should be prepared for the realities of what this movie is rather than what it might appear to be. Universal's Blu-ray delivers top-class video and audio presentations to go along with a nice array of bonus material. Recommended.