7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A dog finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he meets.
Starring: Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid, Kathryn Prescott, Marg Helgenberger, Betty GilpinFamily | 100% |
Comedy | 81% |
Adventure | 1% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
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.
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'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 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.
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.
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