An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky Blu-ray Movie Review

Just let your song be heard...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown August 8, 2013

Saige Paints the Sky is the seventh film in the American Girl series and the third to hit Blu-ray, after Kit Kittredge and McKenna Shoots for the Stars. Like its predecessors, the newest direct-to-video preteen pick-me-up is aimed at a very narrow target demographic, and doesn't deviate in the slightest. Young girls will cheer, hearts will fill up with hope, and parents will be more than happy to see their daughters taking in a wholesome movie with a number of positive messages. Sit down to watch Saige Paints the Sky with your girls, though, and you're in for an hour and a half of maddeningly cookie cutter characters finding a maddeningly cookie cutter path to true happiness. And in the fourth grade no less! It not only shamelessly peddles joy and perseverance to its bright-eyed fans (admittedly a noble goal), it seems more concerned with promoting and preserving the American Girl brand than in telling an honest or even remotely layered true-to-life story. But as long as you don't mind instilling your kids with a few more false hopes and empty dreams about their futures, it's a decent deluge of heartwarming, prepubescent morals without any sinister message or corporate trickery lying in wait.

Meet nine-year-old Saige (Sidney Fullmer), a talented artist with a passion for horses, in this modern day story about finding your voice. Saige is excited about the new school year, until she discovers that art -- her favorite class -- has been cut. On top of that, her best friend, Tessa (Alex Peters), seems to be spending more and more time with another girl. For help, Saige turns to her grandma Mimi (Jane Seymour), a well-known artist and horsewoman, who inspires her to take action. Can Saige find the courage to overcome her fears, and save the art program and her friendship with Tessa? Heart-warming, empowering and fun, it's a movie for every girl who has ever dreamed big. And, yep, it turns out to be as cheesy and chintzy as the official synopsis suggests. Best find an excuse to hand the disc off to your daughter and sit this one out. "Um... I have a roast in the stove. Was that the doorbell? I have to vacuum before your mother gets home. The grass won't cut itself. Sooooo... have fun. Call me if you need me, I'll be outside."

An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal's 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode delivers a solid, crisply detailed presentation that's surprisingly film-like in nature. Colors are sunny and downright adorable, with lovely primaries, playful pinks and purples, warm skintones, perfectly pleasant black levels and consistently satisfying contrast. Better still, edge definition is clean and refined, fine textures are reasonably well-resolved, grain is intact and unobtrusive, and delineation doesn't disappoint. There's quite a bit of softness and diffuse lighting, but none of it traces back to the encode, which doesn't exhibit any major problems either. A bit of macroblocking here, a bit of banding there, sure. But nothing too serious or pervasive. All told, it's an excellent presentation, even if it isn't attached to all that remarkable a film.

An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Saige Paints the Sky features a serviceable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that does well by the movie's flat, rather uneventful sound design. Dialogue is clear, intelligible and neatly nestled in the center channel, and the soundfield it inhabits is fairly convincing at times. Yes, LFE output and rear speaker activity leave a lot to be desired -- low-end effects are pretty weak and directionality is unimpressive -- but for a direct-to-video kids' film, it isn't all that surprising. If I have any complaint it's that prioritization is problematic, with effects and music sometimes being given too much attention in the mix. Again, look to the movie's bargain-bin sound design to find your culprit. I doubt Saige Paints the Sky could fare better than it does here.

An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky doesn't include any extras.

An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky is an easy sell. If your preteen daughter loves the American Girl books, dolls or video series, the latest AG Blu-ray release will be a hit. If not, you'll be nothing more than an out-of-touch dad. So do your homework before making a purchase. If, after putting away your wallet and mumbling to yourself about the pricey perils of parenthood, you're concerned with the quality of the disc, have no fear. It'll do. Its solid video presentation and passable DTS-HD Master Audio track aren't subject to any real issues, and the lack of special features is the only downside. Other than the movie, of course. Be ready with an excuse if she asks you to watch it with her. Although, if she's a preteen, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to see you duck out of the room.