Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

Cars Blu-ray Movie Review

Pixar's little red race car learns that winning isn't always everything

Reviewed by Brandon A. DuHamel November 26, 2007

Egotistical rookie racing superstar Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) takes a wrong turn on his way to California for a Piston Cup race with his two main rivals, The King (Richard Petty) and Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton). He ends up in Radiator Springs, an old, dilapidated, Route 66 town that time has forgotten. As his punishment for accidentally damaging the main road in the town, local Judge Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) sentences Lightning to repair the damaged road before he is free to make his way to the big race.

Lightning McQueen

That basic outline forms the basis for Disney-Pixar’s fun and heartfelt tale, Cars. As the film progresses, Lightning is forced to learn valuable lessons about friendship and love, becoming less self-centered as the townspeople of Radiator Springs help him learn to live life to the fullest. The animation, as is typical for any Pixar film, is nothing short of amazing. With Cars, Pixar once again proves that they represent the industry standard for combining groundbreaking CGI animation with a strong story. The acting is also superb, with Owen Wilson convincingly portraying a race car with an out-of-control ego. I’m sure many will say that Larry the Cable Guy (Mater) is the stand-out comic relief in the film, but in my opinion, that honor goes to Tony Shaloub as the Italian mechanic and tire guru Luigi.

Cars is a must own title for lovers of animation and is great storytelling for all ages.

Cars Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p high definition in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio on this Blu-ray disc release, Cars looks absolutely marvelous. Compared to the previous DVD release, viewing this Blu-ray disc is like seeing the film all over again for the first time. Detail is spot on and colors sparkle and leap from the screen. It is, in a word, amazing.

Where I really noticed the biggest difference between this release and all other versions I've seen, is in the Piston Cup racing scenes and in the scene where Ramone (Cheech Marin) gives Lightning his new paint job. In the racing scenes, the crowds and the backgrounds are much more detailed and clearly defined than on the DVD version. DVD just seems blurry in comparison. This Blu-ray also eliminates the various compression and motion artifacts that are so prevalent in the high definition MPEG-4 satellite broadcasts. In the paint job scene, I'd never noticed, on the DVD, that Lightning's paint was a brilliant metallic red. In previous versions, it always looked like a flat red paint, just like his original paint job. On this Blu-ray release, the metallic red paint glitters with such a dazzling sheen it practically comes to life on screen.

I could not find a single fault with the AVC/MPEG-4 encode on this disc. So, to call it perfect would be an understatement. There were no artifacts present and contrast, black levels, and color saturation were all superb. This Blu-ray release is the very definition of reference grade. Disney should be applauded for their unsurpassed attention to detail.

Cars Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The soundtrack options available on this Blu-ray disc release are English 5.1 uncompressed PCM (48kHz/24-bit) and English 5.1 Dolby Digital. I listened to the uncompressed PCM soundtrack and it was yet another well recorded, brilliant mix from Disney-Pixar.

Typical of the soundtracks for Pixar's releases, the Cars 5.1 mix was very aggressive, utilizing the rear channels and LFE to full effect. During the many racing scenes, crowd effects and automotive sounds were panned through the rear channels generously and the subwoofer was heavily utilized giving the entire mix a very solid bottom-end and an all encompassing soundstage.

EQ was also even and easy on the ears. High frequencies were never overbearing and the midrange was solid and precise. Dialogue and sound effects were delivered with absolute clarity and were well placed and balanced throughout. To sum it all up, Cars features a well-recorded, well- mixed soundtrack that was beautifully suited to the material at hand.

Cars Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

In typical Pixar fashion, this Blu-ray Disc release features an abundance of extras. However, just like its companion release, Ratatouille, most of these features will be of more interest to adults rather than children.

First up, is the BD-Java based Cine-Explore feature which provides an interactive in-movie running audio-commentary by director John Lasseter. This feature displays graphics and storyboard drawings during the commentary. It also allows the viewer to break away from the film to watch deleted scenes and short, behind-the-scenes documentaries. The Cine-Explore feature can be set to "Auto" and will break away to the shorts and deleted scenes without prompting, if you so choose. All of the documentaries and deleted scenes can also be viewed apart from the Cine-Explore feature and provide an interesting insight into what inspired the film as well as all the hard work that went into making it.

One extra on the disc that some of the young ones might enjoy, is the BD-Java based "Car Finder" game. This interactive feature also runs during playback of the movie. The object of the game is to select certain models of cars as they appear on screen to build up points. Occasionally, movie playback will also pause and the game will ask you to find a certain car within a scene. I personally found the game to be quite tiresome after only a couple of minutes, but perhaps some younger children will find pleasure in it.

Apart from the aforementioned extras, the disc features a few high definition trailers:
Enchanted
WALL-e
Meet the Robinsons
Ratatouille

Cars Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cars is an extremely entertaining film packed with fun for all ages. This high definition Blu- ray release from Disney-Pixar is, without a doubt, the definitive version, with excellent picture and sound quality. I highly recommend this release as a purchase. Not only will it give your home theatre system an enjoyable workout, but everyone in the family will enjoy the sights and sounds and will take pleasure in coming back for repeat viewings.