6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Oscar, a baby chimpanzee is enjoying his life with his mother in the jungles along the Ivory Coast. Without warning, young Oscar is tragically orphaned during an attack from a rival group of chimpanzees. Afterwards, he attempts to survive on his own, and to be accepted by the other chimps. But Oscar struggles, until he is surprising adopted by the Alpha Male of his group.
Narrator: Tim AllenFamily | 100% |
Documentary | 15% |
Nature | 12% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Chimpanzee is geared toward children, plain and simple. Parents will get a kick out of it, sure, but "serious" nature documentary aficionados will come away disappointed, criticizing the beautifully shot, pure-spirited family film for everything from its seemingly scripted story to its mildly anthropomorphized chimps and at-times hokey, kid-friendly narration. Along with Oceans, though -- Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud's visually arresting trip beneath the waves -- this is exactly the sort of documentary Disneynature has been promising from its inception. African Cats lured in the kiddies with a cute n' cuddly trailer (set to Vega4's "Life is Beautiful"), but the film itself, dutifully and rightfully bound to the cold, harsh realities of life and death in the Savannah, sent children under six scurrying for the theater exits. The documentary and its subject matter weren't the problem, of course; its ad campaign was just misleading. Disneynature decided it was best to avoid making the same mistake twice. Chimpanzee has its share of difficult scenes (a vicious tribe of rival chimps, a dying mother, an abandoned and rejected toddler), but parents needn't worry about disparities between the film and its trailer. It's educational enough to satisfy hands-on moms and dads, interesting enough to keep kids riveted, and entertaining enough to rack up repeat viewings.
Baby Oscar ventures out...
To answer the obvious question: mild banding and minor shimmering. Mild, intermittent, almost negligible banding and exceedingly minor shimmering are all that separate Chimpanzee's gorgeous 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer from perfection, and they don't separate it by much. (The distance is so short I'm tempted to bump the film's video score to a 5.0 and call it a day.) Colors are rich and wondrous, lush jungle greens and earthy tree-bark browns are natural and lifelike, and black levels are deep and absorbing, without a hint of crush or troubled shadow delineation. (A few nighttime shots see a spike in noise, but nothing out of the ordinary or unexpected.) And detail? Detail is as striking as it is refined. Edges are clean and nicely defined, textures are crisp and convincing, grain is present but quite pleasant, and closeups are jaw-dropping, to the point I found myself scrambling to take in every inch of the image. The encode itself is proficient too, without any significant artifacting, aliasing or distracting anomaly that isn't inherited from the film's source. To go one step further, Chimpanzee's photography and high definition transfer might just be worth the price of admission alone.
Freddy and Oscar's jungle home comes to life thanks to Chimpanzee's immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track; a lossless treat that captures the film's playfulness, tension and awe with seeming ease. Allen's narration is clear and distinct without ever hijacking the soundscape, and the chimps' chatter, bellows and battle cries are preserved to perfection. Rustling leaves, groaning branches, cracking nuts, pounding fists, and the loud clop clop of chimpanzee feet as they thump tree trunks surrounds the listener with an enveloping liveliness that ranges from subtle to engrossing to surprising. Directionality is precise, cross-channel pans are transparent, and separation is quite good. Moreover, LFE output lends weight and oomph where it's needed -- Scar's invasions are so aggressive they're almost bewildering -- and disarming dynamics round out the already impressive track.
Chimpanzee walks a fine line between unwavering documentary and fluffy, seemingly scripted Disney flick and, by and large, doesn't tip too far to either side. It's still strictly aimed at the kiddies, though, and any adults expecting anything more will probably want to look elsewhere. Be that as it may, Disney's AV presentation is outstanding thanks to a stunning video transfer and rousing DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Add to that a must-see 40-minute production documentary and you have yet another Disneynature release worth owning. So pick it up, pop some popcorn, and enjoy an evening of jungle-swinging fun and heartwarming chimpanzee antics with the whole family.
DVD Packaging
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