Coraline 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Coraline 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

This featureless promotional disc excels where it counts.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 24, 2010

So sharp you won't feel a thing.

Don't look for it on store shelves -- it won't be there -- but the Blu-ray 3D version of Coraline is out there in the wild as a "promotional" release tied to the purchase of Panasonic 3D HDTVs. As with the other bundled disc that was the first of its kind available -- DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens -- "promotional" apparently means "stripped" as this disc lacks the extensive bonus materials found on Universal's previous 2D-only release. On the flip side, the 3D reissue of Coraline boasts the lossless soundtrack Monsters lacks, but then again, at least Monsters wasn't completely barren in the special features cabinet. It's a win some-lose some proposition with these early 3D titles; studios won't start putting their best foot forward on them until they need to add value to entice purchases of standalone units, as Sony has with Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and the forthcoming Monster House, both available for any and all 3D buyers as off-the-shelf, fairly-priced releases with lossless soundtracks and special features, and not tied to the purchase of expensive and brand-specific hardware. No doubt the future holds another Coraline 3D release for general sale and with its supplemental section in-tact; the only question is "when," but in the meantime, these stripped-down promo discs at least deliver where it counts, offering stunning 3D high definition imagery that bodes very well for the future of in-home 3D technology.

Coraline discovers a flat door in a 3D world.

Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) is a young girl recently relocated with her parents from Pontiac, Michigan to the Pink Palace Apartments located in a cold and seemingly barren area of the Northwest. Bored with her new surroundings and upset that her parents have already reverted to workaholic mode, she explores the run-down home and discovers a small door that's been covered with wallpaper. She pesters her mother into opening it, only to find a hardened brick wall behind it. A disappointed Coraline dreams that night that through the wall lies her perfect world. There she finds carbon copies of her parents who are in this universe friendlier, happier, and more willing to spend time with their daughter and, best of all, do all they can to cater to her every desire. Their world is brighter and happier, but there's one unmistakable difference: her mother and father in this world have buttons where their eyes should be. It's odd, yes, but Coraline shrugs off the peculiarity as she revels in the joy she's found away from her real life. When Coraline wakes up in her old bed and in the same house as her typically dull mother, father, and existence, she only longs all the more for the world that seems to exist behind the door and beyond the brick wall; little does she know, however, that something sinister awaits, and that the price for "true" happiness may be more than she's willing to pay.

Ray Harryhausen would be proud. Coraline boasts a wonderfully-realized stop-motion animation technique that's beautifully seamless and only looks better in 3D. The worlds of Coraline are dark and unforgiving, obviously reflective of the film's themes that explore the dangers of sacrificing reality for fantasy and the consequences of accepting at face value anything that promises the moon but usually comes with obscured and out-of-sight stipulations and vague consequences that negate all that's good on the surface. The film's visual structure and stop-motion animation allow for the story to further exaggerate its themes by engendering a surreal look that's somewhere between reality and digital animation; employing the former might have made the picture too intense for younger viewers, while the latter seems better suited to Comedy and light Horror motifs, found in something like Monster House. The stop-motion effects seem to offer more in the way of artistic license for the filmmakers to get away with delving into the truly bizarre in an effort to further demonstrate the story's psychological undertones and complex characters. Whatever the reason in choosing stop-motion over live action or digital animation, Coraline excels as a visual wonder; even when viewed as a 2D presentation, the worlds prove remarkably and intricately detailed while also appearing dimensionally extravagant, these features only accentuated by a 3D viewing.

Coraline's dark visuals and somewhat complex themes dont exactly make it something that seems primed to replace those well-loved copies of Monsters, Inc., Cars, and Kung Fu Panda in the kids' movie rotation, but it will satisfy adults in search of a more involved and thought-provoking animated title that explores themes that might be presented from a child's perspective but certainly prove relevant for most all viewers of any age. The picture plays out with a delightfully intriguing air of mystery about it. Characters are developed in due time and to an extent that makes Coraline's decisions later in the film seem to stem naturally from her upbringing, attitude, experiences, and surroundings, but the picture manages to build up these points-of-reference without relying on dull actions, extreme circumstances, boring dialogue, or humorless moments in the process. Coraline succeeds in large part thanks to the filmmakers' ability to keep things moving at a wonderfully robust pace whether during scenes of intense action, dramatic relevance, or gut-busting humor, and each of these elements play a natural and understandable part in taking the picture from its humble-but-oddball origins to a chilling conclusion that brings its motifs full circle with plenty of excitement and age-appropriate scares in tow.

Indeed, the mystery surrounding the events depicted in Coraline prove riveting by themselves, but the film generates enough visual eye candy, dramatic overtones, and exciting action and horror elements to make the journey that takes viewers from the introduction of a curious circumstance to an all-out and terribly intense conclusion well worth the effort. No doubt Coraline seems like something from the mind of Tim Burton or Terry Gilliam, and the film is more likely to appeal to audiences that are more open to untraditional cinema on both visual and psychological levels. By design, nothing about Coraline seems quite right; whether distorted figures or frightening creatures, talking and dancing animals or barren and darkened landscapes, the film revels in the peculiar but does so in an effort to better illustrate its themes. At its most basic, Coraline is about the want for something that seems unobtainable, at least in the world as it exists in the little corner in which Coraline resides. Hers is a bleak and lifeless world both outside and inside; her parents are workaholics who don't have time to play with or cook proper meals for her, seeing her more as an obstacle than an object of affection. She longs for a more cheerful life, tastier food, and loving parents, but her foray into a world that offers her those things comes with a price. She is ultimately required to have buttons sewn over her eyes should she wish to remain in her fantasy world forever, an act which can be seen as the ultimate in surrender, sacrificing the gift of sight -- the ability to assess, to enjoy, and most clearly and unmistakably sense and understand the world around her -- so she can be forever blind to the realities of her true existence. Coraline warns viewers that while it's OK to dream, it's potentially harmful to ignore reality -- no matter how good or how bad it may be -- in favor of escapism that will, in this case literally, suck the life out of those that seek it at the cost of everything they know to be true.

Coraline 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

And now for the best part. Coraline's 3D Blu-ray release is a show stopper. Viewed on Panasonic's TC-P50VT20 50" Viera Plasma, Coraline has "wow" written all over it. It's important to note that the film's style of animation and 2D presentation already yields one of the stronger images on Blu-ray and one that is itself of considerable depth; some scenes in the 3D version aren't even all that distinguishable from their 2D counterparts, but that's actually reflective of one of Blu-ray 3D's strengths: it's not at all gimmicky and it doesn't try and dazzle when it doesn't need to. Rather than try to incorporate as many trick shots as possible, these new 3D films instead go for a more natural feel, and the Blu-ray 3D presentations captures that wonderfully. That doesn't mean that the two versions are indistinguishable. Quite the contrary, there's a noticeable depth of field from the opening seconds of Coraline forward. The picture's title sequence features a lace material bordering the screen that seems to hover over the rest of the image. It's during the credits that the film's most obvious "poke something out of the screen" moment comes, but it's used to good effect and is wholly integrated into the scene and not at all forced into the film as a cheap effect.

Beyond the title sequence lies an entire world ripe for 3D exploration. Of note is the tunnel through which Coraline crawls to move about the two worlds; it's perhaps the best example of how well modern 3D technology works as the tunnel seems to begin at the front of the screen and almost begs for viewers to stick their hands inside. It seems to go through the TV and well out beyond the back of it; it's another one of the exceptionally-realized moments that might not immediately jump out as a shot that would stand out from the rest, but again, it seems that those more ordinary moments are the ones that truly define the strength of high definition 3D presentations. Of course, the tunnel scenes also remind viewers of the inescapable shortcoming of the technology; these and other awe-inspiring elements demand the largest screen possible, and while they look great on a 50" display, there's no doubt that they each cry out for something far larger. Other scenes, such as those in Coraline's kitchen, appear nicely done and very perceptibly deep, but then again, that particular environment appears quite dimensional in the 2D version as well. Additionally, Coraline rarely falls victim to "ghosting" or double images that don't quite mesh to create a seamless 3D effect. Those instances that stood out could be counted on one hand, and only one -- a shot at the 1:22:23 mark -- appeared excessively distracting.

Coraline's 3D presentation might be a hair darker than its 2D counterpart; it's a dark film to begin with, but colors seemed to be just a tad bit brighter in the 2D version. Nevertheless, the coloration in the 3D version dazzles, whether Coraline's blue hair or yellow slicker or the many vibrant hues that dot the unforgivingly dark elements across the two worlds. Additionally, black levels are excellent, every blackened frame delivering a strikingly inky shade that reinforces the visuals and themes splendidly. Detail is positively striking; the title sequence boasts some breathtaking close-ups of cloths and fabrics that reveal so much texture that the material may as well be glued onto the TV screen and not a digitized image inside it. There's a seemingly endless parade of eye candy in Coraline, and both the 2D and 3D versions are treasures of the format that are among its finest offerings. Granted there's only a few 3D Blu-ray titles out there, but Coraline might be the best of the bunch. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is no slouch, and both prove superior to Monsters vs. Aliens. Coraline's style, perhaps, translates a bit better to 3D, but viewers will be more than impressed with any of the titles currently available. As it stands, Coraline gets the nod as the current go-to reference 3D disc by the slimmest of margins over Meatballs.

Coraline 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It may not contain any extras, but this promotional Blu-ray release of Coraline does boast a wonderful DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It's the perfect companion to the dazzling visuals; it's a track that's effortlessly variable between the film's quietest and most audibly-intense moments. Music is wonderfully smooth and free-flowing across the soundstage with each note a profile in seamless integration through a sound system and into a listening environment. Likewise, the track does wonderfully well in capturing the ambience of the area in and around the Pink Palace Apartments, whether the chilling breezes and booming thunder in one early scene or the slightest creaks and pops around the house during various interior sequences. Many of the more aggressive effects heard throughout the film seamlessly traverse the entire soundstage; imaging is exceptional and the track delivers an experience that seems to erase the boundaries of the speakers and engulf the listener into Coraline's dual worlds. Additionally, the track features a pitch-perfect low end that's dynamic and strong but never excessively overbearing. Finally, dialogue never misses a beat; it's focused in the center but never cramped and, just as important, never lost underneath the track's other elements. Coraline sounds as good as it looks.

Coraline 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This promotional Blu-ray release of Coraline contains no extra features. Note that the disc is compatible with and the 2D version will play on PlayStation 3 systems running the latest firmware. All screenshots in this review were captured from the 2D version of the film found on the 3D disc.

Coraline 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Coraline is a beautifully dark and alluringly peculiar picture with wonderful animation, well-developed characters, and a message that speaks on the importance of coping with reality rather than falling victim to the dangers of reality-destroying fantasy. The picture boasts an excellent voice cast on top of its gorgeous visuals and pertinent themes, and while it may not be the film small children will play on a loop with every waking hour, it's a must-see picture for mature viewers of all ages, particularly those who will be able to understand its themes within the context of the bleak visual picture it paints. This promotional 3D Blu-ray release of Coraline isn't available for sale at Amazon, Best Buy, Target, or any other retailer save through the purchase of Panasonic 3D Blu-ray hardware. Nevertheless, it offers a glimpse into what 3D fans can expect in the future. No doubt Universal will re-issue Coraline at some point in the future as a 3D release with the proper assortment of extras, but this bare-bones edition scores a win where it counts with a stunning picture quality and a strong lossless soundtrack. It seems pointless to recommend this disc outright since it isn't available for general sale, but it is instead a prime opportunity to, again, wholeheartedly recommend 3D Blu-ray. This is impressive stuff, and while the glasses still feel too heavy, their bulk versus the quality of the presentation makes for a worthwhile tradeoff considering how well this technology works.