7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In a city where fire, water, land, and air residents live together, a fiery young woman and a go-with-the-flow guy will discover something elemental: How much they have in common.
Starring: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie Del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-CoveyFamily | 100% |
Animation | 95% |
Fantasy | 60% |
Adventure | 58% |
Comedy | 37% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
English: DTS-HD HR 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: Disney sent the Wal-Mart retailer exclusive release of
Elemental 4K for purposes of this review, but collectors should
be
aware there are both a Best Buy SteelBook and a
Disney Movie Club edition available in the 4K UHD realm, in
addition to the standalone 1080 release, which as of the writing of this review seems to be the only one available.
Mismatched partners are often described as going together like oil and water, but Elemental tweaks that slightly to ostensibly attempt to
"combine"
fire and water. I'm a bit of a religion / philosophy buff, and as such, I've long been interested in the history of what are often called the four
"classical elements" that supposedly comprise all of the sensible (and in fact insensible) world, namely fire, water, air and earth. This
quartet
was originally promulgated by Empedocles, an ancient Greek philosopher, and it's rather interesting to note that Empedocles himself linked the
elements to Greek Gods, Zeus, Hera,
Nestis, and Aidoneus, in much the same way that later writers and thinkers would link the elements to the so-called "fourfold name of God", YHVH
(often incorrectly translated as Jehovah), with Yod being fire, He primal being water, Vav being air, and He final being earth. The wizards at Pixar,
having
already brought all sorts of supposedly "inanimate" objects to life, might now be jokingly described as having moved on to concepts,
which
I guess maybe has already been explored in such related fare as
Inside Out, and with regard to that Pixar - Disney collaboration which had a 3D release theatrically and on Blu-ray, as of the
writing of this review it doesn't look like Elemental is going to get a 3D Blu-ray release.
Elemental is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista and Pixar with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While I would strongly recommend those with the equipment to opt for the 4K UHD version for both its increased detail and HDR nuance, this 1080 version is a knockout presentation by any standard. Detail is superb throughout, though again I'd argue that the "believability" of some of the elements, notably both the fire and water creatures, may be aided by some of the added detail in the 4K UHD version. While not immune to the improvement in the 4K UHD version, I'd say the the nice looking detail on the earth creatures is probably the most impressive in this 1080 version. The film is a riot of production design, and it may pay some viewers to actually freeze frame at moments to take everything in. One thing that almost assaults the senses is the incredibly vivid palette, which tends to understandably be skewed toward reds and purples with the fire creatures, and more deep blues and teals with the water creatures. Those two sides of the spectrum ably cover the warmer and cooler tones, and if there's one minor flaw here, it's that a lot of the imagery plays out consistently in those extremes, without "meeting in the middle" all that often.
Elemental features an expressive
DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, one which is itself beautifully immersive, with clear emanations from the surround channels starting with
the Disney masthead music. And in fact Thomas Newman's score is a highlight here, offering superb engagement of all the side and rear channels and
featuring some really gorgeous World Music approaches. I don't know if Newman had been listening to one of my favorite artists, AO Music, but his
score reminded me quite a bit of Richard Gannaway's superb cross cultural productions, which often combine things like Miriam Stockley, ethnic choirs
and pulsing
multi-instrumental backgrounds (for those unaware of AO Music or who haven't yet heard Newman's work for this film, both can be reminiscent of
certain compositions used in various Cirque du
Soleil productions). The use of the elements of course provides recurrent and often quite fun effects, I'd say especially in the watery variety.
Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.
I'm not sure if there's a general authoring error or I simply have a ghost (element?) in the machine, but this disc repeatedly defaulted to the DTS-HD
HR 5.1 track rather than the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track in different players at disc boot up.
Some who share my interest in ancient philosophies will know that some occult strands actually posited a fifth element, namely ether (often thought of as spirit), an element which actually gave birth to the term quintessential, and in that regard, as well intentioned and often brilliant as Elemental is, it may be lacking just a bit of that all important item. Lovers of inventive animation and nicely immersive sound design should still find this a delight for the senses, if not always for the intellect and/or heart. Technical merits are first rate, though I'd recommend getting the 4K UHD version if you're really interested in the film and have the proper equipment. Supplements are also appealing. Recommended.
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