Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Garfield: The Movie Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 15, 2024

If Lassie was America's Dog (I don't know if there ever was an "America's Dog," but if there was, it would seem like Lassie would be it), then can we say that Garfield was, and still is, America's cat? Created by cartoonist Jim Davis, the overweight, lasagna-eating, TV binge watching, perpetually sleepy prankster of a cat has captured America's collective heart for decades now, first as a comic strip character, then as a Saturday morning TV icon, and a moneymaker in the merchandise arena. Now, he's the star of a animated/live action hybrid film titled, very simply and succinctly, Garfield: The Movie, a critically panned and predictable film that, eh, captures the spirit -- more or less -- of the title character in a film that ultimately proves that just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should.

Jon Arbuckle (Breckin Meyer) is a loving cat dad who makes his fat cat Garfield (voiced by Bill Murray) the center of his life, at least when the center of his life is not his infatuation with Garfield's lovely veterinarian, Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt). When Jon stumbles his way into adopting a dog named Odie from Liz rather than ask her out, he finds himself drawn to the pup and pushes Garfield to second place in his life. But when Odie goes missing, Jon and Liz, with Garfield's help, set out on an adventure to bring him back.

“So much time, and so little I need to do.” So says Garfield, the lazy fat cat who lives to eat, sleep, watch TV, and torment those who acquiesce to his demands and desires. This is the Garfield of the movie – for part of the time, at least…at least until the obligatory “adventure” element sets in that sees Garfield doing all sorts of things that he'd really rather not be doing. Part of the charm is the cat’s simplicity and smarts and his sedentary lifestyle, really only getting up when he must, under compulsion either of his human or his own will to serve his own purpose. In that way Garfield is all house cat, but the movie really ramps him up into larger adventures that just feel stale, and would feel stale regardless of the character going through them. While there are plenty of “adventures” in the cartoon series, none are this big or involved and are always a means of allowing Garfield’s sarcasm and personality to shine through. Here, the film feels like the character was dropped into an adventure that was made from a Hollywood playbook and Garfield was merely selected to partake in it. So rather than “so much time, and so little I need to do," for the movie it's "so little time, and so much I need to do." The movie clocks in at a svelte 80 minutes yet seems to want to cram as much as possible into its runtime.

Garfield: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While it's not anything extra special, Fox's 1080p transfer for Garfield looks very solid and offers fans a pleasing film-like transfer. The presentation is clearly the beneficiary of the 1080p structure, offering clarity and sharpness gains that are well beyond the limits of standard definition and appear to take very good advantage of the extra muscle. Overall definition is very good, with faces and clothes the obvious highlight while environments, like city streets or home interiors, are rich in visible definition that gives the image a sharp and clear appearance. There is no sign of unwarranted noise removal, leaving the picture naturally sharp and pleasant. Of course, some of the digital effects stand out as lesser in terms of sharpness, and the HD imagery only seems to amplify the separation of real and animated elements, but the content looks pretty good overall. Colors are full, maybe not so brilliant and rich as one might expect, but there is a healthy base at work that shows off colors with a nice sense of accuracy. Clothes, for example, really pop. Faces are natural in coloring, black levels fare well, and white balance isn't perfect but neither are whites overtly creamy. The image shows no real serious print blemishes or encode faults. This is a solid presentation from Fox.

Garfield: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Garfield: The Movie's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack capably gets the job done. The track satisfies for presentation of every element, with pleasantly wide music and excellent musical clarity, supported by light but critical surround support. The track makes good use of the full stage for action and comedy element supports, too, and there is often something going on all around the stage. Dialogue is clear and centered for the duration.

Garfield: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Garfield: The Movie contains a large assortment of extra content.

• Audio Commentary: Director Peter Hewitt and Producer John Davis, speaking a week prior to the premiere of the film, discuss in a rather reserved way the challenges of the shoot, digital visual effects, cast and performances, and much more.
• Deleted Scenes Reel (480i, window box, 16:34): A collection of deleted scenes with a number of on-screen markers.
• Garfield: Bringing the Cat to Life (480i, 1.78:1, 7:23): A look at the complexity of the computer generated imagery in the film and the rigors of the filmmaking and digital processes.
• The Birth of Garfield (480i, 1.78:1, 18:43): Creator Jim Davis discusses his childhood, the beginnings of his artistic endeavors, comic influences, creating Garfield, character evolution, trick of the trade, the cartoon's legacy, and more.
• The Rise of Garfield (480i, 1.78:1, 12:56): Some of the same content from the previous supplement appears but it also looks at the character's explosion in popular culture and merchandising, bringing the character to the small screen, and more.
• Garfield from Strip to Script (480i, 1.78:1, 10:02): How technology has allowed the fat cat to transition to the screen. Also: cast and performances, digital effects, and more.
• Illustrated Technical Commentary (480i, 1.78:1, 11:13): Visual Effects Supervisor Dan DeLeeuw and Digital Effects Supervisor Karl Herbst break down the digital effects processes.
• Grab a Number 2 Pencil: The Evolution of Garfield (2 Angles) (480i, 1.78:1, 6:16): Davis draws Garfield as he was and as he is.
• Multi-Angles (480i, 1.78:1, 2:16 total runtime): See various scenes in various stages of completion. Included are Porch Dance (5 Angles), Odies on TV (5 Angles), On the Fence (5 Angles), Disco Dog! (4 Angles), It's Liver Flavored (5 Angles).
• Storyboard to Film Comparison (2 Angles) (480i, 1.78:1): Hand-drawn storyboards contrasted with the finished view from the film. Included are Storyboard #1 (1:23), Storyboard #2 (1:01), Storyboard #3 (2:23), and Storyboard #4 (3:53).
• Gone Nutty (1080p, 1.78:1, 4:46): A Scrat adventure from the Ice Age universe.

Garfield: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a tolerable film but little more can be said of it. My children (6 and 4) gave up on it less than 30 minutes in, and they both love cats, which is probably the most scathing critique I can give to it. It has its moments, but...it's just so formulaic. The Blu-ray is decent all around, at least, with nice video and audio to go along with an old-fashioned collection of extras that are many in number and mostly moderately engaging. Worth a look.