Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Ice Age: Collision Course 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 19, 2016

The annals of show business are rife with stories of so-called supporting players usurping the attention from the putative star. There’s a fantastic chapter in William Goldman’s superb (if sometimes problematic) journalistic exposé of Broadway, The Season, where he details the travails of the 1967 musicalization of The World of Henry Orient, Henry, Sweet Henry. Goldman documents how the creative staff behind the musical worked to cast a potential breakout star in the role of Valerie, one of the girls who becomes infatuated with Henry, and that everyone was convinced they had found that star in the guise of one Robin Wilson. Imagine everyone’s surprise, then, when a lot of the reviews singled out a breakout star all right, only not “that” one —most of the critical air kisses went to a complete unknown named Alice Playten, who played a relatively minor role, ending up with the musical’s sole Tony nomination for performing (Playten won that year’s Theater World Award). (Trivia lovers will know that Playten went on to a different kind of “fame” as the hapless newlywed whose cooking created problems for her husband in a now iconic series of Alka Seltzer commercials.) Films are just as redolent a source for this kind of “upstaging,” and there’s probably no better example than one of my personal obsessions, Frances Farmer, who waltzed into the 1936 film Come and Get It as little more than an “up and comer” but who ended up stealing every scene she was in from such stalwarts as Edward Arnold and Walter Brennan, to the point that she was proclaimed “the new Garbo.” All of that said, there may be no more unique example than that of Scrat, the odd little creature whose own obsession—with an acorn—created some of the funniest moments in the original Ice Age. It’s some indication of Scrat’s immediate popularity that he (it?) soon became the mascot for the film’s production company, Blue Sky Pictures. (Another potent example of the character's sway with the public is evident in how much he's featured in this very disc's supplemental content.) Scrat’s comedic adventures have tended to act as sidebars to the main stories in the previous Ice Age films, but again the character’s lovability has led to him being starred in a series of shorts as well as other media like video games. While Ice Age: Collision Course once again lets Scrat’s predicaments play out in a kind of parallel universe (an especially fitting term as will soon be discussed) as the simultaneous trials of Manny and brood unfold, the character is perhaps a bit more central to the proceedings in this film than in its predecessors. Talk about star power.

The Ice Age films have at least attempted to continue an overall narrative through the original film and its sequels. For those wanting to catch up on “the story so far” (there’s a supplement on this Blu-ray that attempts to do this, to varying effect), our reviews of the films can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Ice Age Blu-ray review

Ice Age: The Meltdown Blu-ray review

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Blu-ray review

Ice Age: Continental Drift Blu-ray review

The Ice Age franchise has been beset by that hoary law of diminishing returns, and there’s little doubt that this tendency continues with Ice Age: Collision Course, with perhaps the most notable example ironically being Scrat himself. Anyone who has seen any of the Ice Age properties will know going into this film that Scrat’s attempts to harness an acorn are going to lead to unforeseen calamaties, and while Ice Age: Collision Course ultimately gets “far out” with regard to these after effects, the film once again relies on by now tired elements like Scrat sticking an acorn into the ice, only to have whole continents seemingly decay as a result.

The “real” punch line in the film’s opening sequence is that Scrat somehow gets his acorn lodged into the control mechanism of a flying saucer buried deep in the ice (it was seen briefly in the first Ice Age), leading to Scrat blasting off into outer space (hence that “alternate universe” statement in the preceding paragraph). There’s some goofy but quite inventive humor here, with Scrat’s mad ping ponging between nascent planets ending up creating our solar system as we currently know it. The laws of physics have never been “obeyed” in the world of classic animation (think of the great Chuck Jones pieces for just one example), and that approach certainly continues here, with some outlandish sight gags offered courtesy of Scrat (and his acorn) being fitted with spacesuits at one point and then thrust out into the “great beyond”. Scrat's antics ultimately lead to a potential catastrophe concerning asteroids sent hurling toward Earth.

As my colleague Casey Broadwater so saliently observed in his Ice Age: Continental Drift Blu-ray review , “By now, we know exactly what to expect—a potential environmental catastrophe, mindless gag-heavy action, dippy jokes, and much life-lesson learning, particularly regarding the value of family and friendship, and the importance of sticking together.” The film may have changed, but the above general plot dynamics and “message” are resolutely the same here as in all of the previous Ice Age entries. There are certainly laughs here, at least in dribs and drabs, and I’m certain the film will appeal to younger tots especially. But there’s a strategy with these Ice Age films that tends to suggest the franchise’s creative crew are as much about keeping the franchise from going extinct as they are about delivering Manny, Scrat “and the rest” from any impending disaster.

Ice Age: Collision Course 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ice Age: Collision Course 3D is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an MVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1 (a 2D Blu-ray is also included in the package). For my thoughts on the general look of the film as well as the quality of the 2D transfer, please refer to our Ice Age: Collision Course Blu-ray review. The 3D version of the film is wonderfully immersive, though it tends to exploit more depth within the frame than "in your face" elements. That aspect is obvious from the get go once Scrat blasts off into outer space, though some minor dimensionality is even evident in the first snow covered earth scene, a testament to how effectively deep even some of the supposedly "bland" imagery can be. But the first outer space sequence is the first real example of well realized planes of depth, with various star fields clearly protruding and planets both zooming into and out of the frame as Scrat's manic attempts to control the spaceship lead to universal calamity. Things continue to be excellently dimensional back on our home planet, with several standout (no pun intended) sequences. The first close-up look at Sid, as he practices his supposed proposal, is extremely effective, and later moments that involve the asteroids provide great zooming depth within the frame. Even the kind of quasi-2D diorama that is utilized to provide a little convenient backstory looks charmingly dimensional in this version. The only downside here is the tendency to have quite a bit of the later film play out in kind of dark shades of blue, something that tends to tamp down dimensionality simply because backgrounds can't be seen as clearly.

Ice Age: Collision Course 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ice Age: Collision Course features a fun and often frenetic DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track that gets off to a boisterous start with the fun opening sequence detailing Scrat's hapless attempts to pilot the flying saucer. There's a glut of fantastic surround activity here, including some forceful LFE as the ship blasts off into outer space. Other effects heavy sequences occur at regular intervals throughout the rest of the film (many, but not all, featuring Scrat in outer space), and the sound design offers consistent immersion and well placed discrete channelization of individual sound effects. Little musical quotes like snippets of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra add to the fun. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly and is well prioritized.

Ice Age: Collision Course 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 3D disc contains no supplements. The 2D disc also included in this package contains all of the supplements detailed in our Ice Age: Collision Course Blu-ray review.

Ice Age: Collision Course 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Undemanding tots and even adults without any undue expectations will get a giggle or two out of Ice Age: Collision Course, but this latest entry in the franchise seems more than ever like a tired retread of what's gone before. With this series' emphasis on environmental calamities, I guess it's easy to understand why the writers are so into recycling (yes, that's a joke), but maybe it's time to put Ice Age on ice for a little while. Technical merits are very strong for those considering a purchase, and I'd personally recommend that those who are considering a purchase go for this version if they have the equipment to support it.