7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Two young boys experience an unforgettable summer on the Italian Riviera filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. But all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.
Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya RudolphFamily | 100% |
Animation | 90% |
Fantasy | 61% |
Comedy | 40% |
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 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD HR 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (320 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, French, Italian, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Finally, a fish out of water story that is literally about a fish out of water. It just so happens that these fish are bi-habitation transformers, creatures who look like undersea dwellers when wet and somehow, some way, look human when dry. But they stay below the surface. Terror and hardship await them on the surface, they believe, should they be found out. This latest Pixar film lacks the emotional resonance, narrative creativity, high storytelling, and unforgettable characters as found in the studio's best, but it's a decent little escape with a sound story and beautiful support qualities.
To label Luca's Blu-ray as anything other than lavish would be to undersell its beauty. While the 1080p/SDR presentation lacks the UHD's dynamic color and textural finishing touches, the Blu-ray is a fully gorgeous presentation that brings out a superior image and reveals the animation's inherent beauty with dazzling care and attention to detail. Textures are firm and very well defined. Surface level sand and rocks on the beach, details around town, and other environmental odds and ends leap off the screen for grounded accuracy and pinpoint clarity. Viewers will appreciate the fine point sharpness, subtle detailing, and overall textural might in evidence throughout. Characters and clothes are the unequivocal highlights. The animation is filled with delightful detail and the Blu-ray clarity only brings out the absolute finest this format can find. Character models are complex and dimensional. Clothes reveal the most extreme fabric details and stitches. Everything the animators put into the film is seen on the screen. Colors are exquisite. While there's a decidedly blue tint underwater the expressive colors are on full display, particularly as the characters appear as various shades of green and purple and other brilliant tones that pop even through the watery filter. But the image springs to life on the surface. There's no mistaking the inherent brilliance in evidence across the full color array. Blue waters and sky, green vegetation, colorful clothes, and the cheerful tones around town just jump off the screen. Blu-ray could not deliver a more robust, fruitful, expressive, vivid color collection. Viewers with the sharpest eyes might spot a trace amount of aliasing in a couple of shots but it's not enough to substract from a perfect score. Digitally animated content on Blu-ray doesn't get any better than this.
As per studio standard operating procedure, Disney brings Luca to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack; the companion UHD release includes a Dolby Atmos sound mix. This track is decidedly subtle though crystal clear, very detailed, and highly accurate. The front side is its playground. Surrounds are not frequently engaged to prominence, instead used as mild, if nearly often invisible, support structures that carry modest, supple sounds that help better define underwater and surface level environments, though they rarely, if ever, really, carry some of the musical and action/adventure and excitement loads; listeners should expect to find most of the information up front. The track's musical front stretch and detail are excellent. There is not a substantial low end present, but the track never sounds tinny or flat as have some Disney tracks from the past. The sound mix is reserved to begin with, so the lack of thumping bass is not a detriment, and with no feel for empty space where low end support should be, it's a rather solid listen in total. It also does not struggle with low volume output at reference level, either. Everything seems to be in good working order. Dialogue is clear and center positioned. The main drawbacks appear to stem from a hesitant, mild mannered source than anything else. This is not a dynamic listen by any stretch of the imagination but it's a solidly performing track as it is.
This Blu-ray release of Luca includes three featurettes, deleted scenes, and trailers. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with
purchase.
Luca is no bastion of dramatic originality, and it lacks the emotional resonance and creative spark that define Pixar's best, but the film plays well for its charm, beauty, agreeable characters, and well versed, if not somewhat trite, themes. It's well worth a watch, even if it's far from Pixar's best. Disney's Blu-ray delivers perfect video, solid enough (though very front dominant) audio, and a few extras. Recommended.
2020
2020
2013
PIXAR
2015
2021
Anniversary Edition | The Signature Collection
1989
2022
2019
2013
2012
2006
2007
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2016
2014
2008
2023
2-Disc Edition
2008
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2015