6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Boog, a 900-pound grizzly bear, is content entertaining tourists and living in park ranger Beth's barn. His life takes a drastic turn when he rescues a one-horned mule deer named Elliot from a hunter, and is subsequently tranquilized and returned to the wild. Elliot and Boog recruit the other animals to help turn the tables on the hunters to make the woods safe.
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Gary Sinise, Debra Messing, Billy ConnollyFamily | 100% |
Animation | 82% |
Adventure | 75% |
Comedy | 60% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Blu-ray 3D
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
We're sitting ducks out here.
To take the hunting metaphor one step further, Open Season makes for an easy target for film critics. The filmmakers behind Sony's 2006
animated adventure have centered every genre cliché directly into the crosshairs, lined up what should have been an easy shot, but ended up missing
the mark by quite a bit. Rightfully so, Open Season has taken some flak for being too much of the same-old, same-old; the picture is built
around a tired formula and does nothing at all to spruce it up, counting on little more than a cute poster and a preview with cuddly talking animals to
pull in
a hefty chunk of change when little Johnny and sweet Suzy beg to see the latest big-screen animated adventure, caring only that a new crop of
animals are ready to share their digital misadventures with the world. Still, the film can't really be criticized for following formula; other, better pictures
-- Ice Age, Over the Hedge, Shrek -- follow similar plot lines but don't flounder around nearly
as much as Open Season does. They manage to create memorable characters and worthwhile adventures that pack in plenty of action,
drama, comedy, and heart along the way. Open Season, on the other hand, barely registers a blip when considering either the best computer
animated films or the genre's most memorable characters.
I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Open Season's 3D Blu-ray presentation, courtesy of Sony, is the best of the limited 3D releases, wide or exclusive, currently available. Sony's
done a remarkable job with this animated release, delivering a practically seamless 3D image that's packed with immeasurable and highly realistic
depth
alongside fabulous detailing and superb color reproduction, all of which are evident even as the movie begins with the beautiful Columbia Pictures logo
and on through the rest of the 86-minute film. Indeed, fine details amaze with every passing scene, limited not by the transfer but instead the
source
and the quality of the original digital elements. Open Season sports detailing that's amazing in both primary foreground objects and
secondary
and tertiary background elements; whether Boog's incredibly lifelike fur or the frays and texture of the rope holding Elliot down on Shaw's beater of a
pickup truck, the transfer exhibits a breathtaking array of imagery throughout. Likewise, building textures in town or individual blades of grass in the
woodland sequences are perfectly realized. Colors, too, dazzle with a scrumptious array of hues that never seem over-boosted or underdeveloped; for
all
the gorgeous shades that appear almost incessantly throughout, the best comes during the scene featuring Boog and Elliot raiding a local convenience
store. As they enjoy the fruits of their robbery, a screenful of multicolored cereal O's leap towards the screen, filling the frame with impeccably-colored
foods that also sport incredible textures to boot. Better yet, blacks are steady in every scene, never overpowering fine details, and the image
exhibits
no signs of unwanted artifacts or negative digital manipulation. Open Season looks great, and the added third dimension only makes an
already
jaw-dropping image even better.
Hands down, Open Season is the current reference-standard for Blu-ray 3D discs not only for the above-praised attributes, but for what is 86
minutes of 3D bliss that delivers constant third dimension goodness. Indeed, viewers will never mistake Open Season for a half-hearted 3D
presentation; every frame offers something that's bound to make even the most ardent 3D fans sing the transfer's praises, and one look should be
enough to convert even the most skeptical audience members as to the quality and benefits of a great Blu-ray 3D image. The transfer simply yields
too many great scenes to list here; best to just give it a watch to see just how stunning Blu-ray 3D can be, but there are a few things that stand out
from the rest. First, the transfer handles depth of field to a level not yet matched by any other disc. Even simple things like looking over the hood of
a truck gives the impression of actually standing near it and gazing off in its direction, with the vehicle stretching back several feet and followed by the
various backgrounds that frame it. There's always an unmistakable awareness as to almost the exact spacing between objects, whether they're
separated by two feet or, in great distance shots, two miles. Open Season's 3D digital world is about the closest thing to creating a virtual
reality as there is today; whether being able to appreciate the full size of a character not only in terms of height and width but depth and volume or
simply staring in amazement at the way individual blades of grass seem to extend from the ground in a countable and perceptibly deep and realistic
way, this transfer delivers a visual feast for the eyes that's one of the defining Blu-ray transfers out there, and not just amongst other 3D images.
Best of all, "ghosting" is virtually nonexistent. It's seen in scant amounts here and there, but it's not enough to knock the transfer considering just
how amazing it is in every other area. No doubt about it, Sony's 3D Blu-ray transfer of Open Season is a technological marvel of modern
technology.
Open Season's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack is just fine, but don't expect anything that goes above and beyond the call of duty of modern day soundtracks. This is a technically sound and quality presentation, but much like the film it accompanies, it never moves beyond that "meat and potatoes" feel, rarely extending beyond the bare minimum of what makes a "good" soundtrack. This one's got all the bases covered; music is well balanced across the front and accompanied by good fidelity and nearly infinite clarity. Meanwhile, dialogue is centered straight up the middle and sounds clear as a bell in every scene. The surround channels are used somewhat sparsely but generally effectively when called upon; voices echo and thunder booms in a few scenes, while a gunshot heard in chapter four reverberates nicely around the listening area, though it lacks that extra oomph that would have really sold the effect of a dangerous weapon discharging a high-powered round. Indeed, Open Season's DTS soundtrack often lacks a substantial power output but the end result should satisfy younger listeners. Open Season's lossless soundtrack is understandably overshadowed by the wonder of Sony's 1080p 3D transfer, but this audio presentation should nevertheless satisfy, but not overly excite, veteran audiophiles.
Open Season sights in a host of extra content for this Blu-ray 3D release. First is an audio commentary track with Producer Michelle
Murdocca,
Directors Jill Culton and Roger Allers, and Co-Director Anthony Stacchi. This quartet offers an affable and informative commentary that's never dry
and
always lively. They discuss the picture's roots, the look of the characters, the performances of the voice actors, the tone of the film's humor, the
film's
varied soundtrack, and plenty more. Fans interested in the process of creating an animated movie will want to give this one a listen. Also listed under
"commentaries" in the main menu is Inside the Animals Studio which offers humorous "mini commentaries" with several of the animals as
they
analyze certain scenes. Included are Mr. Weenie (480p, 1:31), Porcupine (480p, 0:42), and Maria the Skunk (480p, 0:49).
Next up is a pair of featurettes. Behind the Trees (480p, 15:14) takes viewers into Sony Pictures Animation for a glimpse into the process of
crafting an animated picture, including character creation and design, the physical and digital processes of bringing them to life, the demanding and
precise process of making every environmental nuance live up to the filmmakers' demanding standards, the challenges of creating several of the more
complex scenes, and more. The second featurette, The Voices Behind the Stars (480p, 7:35), looks at the process of casting the right voice
actors for the right part and the qualities each actor brought to the final product.
Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run (1080p, 4:31) is an animated short featuring the film's stars. Next up is a pair of deleted scenes (480p,
2:03) and the music video "I Wanna Lose Control (Uh Oh)" by Deathray (480p, 2:19). Three "Activities" are next. Wheel of Fortune: Forest
Edition (1080p) is an interactive feature that allows audience to play a unique version of the popular game show. Voice-O-Rama (1080p)
allows users to hear various characters voiced in different dialects and languages. Swept Away Scene Deconstruction (480p) shows one of
the film's scenes broken down into four different stages of completion. RingTales (480p, 0:55) delivers a series of several and very brief
Open Season animated shorts. Three galleries (1080p) -- Environments, Characters, and Beat Boards -- are next.
Also included is BD-Live functionality and special 1080p 3D previews for Monster House 3D (1:09), Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 3D (1:32), and The Smurfs
3D (0:55). The main menu is also in 3D. Excellent.
Open Season isn't necessarily a victim of genre overexposure, but instead a victim of a lackadaisical script, bland characters, mediocre voice acting, and what may be seen as an apparent lack of interest on the part of the filmmakers in terms of making a movie that could do more than blend into a crowded field, all of which play a much bigger role in killing the movie in the long run than does its reliance on what is undoubtedly a tried-and-true recipe for cuddly computer-animated success. It seems clear that Open Season was more about banking on younger audiences' blind allegiance to anything and everything computer-animated talking animal movies than ensuring that there's actually a good picture behind the smiling herd of woodland denizens that make up Open Season's forgettable roster of characters. This isn't an awful movie, just an inconsequential one, and if nothing else it serves as an example of a movie that gives every indication that it was made for no other reason than to bank on the success of its similarly-plotted predecessors. Fortunately, there's still a reason to watch. Sony's Blu-ray 3D release of Open Season delivers what is the best high def 3D experience yet; flanked by a good lossless soundtrack and a nice array of extras, the disc comes recommended as the current reference Blu-ray 3D release.
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