Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Planes: Fire & Rescue Blu-ray Movie Review

"It takes a special kind of plane to become a firefighter."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown October 30, 2014

Just like Cars 2 took a sharp left from Pixar's Cars, Planes: Fire & Rescue is a big departure from Planes. So what exactly do you call a loose sequel to a loose spin-off of another loose sequel? I have no idea. I only know the result shouldn't be this formulaic. There's nothing particularly wrong with Fire & Rescue. Kids will certainly get their kicks, moms and dads will crack a few smiles, and, yes, the whole family will have a fairly good time soaring the smoky skies with Dusty and his friends. But DisneyToon Studios has yet to deliver a feature film that isn't rooted in made-for-video convention, and the entire production lacks the patented Pixar magic that might elevate it to greater heights. The cynic in me isn't surprised at all. It isn't hard to peg the sequel as the overstuffed, underdeveloped toy commercial it is. The Pixar fan in me is in mourning. The Disney subsidiary hasn't cranked out a 5-star experience -- by its own hand or via DisneyToon Studios -- since 2010's Toy Story 3. And the animation junkie in me is still shrugging his shoulders. Planes' animation was already more in line with Mater's Tall Tales than the theatrical Cars films, and Fire & Rescue follows suit. At least the father in me came away mildly satisfied. My son had fun with Fire & Rescue... to a degree. Even he seemed to sense the sequel wasn't landing as smoothly or gracefully as it should.

'Planes: Fire & Rescue' tells the tale of a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting the historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfires. When world-famous air racer Dusty (voiced by Dane Cook) learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and launch into the world of aerial firefighting. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter Blade Ranger (Ed Harris) and his courageous team, including spirited air tanker Dipper (Julie Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter (Wes Studi), ex-military transport Cabbie (Dale Dye) and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero. Also featured: voice actors Brad Garrett (as fuel truck Chug), Stacy Keach (as mentor Skipper Riley), Teri Hatcher and Danny Mann (as forklifts Dottie and Sparky), and Cedric the Entertainer (as biplane Leadbottom), and new additions Hal Holbrook, Regina King, Patrick Warburton, Fred Willard, Erik Estrada, Curtis Armstrong, John Michael Higgins, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller.

Fire & Rescue isn't out to play it safe, skipping past a more obvious racing-oriented plot to explore a different profession in the Cars universe. Any sequel that throws caution to the wind is on the right track. Unfortunately, everything beyond the sequel's ambitious premise is played so safe it's hard to muster much excitement. The voice cast is impressive on paper -- with Cook and many of his Planes compatriots returning and Harris, Bowen and other newcomers providing some welcome punch -- but their characters are maddening clichés (complete with stale puns, tired one-liners and two-dimensional personalities) and their performances are weirdly wooden on the whole. Not that the script offers the sort of material that might showcase the actors' talents. There's some dramatic meat to Dusty's "medical" condition and his reluctant rise from racer to hero, and there are quite a few memorable set pieces, culminating in a serviceably sizeable climax. But very little of it is as big, grand or thrilling in practice as it is in theory, and even less resonates and lingers in the imagination.

The consolation prize is that it plays better at home. Despite its reasonably effective action sequences, Fire & Rescue felt decidedly small in theaters. No matter how vast its vistas became or widespread its wildfires grew, it wasn't as sweeping, jaw dropping or fully realized as its mid-July release suggested. The trick to enjoying it more now, some three months later, though, is approaching it as if it were a direct-to-video production. Big screen expectations only make the high-flying sequel stall out faster, leaving it in a precarious glide, ever on the verge of crashing and burning. Yes, the younger your kids are, the less likely they are to notice. But kids aren't stupid. Put the Planes sequel next to any other recent animated film and give your son or daughter the opportunity to watch just one of the two a second time. Most children -- minus those fascinated with aviation and all things aeronautics -- will choose the movie sitting to the right of Fire & Rescue, and for good reason. Much as they might enjoy the sequel the first time around, it doesn't leave as lasting an impression as others.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 arrived in theaters a month earlier, also dared to follow a different path, and captured the joy of flight, the intensity of spiraling aerial acrobatics, and the weight of its character-driven adventure with an effortlessness matched only by the beauty of its dazzling, dizzying animation. Planes: Fire & Rescue is a TV special by comparison. A solid feature-length TV special, but a TV special all the same.

Planes: Fire & Rescue Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There's a bit of banding on the radar, but otherwise Fire & Rescue's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation boasts the kind of clear-skies flying a high-scoring animated adventure demands. Colors are bold and striking, with flashes of rich color, primary brilliance and deep blacks. Saturation and contrast are gorgeous too, and there's a consistency and overall clarity on display that falls in line with other recent Disney/Pixar/DisneyToon Blu-rays. Edge definition is crisp and clean, fine textures are refined and revealing, and there's very little in the way of aliasing (though I did notice a small handful of exceedingly negligible instances). There also isn't any noise, macroblocking or other distractions to contend with, allowing the presentation to soar.

Planes: Fire & Rescue Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Planes: Fire & Rescue features a fantastic DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track. A few scenes are a tad front-heavy, sure. But the bulk of the sequel sounds every bit as good and every bit as invigorating as a summer theatrical release should. Voices are perfectly intelligible, grounded in the soundscape and prioritized at all times, and dynamics never disappoint. The LFE channel roars to life with every plane engines, rages with every wildfire, and throws its full support behind every daring rescue and action sequence, without exception. Rear speaker activity only intensifies the experience, pulling the listener deeper and deeper into the heart of Piston Peak and surrounding anyone in the room with the convincing, enveloping sounds of rustling trees, crackling flames and death-defying fly-bys. Junior audiophiles will be bouncing in their seats.

Planes: Fire & Rescue Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular (HD, 6 minutes): In this Blu-ray exclusive animated short, Dusty and Chug are coaxed into performing in a dangerous stunt show at the last minute.
• Additional Animated Shorts (HD, 4 minutes): Two more animated shorts are included: "Dipper" and "Smoke Jumpers." Each one is quite short, though, and neither amounts to anything more than a brief misadventure with some of the film's third-string characters.
• Air Attack: Firefighters from the Sky (HD, 5 minutes): A kid-friendly look at the real vehicles, locations and heroes that inspired the characters, environments and plot of Planes: Fire & Rescue.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 4 minutes): Three deleted scenes with intros by the director and producer.
• Welcome to Piston Peak! (HD, 3 minutes): A Piston Peak tourist promo.
• CHoPs TV Promo (HD, 1 minute): A TV commercial for CHiPs parody CHoPs.
• Music Video (HD, 2 minutes): "Still I Fly" by Spencer Lee.

Planes: Fire & Rescue Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Planes: Fire & Rescue feels more like a direct-to-video follow-up -- Planes 1.5 -- than a full-fledged big screen sequel, and DisneyToon Studios once again fails to deliver a film capable of standing alongside Disney and Pixar's most beloved classics. But kids will enjoy it much more than the adults in the room, so that's at least something... something crucial even. Disney's Blu-ray release is much more rewarding thankfully. Though light on supplements, the BD combo pack features a striking video presentation and thrilling DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track; more than enough to save Planes: Fire & Rescue from itself.