6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A girl uses dogs to teach people about the true meaning of Christmas during the Depression.
Starring: John Billingsley, Richard Riehle, Bonita Friedericy, Eric Lutes, Tom KempFamily | 100% |
Holiday | 29% |
Period | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
The phenomenon of incredibly successful child author has created a couple of opportunities for parents struggling mightily to pry their own kids away from the hypnotic allure of videogames. First, touting a kid’s ability to rake in millions of dollars can raise a young eyebrow or two, if only for a moment, but even more importantly, books written by kids seems to be more intrinsically interesting for other kids to read. Emma Kragen may not be a familiar name to many, and she may not have attained the sales levels of, say, Eragon’s Christopher Paolini, but her The Twelve Dogs of Christmas has managed to sell well over 500,000 copies since it was published several years ago, as well as inspire a stuffed toy line (can you say “ancillary profits,” kiddies?) and this straight to video enterprise from 2005. Kragen was all of seven years old when she scribbled the basic storyline of The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (numeralized to The 12 Dogs of Christmas for this video release) on the back of a restaurant placemat. According to the book’s website (books have websites now, of course), her father sent the scribbles on a whim to a publisher friend of his and the rest, as they say, is history. It didn’t hurt that Emma’s father was producer Ken Kragen, a well respected and Emmy winning force behind such iconic fare as the We Are the World sessions. (Kragen is also a very well known talent manager and has guided the careers of everyone from Harry Chapin to Lionel Richie). But Kragen pater’s television roots are abundantly on display throughout this decidedly lo-fi enterprise, something that plays like a B-movie version of a property that might not even be considered for The Hallmark Channel. The 12 Dogs of Christmas is surprisingly unsentimental, which may be either a good or a bad thing depending on your point of view, but it also lacks much spark or finesse. If it’s not exactly an outright “bad dog,” it sure ain’t no Lassie, either.
The 12 Dogs of Christmas is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Screen Media Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a fairly soft looking presentation through and through, something not helped by the film's deliberately desaturated imagery in several sequences. Edge enhancement is fairly noticeable in a number of scenes, and in some of the more darkly lit sequences, grain approaches digital noise levels. On the plus side, there's a decent degree of fine detail in close-ups, and when we do get past the desaturated sequences, colors pop acceptably strongly with those Christmas reds being especially expressive. But overall this film reveals its low budget sources rather clearly, and this Blu-ray rarely approaches anything close to a pristine and sharp high definition image.
The 12 Dogs of Christmas does considerably better in the audio department, with an above average if unremarkable lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. There is decent if not consistent use of the surrounds, including a couple of fun scenes when Emma takes a sleigh ride with a Russian immigrant she befriends. The pitter patter of little (and sometimes big) doggie feet also pan nicely in several sequences. Dialogue is clean and easy to hear. The film has an occasionally effective but too ubiquitous score by John-Kevin Hilbert which neatly incorporates a bunch of Christmas standards, but which never lets up and ultimately becomes self-defeating. However, the score is very well presented on this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track.
Behind the Scenes (SD; 7:45). The real-life Emma Kragen isn't seen or heard in this piece, but she evidently videotaped it. Several cast members are interviewed and some scenes of shots being set up are also included.
If you have children younger than five or six or so, you could do a lot worse than to spend a little time with The 12 Dogs of Christmas. Older kids and adults are probably going to be pretty nonplussed about the goings on in this film, one which is too by the numbers (12 or otherwise) to ever really catch fire. The adult supporting cast is the best thing here, as well as the wonderfully cute pooches, but The 12 Dogs of Christmas doesn't have any bite to accompany its bark.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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