The Nightmare Before Christmas Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

The Nightmare Before Christmas Blu-ray Movie Review

Disney has released 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' to Blu-ray in celebration of the film's 25th anniversary. Though the release proper offers little reason for existing owners to upgrade -- no new video, new sing-alongs but some subtracted extras, a new soundtrack that is essentially a lateral move from the old releases -- this Best Buy exclusive SteelBook makes a case, particularly at the very low entry price point. See the 'Special Features and Extras' section below for more on this SteelBook.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For a full video review, please click here.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For a full audio review, please click here.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The nicest SteelBooks, subjectively speaking of course, embrace minimalism. There's such a thing as overly minimalist, but this Disney/Best Buy exclusive SteelBook nails the balance between simple and elegant. The SteelBook is almost entirely black, and there's no text on either the front or the rear sides. The front cover is almost entirely debossed; there's a relatively thin edge running around the front perimeter and everything inside its sunken, except for the raised depiction of Jack Skellington's head, grinning practically from (where the) ear (should be) to (where the other) ear (should be). Five bats fly atop the upper left area of his head, which is chipped and fractured. The rear side features no major debossing, no edged permitter, just a straight black surface with a depiction of Sally kneeling before several tombstones. Oh, and both front and back images glow in the dark! See screenshots 7 and 8 for low light, not pitch-black, photos; I "painted" both sides with a 600 lumens flashlight for a few moments to make them really sing.

The spine maintains the black surface. The film's title, its director's name, and "sing-along edition" appear on the spine, as well as a Disney logo up top and a Disney Blu-ray logo at the bottom. Inside, the digital copy code is tucked under the left-hand tabs. The lone Blu-ray disc is housed on the right-hand side. The inner print is attractive, featuring a number of black-colored character and object depictions against a white background. The disappointment comes in the repeating nature; both the left and the right sides feature identical and identically configured renderings. It's a small flub on an otherwise gorgeous SteelBook, one of the best on the market.

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The Nightmare Before Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Simplicity sells, or at least it should. Disney's Best Buy exclusive SteelBook for The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of this writer's new favorites. It's elegantly simple, it glows in the dark, there's no fuss or excess. The on-disc content is a little disappointing in terms of what's new and what's not, but for the $12.99 price point at time of writing, there's no reason not to snag a copy. Highly recommended.