6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Richard Tyler is a cowardly boy who buries himself in accident statistics. After entering a library one day to escape a storm, he finds himself swept away to a fantasy world where he is transformed into an animated illustration. There, he meets the Pagemaster, keeper of books and guardian of the written word. Richard must now make his way through various obstacles from literary classics in order to reach the library’s exit and return to the real world again.
Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Ed Begley Jr., Mel Harris (I), Patrick StewartFamily | 100% |
Comedy | 94% |
Animation | 66% |
Fantasy | 45% |
Adventure | 24% |
Coming of age | 8% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
French: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
It seems obvious that while the printed word will live on, its method of delivery to readers is inevitably changing. Just this morning as I prepared to write this review, my local paper had a long article, an apology almost, by the paper’s Public Editor giving detailed information on upcoming changes to the paper’s publication and home delivery schedule (in other words, things are going digital—quickly), changes which were actually announced several months ago but which have been met with withering criticism by many subscribers who want a physical paper in their hot little hands in the morning. Perhaps strangely, there seems to have been at least somewhat less controversy in the transition from printed books to those available on tablets like the Kindle or the Nook. I frankly am not sure of why this would be the case. I own a Kindle and have several books on it, but I personally much prefer the feel of having a real book in my hands. Somehow the portal to imagination that reading offers seems more visceral, palpable even, with an actual book in front of me than a “mere” electronic delivery device. Will this brave new world actually change the psychology of reading? I hope not, but it’s something I wonder about from time to time. The aforementioned “portal” of imagination which is opened by reading is central to the story of The Pagemaster, a fitfully interesting but ultimately slightly lackluster hybrid live action animated outing that was ironically rather infamous in its day for a protracted WGA dispute over its writing credits. The film features Macaulay Culkin (in both “real” and animated form) as a timid young boy named Richard Tyler, a kid who would have loved to have been a “bubble boy”, sequestered away from all the perceived threats of the world which haunt his every waking moment. Richard is a walking compendium of statistics, all of them recited like so many actuarial tables, boiling down more or less to mortality rates that any given activity may present. This drives his well meaning father (Ed Begley, Jr.) slightly to distraction, while his more coddling mother (Mel Harris) is at least a bit more tolerant of the behavior. When Richard’s Dad has an unfortunate accident one day (one caused by Richard), he insists that Richard pedal his bike (a vehicle equipped with an insane amount of safety features) to the local hardware store to pick up some nails. And that’s when Richard’s unlikely adventure begins.
The Pagemaster is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a solid if just slightly underwhelming looking transfer that benefits from elements with only very minor damage. Balancing that is just slightly tepid looking color, though perhaps ironically the few CGI elements seem to have weathered the storm of time better than some of the traditionally drawn cel animation. There's a completely natural layer of grain in evidence here and if the transfer looks slightly soft a lot of the time, it's not necessarily a distraction, especially in the longer animated section, where things look kind of "old school" anyway. Line detail remains reasonably sharp in this long section and colors, while not quite as vivid as some may hope, are nicely saturated and certainly very varied. There are some density fluctuations in the animated sequences which may be "baked in" to the source. As with the animated sequence, the live action bookending moments look just slightly soft, but feature good detail in close-ups and accurate, nicely saturated, color.
The Pagemaster's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is nicely immersive in fits and starts, though it's perhaps just slightly less rambunctious than some might expect from a fantasy film like this one. Things get off to a good start in the storm sequence, when the roar of thunder gives the low end a real workout and the pelt of rain and hail fills the surrounds. Once the animated section takes over, there are some great sound effects, including some spooky moments in the graveyard leading up to Jekyll's house, the nice sea sequence which find Richie chasing Moby Dick, and the fun treasure hunting sequence with Long John Silver. The two featured songs nicely fill the surround channels as well. The mix here is a bit on the noisy side at times, as mentioned above in the body of the review, and unfortunately the tendency is to place all the dialogue in the front channels, where it only sounds more crowded, especially when characters are talking over each other. That said, fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is very wide.
The Pagemaster doesn't quite gel into the classic children's fantasy it obviously wanted to be, but there's still a lot here to enjoy, especially if there are younger children in the home. Some of the references here are obviously geared toward adults (check out Richie hoisting a giant copy of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged for one such moment), but kids will no doubt love the animation and the goofy trio of books who accompany Richie on his adventures. This Blu-ray offers generally solid video and nice sounding audio and it comes Recommended.
30th Anniversary Edition
1992
2007
1991
2010
2018
2013
1987
1993
2001
2011
2012
1990-1991
1995
PIXAR
2010
50th Anniversary Edition | DVD Packaging
1963
2019
2008
2003
2004
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2016