Turning Red Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Turning Red Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 19, 2022

The color red is the color of anger (which Pixar's own Inside Out previously explored, and which is why The Hulk is...green). It is also the color of embarrassment. When someone is "turning red," it usually means one of those two emotions are bubbling up to the surface and taking over, leading one to either want to bash or blush. In Pixar's latest, the color red is once again paired with anger, and bubbling emotions in general, when a 13-year-old with an independent streak discovers that emotional outbursts cause her to transform into a giant red panda bear, which just might interfere with her ability to, oh, attend her favorite band's concert, have fun with her friends, or swoon over the latest hot stuff boy. In other words: it's bound to transform her life, not just her looks.

Mei Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) is a typical 13-year-old girl whose life is all about self. She considers herself an adult, free of her parents' (voiced by Sandra Oh and Orion Lee) demands, and capable of living life on her own terms. While she still works as a tour guide for a tourist attraction temple her family owns and operates, she's more concerned with her friends Miriam (voiced by Ava Morse), Priya (voiced by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and Abby (Hyein Park) and their close-knit bonding over a number of things, including the boy band 4*Town. When her mother finds her journal and discovers her crush on a local boy, she embarrasses Mei by confronting the boy in front of her peers. When Mei awakens, she discovers that she has inadvertently awakened something else: her inner red panda. As she navigates life as a big red panda, into which she transforms whenever she is confronted with her innermost emotional ups and downs (exacerbated by her mother's refusal to allow her to attend the 4*Town concert), she discovers that her transformation is no accident and races for a solution before the transformation ruins her life.

Turning Red takes a look at that exciting, confusing, and delicate time of transition into the teenage years. Clearly the story of Mei's transformation is a metaphor for the unwieldy and uncontrollable hormonal responses to life's ups and downs at that age, and the frequency with which the transformation occurs points to the frequency in which people of that age experience emotional traumas. The film largely succeeds at painting a vivid picture of this life snapshot that involves modern sensibilities and life conveniences wrapped up in both ancient cultural traditions and truths as well as age-old pubescent problems.

The production is, from a technical standpoint, very fine indeed. The technical excellence is obvious, as is the finesse with which it was made and the unique character that gives it its own personality, even as its assets are essentially much like so many other recent movies. Director Domee Shi and her crew are to be commended for building a film that is every bit the modern digital bonanza yet with its own patented look, style, and soul. The Anime influences are unmistakable, and this may be the most visually distinctive and tonally individualized Pixar movie yet. The voice work is top-notch as well, and while the picture might not stand at the top of the Pixar pile in terms of memorable storytelling, groundbreaking visuals, or overall dramatic excellence, this is a solid enough film in the aggregate.

Turning Red Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Turning Red goes Blu with a typically satisfying 1080p transfer that is everything a new digitally animated film should be on the Blu-ray format. The presentation is exceptional from start to finish with both clarity and color soaring. The former impresses across the board with resplendent digital definition and effortless detail that reveal the extreme complexity and astonishing attention to detail that went into the making of the movie. Every character model, clothing line and seam, and each environmental location sings with exquisitely revealed definition. Viewers will never be left wanting more, whether the structural textures around the family temple or the fine pencil lines seen in close-up in Mei's notebook. There is not a soft edge or smudgy corner unless a background item is deliberately out of focus for effect. Clarity could not be any more perfect. Colors are the definition of bold and intense. Of course, Mei's' panda form is the highlight for its color intensity and vividness. It's routinely full and flattering and always stands out nicely in contrast to the other colors, which are equally vivid and well saturated. Clothes, hair, colorful dreamy frames, anything and everything the animators throw on the screen the Blu-ray handles with elegant intensity yet tonal grounding that keeps contrast and temperature neutral. Black levels depth is terrific and whites are plenty bold and brilliant. There are no source or encode shortcomings to worry about, either. As expected, this is a top-tier Blu-ray image from Disney.

Turning Red Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Also as expected is the mostly capable, yet still very much lacking, DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack. In typical Disney fashion the track is generally sound in terms of audio cue placement engineering but wanting at reference volume in terms of general loudness. It's a little reserved and, while not as obvious as some others, clearly lacking in reference volume authority. Bass is not absent – Mei's panda form footfalls offer a slight bit of depth – but several moments demand much more than is made available here. Surround content is fine, with plenty of lively immersive activity in crowded locales and during some of the more sound-heavy action-type scenes where swoops and more complicated sweeps and general audio engagement are handled with expert finesse. The track also offers the odd discrete effect that is realistically integrated as well. Musical clarity, spacing, and surround balance grade out very highly but again the absence of a more authoritative bottom end is disappointing. Dialogue is clear and center grounded save for the odd moment of deliberately engineered escape into another channel. Most audiophiles will spend the majority of the time wishing Disney had just gone that extra mile to ensure the best possible listen, but casual listeners probably won't be too bothered with what's going on – or what is not going on – with this one.

Note that the disc defaults to the DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1 track rather than the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack.

Turning Red Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Turning Red contains bonuses on the main film disc and additional features on a second dedicated Blu-ray bonus disc. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase.

Feature Film Disc:

• Life of a Shot (1080p, 14:36): A fascinating journey with Director Domee Shi and additional crew exploring the vast amount of work that is required to bring just seven shots in the film from concept to finished form, requiring the work and input of every single department in the studio.
• Build Your Own Boy Band (1080p, 8:38): Discussing the secrets behind the process of building a fictional boy band in 10 easy steps, from listening to a lot of real Boy Band music to crafting dance choreography.
• Audio Commentary: Director Domee Shi, Producer Lindsey Collins, and Director of Photography Mahyar Abousaeedi offer a well-spoken, informative, but also welcoming and breezy track that explores inspirations, narrative themes, story construction, music, visuals, and so much more.

Bonus Disc:

• Ani-Mei-Tion (1080p, 9:38): Exploring the film's "snappy" visual style and structure, Anime influences, character design, and more.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 23:40): Following an Introduction are the following scenes: Intro Meilin, Taming the Panda, The Debate, Fei and Christina Hang, 4*Town Dilemma, and Roping in Leo. Some are presented in early storyboard form, others in final form.
• Trailers (1080p): Included are Poof - Global Teaser in English (1:56), Mei - Global Trailer in German (2:26), and Cherish yourself - Japan Payoff Trailer (1:47).

Turning Red Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Turning Red feels somewhat dramatically redundant, occupying some of the same space that Inside Out already covered, and far better in the aggregate, but there's enough of a unique identity here to make it play well on its own, even if it doesn't stand out as anywhere near the best that the studio has released before. Disney's Blu-ray offers scrumptious video, typically watered-down audio, and a few extras spread across two discs. Recommended.