Hotel for Dogs Blu-ray Disc (Thor Freudenthal, 2009)

Paramount (USA)
1.78:1 1080p
100 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: audio commentary; A Home for Everyone; That’s the Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!; K-9 Casting; Bark on Cue!; deleted scenes; photo galleries; theatrical trailer; PEDIGREE Adoption Drive

Released: 28 April 2009

For years, Hollywood has been trying to find the next Julia Roberts. There are plenty of famous female stars, but no one has been able to “open” a movie the way that Julia Roberts did during the 1990s and early 2000s. Some actresses command high salaries because they’ve won Oscars, but they do not generate consistently high box-office returns. To be fair, viewing habits have shifted from watching movies based on celebrity wattage to watching movies based on specific genres (such as adaptations of superhero comics) or on brand names (such as kiddie animation from Disney and DreamWorks Animation).

Enter Emma Roberts, who actually looks more like her aunt Julia than her dad Eric. Emma Roberts certainly has the looks and the charm of a movie star, and if her career so far is any indication, she may even have the talent to endure a long, successful career. Although Emma Roberts has appeared in family-friendly flicks so far, promotional campaigns have not been shy about playing up similarities between the teen and her aunt. In fact, her most-recent movie, Hotel for Dogs, takes baby steps towards showcasing her as a romantic lead.

Hotel for Dogs is based on a children’s book about a pair of orphans, Andi (Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin), who try to keep a pet dog while being shuffled from foster family to foster family. The siblings eventually take over an abandoned hotel in the middle of a densely-populated city and adopt several stray dogs. Andi falls in love with a nice boy who works in a pet store, and two other kids join the gang.

Hotel for Dogs is fairly cute and enjoyable until its halfway point. At a certain point, the logistics become less and less credible and completely undermine any pathos that the movie tries to generate regarding orphans and unwanted animals. I know, I know...this is a kids’ fantasy. Still, it’s possible to make a kids’ movie without pandering.

Perhaps the most-startling aspect of this production is the fact that Don Cheadle is a part of it. Yes, that Don Cheadle, the excellent actor who has been in numerous major and good movies. Why he is in Hotel for Dogs is mystifying, though it’s possible that he really loves dogs or needs to pay the bills.

Video:
You get an excellent 1.78:1 1080p video presentation. Detail is exceptionally high, and the colors are dense without appearing oversaturated.

Audio:
As expected, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track is fussy and crowded, though dialogue and bouncy music cues dominate the soundscape. There is some bass presence when urban vehicles zoom around busy streets, though don’t expect window-rattling booms associated with genuine action sequences.

Extras:
First up is a pleasant, chatty audio commentary by Thor Freudenthal, producer Ewan “Jack” Leslie, Emma Roberts, and Jake T. Austin.

“A Home for Everyone” is a brief overview of the production. “That’s the Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!” focuses on the production design and visual effects. “K-9 Casting” shows how dogs were selected for particular roles. “Bark on Cue!” reveals the difficulties behind creating the sound design.

You also get several deleted scenes, photo galleries, and the movie’s theatrical trailer.

The “PEDIGREE Adoption Drive” is a commercial that encourages people to adopt dogs.

Hotel for Dogs (Thor Freudenthal, 2009)

Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced
100 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: audio commentary; A Home for Everyone; That’s the Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!; K-9 Casting; Bark on Cue!; deleted scenes; photo galleries; theatrical trailer; PEDIGREE Adoption Drive; previews for other movies

Released: 28 April 2009

For years, Hollywood has been trying to find the next Julia Roberts. There are plenty of famous female stars, but no one has been able to “open” a movie the way that Julia Roberts did during the 1990s and early 2000s. Some actresses command high salaries because they’ve won Oscars, but they do not generate consistently high box-office returns. To be fair, viewing habits have shifted from watching movies based on celebrity wattage to watching movies based on specific genres (such as adaptations of superhero comics) or on brand names (such as kiddie animation from Disney and DreamWorks Animation).

Enter Emma Roberts, who actually looks more like her aunt Julia than her dad Eric. Emma Roberts certainly has the looks and the charm of a movie star, and if her career so far is any indication, she may even have the talent to endure a long, successful career. Although Emma Roberts has appeared in family-friendly flicks so far, promotional campaigns have not been shy about playing up similarities between the teen and her aunt. In fact, her most-recent movie, Hotel for Dogs, takes baby steps towards showcasing her as a romantic lead.

Hotel for Dogs is based on a children’s book about a pair of orphans, Andi (Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin), who try to keep a pet dog while being shuffled from foster family to foster family. The siblings eventually take over an abandoned hotel in the middle of a densely-populated city and adopt several stray dogs. Andi falls in love with a nice boy who works in a pet store, and two other kids join the gang.

Hotel for Dogs is fairly cute and enjoyable until its halfway point. At a certain moment, the logistics become less and less credible and completely undermine any pathos that the movie tries to generate regarding orphans and unwanted animals. I know, I know...this is a kids’ fantasy. Still, it’s possible to make a kids’ movie without pandering.

Perhaps the most-startling aspect of this production is the fact that Don Cheadle is a part of it. Yes, that Don Cheadle, the excellent actor who has been in numerous major and good movies. Why he is in Hotel for Dogs is mystifying, though it’s possible that he really loves dogs or needs to pay the bills.

Video:
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image is a bit of a letdown, especially compared against the Blu-ray’s 1080p video. There are some halos indicative of edge enhancement (though low-res images tend to look fuzzy/muddy anyway). The transfer also appears to be slightly darker than the Blu-ray’s, which aggravates the picture’s watered-down appearance.

Audio:
As expected, the DD 5.1 English track is fussy and crowded, though dialogue and bouncy music cues dominate the soundscape. There is some bass presence when urban vehicles zoom around busy streets, though don’t expect window-rattling booms associated with genuine action sequences.

Extras:
Upon loading, the disc plays previews for other movies.

You can watch the movie with a pleasant, chatty audio commentary by Thor Freudenthal, producer Ewan “Jack” Leslie, Emma Roberts, and Jake T. Austin.

“A Home for Everyone” is a brief overview of the production. “That’s the Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!” focuses on the production design and visual effects. “K-9 Casting” shows how dogs were selected for particular roles. “Bark on Cue!” reveals the difficulties behind creating the sound design.

You also get several deleted scenes, photo galleries, and the movie’s theatrical trailer.

The “PEDIGREE Adoption Drive” is a commercial that encourages people to adopt dogs.

--Miscellaneous--
You also get a coupon for a cleaning tool that removes animal hair from your furniture.

Galaxy Quest Deluxe Edition (Dean Parisot, 1999)

Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 2.35:1 16x9 enhanced
101 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 Spanish, DD 2.0 surround Thermian
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish
Extras: Historical Documents: The Story of Galaxy Quest; Never Give Up, Never Surrender; By Grabthar’s Hammer, What Amazing Effects; Alien School; Actors in Space; Sigourney Weaver Raps; deleted scenes; trailer; previews for other movies

Released: 12 May 2009

Once upon a time, DreamWorks Pictures was an independent movie outfit that made a movie called Galaxy Quest. Galaxy Quest is both a loving tribute and send-up of Star Trek, particularly The Original Series that first aired on TV during the 1960s. One day, DreamWorks realized that it could no longer function as a stand-alone entity, and its founders sold it to Paramount--the studio that was long responsible for much of the Star Trek franchise. Now that Star Trek is being re-booted on 8 May 2009 with a new movie that goes back to Kirk’s Starfleet Academy days, Paramount is re-releasing Galaxy Quest on DVD.

Galaxy Quest walks a very thin tightrope with admirable deftness. It parodies a show that was already a parody of itself in many ways. It mocks sci-fi fans even though Trekkies are so outrageous that mockery is unnecessary. Yet, it’s obvious that the filmmakers are fond of what it parodies and mocks. After poking fun at obvious targets, the movie develops into an exciting yarn in its own right. Along the way, the movie embraces the optimism that is routinely described as Star Trek’s signature motivator. This is reflected by the transformation of Alan Rickman’s character, from a self-pitying British thespian versed in Shakespeare (like many Trek actors) who bemoans the fact that his claim to fame is sci-fi nonsense to a man who realizes that he has inspired many children to hope and to dream.

In many ways, Galaxy Quest is basically a fictional version of the two Trekkies documentaries, with the added benefit of a big budget for special effects and name-brand acting. The movie can be enjoyed by people who know nothing about Star Trek, though whatever you can bring to the table will increase your laughter and enjoyment quotients. Space may be mostly a vacuum, but movies aren’t viewed in one.

Video:
The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image looks very good for a movie that’s now about eleven-years-old. Detail and sharpness are usually excellent. However, there is visible print damage from time to time. Colors are meant to be faded for the “vintage” footage, though colors are also faded for some of the “contemporary” sequences.

Audio:
The DD 5.1 English audio track is lively and active, filled with fun and “gee whiz!” moments. Like the script and the visuals, the sound design has clever allusions to other sci-fi spectacles. However, roughly ten years have passed since this movie was released, and the audio doesn’t seem as robust as what you get with recent movies. I guess even I’ve gotten used to being assaulted by in-your-eardrums movies like The Dark Knight.

In addition to a DD 5.1 Spanish dub, you can watch the movie with a DD 2.0 Thermian track. The idea is intriguing on paper, but the actual experience is a bit tedious and repetitious after fifteen minutes.

Extras:
This new Deluxe Edition features new extras not found on the previous DVD released back in 2000, though if you’ve waited this long for an upgrade, then you might as well hold out for the inevitable Blu-ray (rumored for late 2009).

Upon loading, the disc plays previews for several Star Trek properties

“Historical Documents: The Story of Galaxy Quest” is an introduction to the production. “Never Give Up, Never Surrender” celebrates the cast. “By Grabthar’s Hammer, What Amazing Effects” spotlights the visual effects work.

“Alien School” reveals how the cast and crew developed the Thermians’ peculiar gestures and vocal patterns. “Actors in Space” features cast members reminiscing about their roles and stereotypes of actors.

“Sigourney Weaver Raps” is a short music video that Weaver and others shot during production.

There are several deleted scenes, and you also get the movie’s theatrical trailer.

--Miscellaneous--
The DVD is housed in a cardboard slipcover with holographic art. Unfortunately, my copy had a sticker plastered on the holographic art, and the sticker left behind sticky residue. Yech.

The Uninvited Blu-ray Disc (The Guard Brothers, 2009)

Paramount (USA)
1.85:1 1080p
87 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: Unlocking The Uninvited; deleted scenes; alternate ending

Released: 28 April 2009

It’s easy to blame Hollywood for creative bankruptcy, but creative bankruptcy isn’t exclusive to the United States. In France, Luc Besson is a one-man factory of copycatting, churning out Eurotrash garbage by the metric tonne. In Asia, it seems like every young director not worth his salt is in the business of making “psychological” horror thrillers, but they all share similar cop-outs that un-do any “psychological” dimensions that the movies may’ve attempted to build. What’s “psychological” about telling your viewers, “Oh, you didn’t really see what you saw”? I guess these movies don’t really have cop-outs; they really have “psych-outs”...which are cop-outs anyway.

Never mind.

The Uninvited was “inspired” by another Asian horror thriller, but the title should really be The Uninspired. You get ghosts/zombies that are drained of color and crawl along the floor like human crabs. They make odd sounds like the little boy in the Ju-On (that’s The Grudge to Joe American) movies. The ending explains everything the way that Ethan Hunt’s flashbacks did in the first Mission: Impossible theatrical feature. Great actors like David Strathairn and Elizabeth Banks are totally wasted.

The moral of the story? People all over the world copy the worst crap from each other. Welcome to globalization.

Video:
The 1.85:1 1080p picture is sharp, pristine, and beautifully moody. Hues are rich but naturalistic.

Audio:
This disc features a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English mix that is typical of most other “scary” movies. Basically, you get a lot of ambient noises and “creepy” music cues punctuated by loud “GOTCHA!” effects. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, though Mr. Strathairn is sometimes a bit soft-spoken.

Extras:
“Unlocking The Uninvited” is a superficial overview of the production. Of course, the interviewees all think that they’ve re-invented the wheel.

You also get a few deleted scenes and an alternate ending.

The Uninvited (The Guard Brothers, 2009)

Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.85:1 16x9 enhanced
87 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: Unlocking The Uninvited; deleted scenes; alternate ending

Released: 28 April 2009

It’s easy to blame Hollywood for creative bankruptcy, but creative bankruptcy isn’t exclusive to the United States. In France, Luc Besson is a one-man factory of copycatting, churning out Eurotrash garbage by the metric tonne. In Asia, it seems like every young director not worth his salt is in the business of making “psychological” horror thrillers, but they all share similar cop-outs that un-do any “psychological” dimensions that the movies may’ve attempted to build. What’s “psychological” about telling your viewers, “Oh, you didn’t really see what you saw”? I guess these movies don’t really have cop-outs; they really have “psych-outs”...which are cop-outs anyway.

Never mind.

The Uninvited was “inspired” by another Asian horror thriller, but the title should really be The Uninspired. You get ghosts/zombies that are drained of color and crawl along the floor like human crabs. They make odd sounds like the little boy in the Ju-On (that’s The Grudge to Joe American) movies. The ending explains everything the way that Ethan Hunt’s flashbacks did in the first Mission: Impossible theatrical feature. Great actors like David Strathairn and Elizabeth Banks are totally wasted.

The moral of the story? People all over the world copy the worst crap from each other. Welcome to globalization.

Video:
The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture is pristine and beautifully moody, though detail takes a huge step down from the Blu-ray’s 1080p resolution. Hues are rich but naturalistic.

Audio:
This disc features a DD 5.1 English mix that is typical of most other “scary” movies. Basically, you get a lot of ambient noises and “creepy” music cues punctuated by loud “GOTCHA!” effects. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, though Mr. Strathairn is sometimes a bit soft-spoken.

Extras:
Upon loading, the disc plays previews for other movies.

“Unlocking The Uninvited” is a superficial overview of the production. Of course, the interviewees all think that they’ve re-invented the wheel.

You also get a few deleted scenes and an alternate ending.

Stranded (Gonzalo Arijon, 2007)

Region 1 Zeitgeist (USA)
NTSC, 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced
126 minutes
Audio: DD 2.0 stereo Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English
Extras: The Making of Stranded; theatrical trailer

Released: 28 April 2009

You may have heard about the airplane carrying an Uruguayan rugby team that crashed into the Andes Mountains while on its way to Chile. The story has been recounted in the best-selling book Alive and a Hollywood movie with the same title. That 16 of the 45 passengers survived after two months in extreme cold is awe-inspiring in and of itself, but the survivors’ story became frequently repeated due to an extraordinary decision that they made; in order to live, the survivors ate the dead.

I’ve known about this incident for many years (going back to when I was in high school during the mid-1990s), but I always do a metaphoric double-take when I hear or think about the Andes Survivors. Although there are a handful of societies that still practice cannibalism, most humans are raised to abhor the act. I’m sure that there were specific religious or cultural reasons for arguing against cannibalism, but these days, most cautionary messages about cannibalism seem designed to make people feel queasy. I’m sure that the Andes Survivors weren’t just struggling with moral and ethical issues when they decided to eat the dead, who were their friends and relatives; they must’ve also struggled with their gag reflexes.

Due to the taboo nature of cannibalism, most third-party discussions about the Andes Survivors inevitably gravitate towards the survivors’ source of sustenance. However, as Gonzalo Arijon’s Stranded makes clear, the survivors faced many difficulties, and obtaining food was only one of many hardships. For example, the plane crashed in deep, soft snow, and with snow settling around the plane due to an avalanche, it was almost impossible for aerial seekers to find the plane. The survivors had trouble creating a heat source, so they had to rely on eating snow and ice for water (which is not as effective as drinking liquid water). The aforementioned avalanche effectively buried the survivors for several days, which severely limited their oxygen supply.

Stranded features face-to-face interviews with several of the survivors accompanied by re-enactments. The director grew up knowing many of the survivors, and cinematographer Cesar Charlone was almost on the same flight as the survivors. Stranded was produced more than 30 years after the incident, which is understandable when you see that the survivors are still haunted by their memories.

How you respond to Stranded depends on your character. Some of you will think that the survivors behaved logically and reasonably because they maintained their composure (they realized that they didn’t have any energy to waste on shouting and fighting). Some of you may be so shocked by the cannibalism that you are compelled to shut off your TV. I urge everyone to consider the numerous dimensions of the survivors’ ordeal. These were mainly city-folk who had to learn camping and mountaineering skills in the blink of an eye. These were loving, caring, moral people who had to make many extraordinary decisions that challenged conventional thinking but ultimately kept them alive, which is usually the paramount concern.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to hear about this experience from the survivors, but I’m also relieved that I have never been in a similar situation.

Video:
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image varies quite a bit in quality. The contemporary footage of the interviewees is sharp and pristine, though archival and re-enactment footage are frequently blurry and damaged. Nevertheless, it’s always apparent what is meant to be archival footage and what is meant to be re-enactment footage.

Audio:
The basic, no-frills DD 2.0 stereo Spanish audio track gets the job done. The interviewees’ voices are always clear and intelligible, and the music selections (though sometimes a bit overbearing) don’t interfere with your ability to hear the participants talking.

Extras:
The hour-long “The Making of Stranded” contains additional interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. You also get a theatrical trailer.

--Miscellaneous--
An insert booklet provides a note from the director, a mini-biography of cinematographer Cesar Charlone, and chapter listings. The transparent keepcase allows you to look at a photo of the survivors taken during their ordeal and various text credits printed on the photo.

Mean Girls Blu-ray Disc (Mark Waters, 2004)

Paramount (USA)
1.78:1 1080p
96 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: audio commentary; Only the Strong Survive; The Politics of Girl World; Plastic Fashion; Word Vomit; So Fetch (deleted/extended scenes); interstitials; trailers

Released: 14 April 2009

It’s obvious that Mean Girls was meant to be Lindsay Lohan’s step into relatively “mature” roles after a string of Disney family movies. However, Mean Girls is a message movie of the worst kind. It bares its teeth looking for important targets but delivers a crowd-pleasing resolution that solves nothing and introduces highly implausible elements that essentially negate the movie’s statements.

Consider the following:
1) A girl is hit by a bus and winds up with a shattered back. However, in less than a year, she manages to walk without any aids and even plays lacrosse, a physically demanding sport.
2) A girl takes responsibility for creating a vicious gossip book about her high school. Her “punishment” is to be grounded by a father who doesn’t understand what being grounded means, to represent her school at a math competition, and to win the Spring Fling Queen vote. I don’t know about you, but being punished and being socially ostracized never looked this good.
3) Three average-looking actresses are supposed to play the glamazons of a high school. In my experience, it takes more than just revealing clothes and lots of make-up to be social queens--it takes real physical beauty to rule a campus. (Yeah, maybe the moviemakers were trying to make a point about how glamorous bitches aren’t really that pretty but are only perceived to be pretty, but seriously, none of the actresses who are this movie’s glamazons are conventionally attractive.)

The movie’s first half is its best as the screenplay delivers fresh ways of making the usual jokes about certain high school social groups. There’s also one of the best visual gags that I’ve seen in a long time, that of Lindsay Lohan dressing up as a bloody bride from the grave with really bad teeth. However, the movie goes downhill when it introduces one of the Plastics’ moms; she’s so dumb that she’s a miscalculation. Sure, the movie is not “realistic”, but that mom is a wild caricature that belongs in another movie.

The laughs also become labored, repetitive, and uninspired. For instance, the line “He’s too gay to function” is repeated incessantly, regardless of whether characters mean well or ill. Also, Cady tells one girl to eat a lot of nutrition bars. The girl thinks that the bars will help her lose weight, but the bars actually make people gain weight. The payoff to the joke arrives so much later after the joke is first told that it’s just not funny, period.

At some points, the movie forgets that it’s a comedy and veers into dark territory, complete with severe repercussions for some of the characters (including the aforementioned bus-hitting-a-girl incident). In fact, sometimes, I was reminded of Gossip, a thriller about vicious college students telling lies about each other. The enterprise never recovers a balance in tone and purpose, and its all’s-well-that-ends-well ending is trash that is too sugary, too Hollywood, and too commercial for the moviemakers to claim any ounce of integrity.

Girls shouldn’t hate on girls--true. Tina Fey shouldn’t have hated on so many girls with her sell-out of a screenplay.

Video:
As with other Paramount Blu-ray editions of recent catalog titles, this title’s 1.78:1 1080p image is a bit soft and has obvious source defects that weren’t removed. There is some print damage, and mosquito noise rears its head from time to time.

Audio:
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track is appropriately bouncy and festive, though the rear channels have little to do. The front soundstage is comfortably wide, but since this isn’t an action extravaganza, you won’t hear fancy directionality effects or authoritative bass.

Extras:
There’s an audio commentary by director Mark Waters, screenwriter and actress Tina Fey, and producer Lorne Michaels. This is the kind of track that I dread--one with everyone talking about how great everybody else is. Three featurettes--“Only the Strong Survive”, “The Politics of Girl World”, and “Plastic Fashion”--look at various aspects of the production as well as some of the real-life inspiration for ideas used in the movie. “Word Vomit” is the DVD’s blooper reel, and in “So Fetch”, you get a few minutes’ worth of deleted/extended scenes with optional audio commentary by Waters and Fey. Finally, there are three “interstitials” (TV commercials) and a theatrical trailer.

Arctic Tale Blu-ray Disc (Adam Ravetch & Sarah Robertson, 2007)

Paramount (USA)
1.78:1 1080p
85 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and
Portuguese
Extras: Making of Arctic Tale; Are We There Yet? World Adventure: Polar Bear Spotting; trailer

Released: 21 April 2009

Arctic Tale first appeared on DVD and HD DVD back in December 2007, and it’s finally appearing on Blu-ray.

March of the Penguins took the world to the South Pole to witness the extraordinary mating cycle of those birds in tuxedos. The world-wide financial and critical success of that movie undoubtedly inspired National Geographic Films to put its stamp of approval on Arctic Tale, which swings to the top of the world to follow the lives of polar bears and walruses. In the U.S., Warner marketed March of the Penguins as a story “As Told by Morgan Freeman”, and Paramount followed the same strategy by billing Arctic Tale as a story “As Told by Queen Latifah”.

You can expect the usual spectacular scenery, though this documentary is a bit more kid-friendly than the others that’ve been appearing on HD DVD and Blu-ray (i.e. Planet Earth, Relentless Enemies, Galapagos). The cutesy narration and music may annoy sophisticated viewers, but parents can use this movie as a painless way to introduce children to two of the most majestic animals alive today. Let’s hope that polar bears and walruses don’t go the way of the dodo bird.

Video:
Perhaps due to the harsh conditions at the North Pole, the 1.85:1 1080p is of average quality. The picture will stun you due to the majesty of the vistas, but the technical aspects of the transfer are so-so. We have to make do with usually dim light levels and the expected lack of clarity associated with standard definition. Much of the grittiness that was hidden by the SD DVD’s 480p resolution is now revealed, so don’t expect the “wow” factor that you may’ve experienced with other nature documentaries.

Audio:
The Blu-ray Disc features a modest audio upgrade from DD+ (remember that codec?) to Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English. This movie isn’t the kind that features a dynamic mix, so lossless/lossy doesn’t make a big difference. The rear speakers are primarily used for wind effects and music cues, but don’t discount the surround activity. Those polar winds will make you feel chilly even in the warmth and comfort of your home theater. For the most part, though, Queen Latifah’s clear narration, flatulence (yes, flatulence), and silence dominate the audio mix.

Extras:
“Making of Arctic Tale” is a standard-issue promotional overview of the production with additional footage and some interesting time-lapse photography.

“Are We There Yet? World Adventure: Polar Bear Spotting” is a segment from National Geographic TV about some kids taking a field trip to see polar bears in the wild.

You also get the theatrical trailer in HD video, but don’t expect it to look any different from the main program.