Monsters Inc

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  • Andrew Pratt
    Moderator Emeritus
    • Aug 2000
    • 16507

    Monsters Inc

    found this review this morning...looks like another winner from Pixar

    The monster magic of the Disney-Pixar computer animated film Monsters, Inc. worked wonderfully at the theatres last year. Now it's even more fun on DVD.

    I'm talking about the two-disc Collector's Edition DVD which Buena Vista Home Entertainment is releasing tomorrow, along with the scaled-down VHS version of the Oscar-nominated hit flick about the lovable monsters who sneak into kids' bedrooms to harness their screams as a power source.

    If you already have the two Toy Story movies from Pixar, you know how much effort the creative folks at Pixar put into their DVD releases. Not surprisingly, Monsters, Inc. is no exception. First of all, the movie transfer from the digital source material is first-rate, providing viewers with excellent picture and sound. Secondly, we get the choice between the full-screen version (yawn!) and the widescreen version (hurrah!), which has been enhanced for 16:9 ration TVs.

    Next, for cinephiles, there is a feature-length commentary. It features director Peter Docter, co-director Lee Unkrich, executive producer John Lasseter and executive-producer/writer Andrew Stanton. This kind of group chat often gets silly or confusing, but these guys are insightful and coherent.

    That takes care of disc one. On disc two, Pixar heaps on the extras, most of which are unique to the DVD set. On VHS, you get the movie plus two shorts, a Finding Nemo sneak peek, goofy "outtakes" and The Monsters, Inc. Company Play.

    On DVD, in addition to all that, there are fun games, tours of Pixar, deleted scenes, an art gallery, an animated music video, a guide to in-jokes the animators always layer in and lots more. The producers cleverly divided the materials into two categories, the Monster World and the Human World.

    The two shorts are brilliant. For The Birds, a sly comic commentary about ethnic diversity, is the Oscar-winning short that played with Monsters, Inc. in theatres. Added is the fresh Mike's New Car, an hilarious look at the disastrous day that lime-green Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) shows off his new car to fuzzy blue-green pal Sulley Sullivan (John Goodman).

    If there is any criticism at all, it is that Disney (and now Pixar) has an annoying habit of forcing us to watch, or at least actively skip over, blatant advertising for other releases once the DVD is popped in. Self-promos should be by choice only.

    That said, I still choose Monsters, Inc




  • George Bellefontaine
    Moderator Emeritus
    • Jan 2001
    • 7637

    #2
    I'm just a big kid at heart, so I'll be getting Monsters Inc.




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    • Eduardo
      Moderator emeritus
      • Jun 2002
      • 1258

      #3
      I'll be picking mine up from Block Buster tomorrow. Yippeee.




      http://home.nc.rr.com/ejimenez

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      • P-Dub
        Office Moderator
        • Aug 2000
        • 6766

        #4
        I'll be getting my copy from the states, I just have to have the SFX track. The CDN version doesn't have it. I can't wait.




        Paul

        There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.
        Paul

        There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

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        • Gordon Moore
          Moderator Emeritus
          • Feb 2002
          • 3188

          #5
          There's a lot of complaint on the hometheaterforum concerning Monsters Inc and freeze ups at the layer change in Chapter 30-31.

          The majority of complaints concern Pioneer Players. I haven't seen much in the way of complaints with the CDN version. Personally, I have a panasonic player and the layer change is rather long but doesn't freeze things up. It's rather annoying (dissapointing) that they put the layer change in the last few minutes of the movie.

          What the heck is this SFX track that I'm missing?

          Disney's forced trailers are extremely anemic (sound level wise) but I really enjoyed the stampede THX tralier (since I don't have that one).

          Pixar's trailer for Finding Nemo didn't get me all that excited.
          Disney's next full length feature suggests that they aren't giving up with the style created for Atlantis.

          Other than the fuss with that Monsters Inc is a delightful movie that looks and sounds wonderful. Quite possibly the best in my collection. The extras on disc 2 are out of this world.


          That's my miny take on Monsters Inc.




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          • P-Dub
            Office Moderator
            • Aug 2000
            • 6766

            #6
            Originally posted by Gordon Moore
            What the heck is this SFX track that I'm missing?
            The SFX track is where you watch the movie and only the sound effects are heard. If you've got A Bug's Life, Collectors Edition, or Toy Story 2, both have this feature. I've listened to A Bug's Life and it is really cool just to hear the ambient sound effects, bugs, foot falls, wind.

            Most people won't mind, but me I just have to have it.

            For once a player other than a Toshiba locks up? I'll have to check this out when I get my copy home. I've heard about the long and lousy placement of the layer change.




            Paul

            There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.
            Paul

            There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

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            • Andrew Pratt
              Moderator Emeritus
              • Aug 2000
              • 16507

              #7
              No problems at all on my Sony 7700. If you haven't heard the cows THX trailer before don't judge it on this one since its badly done with almost no LFE in it compared to the normal version.




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              • Kevin P
                Member
                • Aug 2000
                • 10809

                #8
                Monsters, Inc. played fine on my Sony DVP-S9000ES. I guess it's a good thing I upgraded from a Pioneer 414 a couple years ago.

                Despite the minor DVD flaws (THX trailer and badly placed layer change), the movie presentation was wonderful. Beautiful picture, great sound (and AWESOME bass in several scenes!), though the story wasn't as good as Toy Story IMHO, we had a lot of fun watching this movie. It really shows off what CGI is capable of these days, just look at Sully's hair. It takes a lot of computing power to render hair like that.

                I thought it was odd that the scene shown in the Monsters Inc. teaser trailer on the Toy Story DVD wasn't in the movie itself. I always got a kick out of that trailer. I haven't checked out the supplements on Disc 2 yet.

                Gordon, if you liked the THX trailer on Monsters, Inc. check out the one on Toy Story 2, included in the Ultimate Toy Box (3 disc set). This one has additional LFE added in which will shake your room!




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                • Trevor Schell
                  Moderator Emeritus
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 10935

                  #9
                  Awesome Movie!!

                  Fortunately no lock-ups on my Toshiba SD-9200.




                  Trevor
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                  • John Holmes
                    Moderator Emeritus
                    • Aug 2000
                    • 2703

                    #10
                    I really enjoyed this film. Very nice picture. I was also shocked at where the layer change was placed.

                    I had no problems on my Tosh SD-1200




                    "I came here, to chew bubble gum and kickass. And I'm all out of bubble gum!!!" My DVD's
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                    • David Meek
                      Moderator Emeritus
                      • Aug 2000
                      • 8938

                      #11
                      Finally watched this DVD. It was much more enjoyable the second time around than it was in the theater. Detail is fantastic! Check out Scully's hairs as they move in the wind. The Mike's Car segment was hilarious, the outtakes were okay, but a lot of the other extras were ho-hum. That was the strangest place for the layer change!?!? I can't comment on the sound as the HT room is hors de combat, so we watched it upstairs in the family area on the 36" TV.

                      Anyway, I'm glad we have this in our collection. It'll get watched whenever I need a laugh.




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