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Up (4-Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD + Digital Copy) - Blu-ray DVD / action adventure DVD / graphic novel adaptation / science fiction DVD review
UP (4-DISC COMBO PACK WITH DVD + DIGITAL COPY) Rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America curledupdvd.com rating: 5 stars
Featuring: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger, Bob Peterson
Directors: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson Studio: Disney*Pixar
DVD release: 10 November 2009 Runtime: 96 min.
(4 discs)
Format: Animated, Color, Widescreen, Blu-ray
DVD features: 1080p High Definition, Aspect ratio 2.35:1, Audio tracks (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 - English; Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - French, Spanish; English DTS-HD 2.0; English Descriptive Video Service 2.0), Subtitles (English SDH, French, Spanish), Commentary w/ dir. Pete Docter and co-dir. Bob Peterson, Short film: Dug's Special Mission, The Many Endings of Muntz, Short film: Partly Cloudy, Adventure is Out There, Cine-Explore, Geriatric Hero, Canine Companions, Russell: Wilderness Explorer, Our Giant Flightless Friend Kevin, Homemakers of Pixar, Balloons and Flight, Composing for Characters, Married Life, Global Guardian Badge Game

Is it possible for Pixar to make a bad movie? Theoretically, I suppose, but there is no actual evidence to support that theory. Even their short films are excellent, rich, and give one a screaming case of the warm fuzzies. Up is no different.

Seventy-eight-year-old Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) lives in a little house surrounded by progress. The world is moving on, but Carl refuses to budge. When the developers see an opportunity to force Carl out, they take it. Carl refuses to be led away quietly to the retirement home, however. He opts instead to escape by attaching more than ten thousand latex balloons to his house and floating away to South America for the adventure he and his late wife, Ellie, always longed for. Unfortunately, he accidentally takes a young boy named Russell (Jordan Nagai) along with him. Russell is a Wilderness Explorer scout who is just trying to get his Assisting the Elderly badge.

Carl's goal is to land his house on the edge of Paradise Falls in South America. He's hoping to get closure with the opportunities he missed with Ellie, and he's not about to let anything stop him. In addition to Russell, Carl encounters a lovable dog named Dug (voiced by co-director Bob Peterson), a strange bird which Russell names Kevin, and Carl's old hero Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer) and his dogs.

Up is about moving on. Carl needs to move on, to live his life rather than be stuck with his memories. He makes a good friend in Russell, and Russell could sure use an adult male role model.

The way Pixar can produce such a piece of wonder that can tie itself so firmly to your heartstrings is amazing, but the extra features show that it makes perfect sense. They take their time. For example: There are packs of dogs in Up, and while most filmmakers might just fudge their way through dog behavior, Pixar hires a dog behavior expert to come in and explain the mechanics of pack mentality and precedence. The animation is excellent, the textures are brilliant, the story is well thought-out. While it may be possible for Pixar to make a bad movie, they've thus far demonstrated that they care enough to produce excellent material. I think if they had a stinker on their hands, they'd retool it until it was just right, or they'd abandon it.

Extra features include behind the scenes documentaries, Blu-ray exclusive Cinexplore commentary by directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson (in which images and bits of video come up to further explain the commentary - love it!), a short film that shows what Dug was doing just before he meets Carl and Russell, a digital copy of the film, and a DVD.
 
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reviewed by Eric Renshaw
   
         
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