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Planet 51
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (21st March 2010). |
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The Film
 I’m sure I’ve said it before at some point, but it bears repeating that I’m really not much of a contemporary animated film guy. I can watch pre-1990's classics from Disney, Don Bluth, Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass and Ralph Bakshi all day long, but throw on the latest moneymaker from Pixar or Dreamworks or any other big Hollywood studio and I usually begin to recoil from the television. It has nothing to do with a lack of quality, I’m sure. Pixar’s “Up” (2009) didn’t get all those Academy Award nominations for nothing. I just don’t feel as though I can form the kind of emotional connection that I have with traditional 2D animation. It’s foolish, I know… I’m working on trying to incorporate some of the more critically-lauded pictures in with my typical viewing fare. “Planet 51” (2009) is a film that seemed to come and go with little acclaim; it just sort of appeared in theaters and sputtered out in a few weeks. It didn’t do even close to the kind of business expected from animated films these days, though the average numbers they pull are far less impressive than they used to be thanks to the overcrowded marketplace. But I’ll admit that I thought the premise sounded intriguing: an American astronaut crash lands on an alien planet, only to find the inhabitants are just as intelligent and have their own delusional fears of an alien crash landing on their planet and taking it over. That was everything I knew about the film right there. But, as it turns out, the final product was something right up my alley, and I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it for what it was. Our film begins on a distant planet far, far away from Earth. Lem (Justin Long) is a typical teenager living in an idyllic setting: a 1950's Americana-inspired town called Glipforg. Aside from some futuristic enhancements, everything from the décor to the homes to the cars on down looks straight out of an episode of “Leave it to Beaver” (1957-1963). One afternoon during a family barbecue, an “alien” spacecraft lands in Lem’s backyard and out bursts Captain Charles “Chuck” Baker (Dwayne Johnson), a NASA astronaut who has been sent to explore the galaxy. The family and residents of the town fear Chuck, so the army is called in to ensure he doesn’t “use his mind powers to turn citizens into zombies”. A rover, called, appropriately enough, Rover, sent to the planet years earlier latches on to Chuck’s signal and sticks by his side while the government tries to capture him so they can extract his brain for research purposes. Lem, along with his buddy, Skiff (Sean William Scott) and love interest, Neera (Jessica Biel), try their best to hide Chuck away from the steadfast army, led by General Grawl (Gary Oldman). Chuck has a limited amount of time to rendezvous with his spaceship floating in orbit before he’s left on the planet forever. The target audience this film was written for is somewhere in the range of 5-10 years of age, so don’t expect much in terms of depth. The plot is paper-thin, but the nods that are thrown in to other films are a big part of what kept me engaged. The film liberally sprinkles in dialogue or scenes from “Star Wars” (1977), “E.T.” (1982), “Alien” (1979), and a host of 50’s sci-fi flicks. In fact, there’s an opening movie-within-the movie that perfectly captures the atmosphere of those films from a bygone era. There’s a little creature that acts as the family pet, but it’s deceptively clever and looks like the spitting image of the xenomorph from “Alien”. It was the little flourishes like this that are just about the only aspects around to keep adults mildly engrossed. But for a ‘50's sci-fi film nerd like myself, I thought they went a great deal further in increasing my enjoyment. This film was acquired for distribution in the U.S. by Sony, but its country of origin is actually Spain. Ilion Studios produced the film for a budget of $70 million dollars, making it the most expensive film produced in that country so far. It managed to bank over $100 million worldwide, though I don’t know how much of a profit it turned, if any. It drew mostly negative reviews upon its release, and it’s easy to see why. It is extremely simplistic, something that isn’t expected of an animated film these days. Parents expect some emotional heft to keep them as entertained as their kids, so most films that skirt their interests are panned. But, as I said, those who are fans of the awesomely cheesy sci-fi films of the ‘50's are likely to be amused. I could easily pick apart the plot and writing from the opening frame right on down, but it’s best to not employ too much thought for a picture such as this. For instance, one major glaring issue I had is that these aliens are enjoying a way of life that is a spot-on recreation of 1950's American life, right down to some familiar key phrases and buzzwords that gained footing in our cultural lexicon. Yet we never are told why they live this way. An easy explanation could have been that they intercepted some radio communications from Earth sent all those years ago and they chose to adopt them. Hell, if you really want to question logic, why do they even speak English? Even Chuck is astonished when he first makes contact with Lem. But you shouldn’t bother thinking about these issues. You have to enjoy it face value; an open mind will serve viewers past grade school well.
Video
I can’t say a single bad thing about the 2.35:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer; it’s essentially perfect. Seeing as how this is a direct digital source, it would be hard to expect anything less than perfection. Colors are vibrant, leaping off the screen with incredibly lush hues. Black levels are richly deep; never appearing washed out or faded. The level of detail on display is mind-blowing, from background effects in Glipforg’s town square right on down to the grains of dirt which make up Chuck’s footsteps. I’m not much of an animation buff on Blu-ray, but if this is indicative of the quality most animated films receive, then I need to seriously beef up my collection.
Audio
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track mixed at 48kHz/24-bit is a mostly front-loaded affair, but there are some key moments when it kicks itself into high gear to crank out some booming bass. Chuck’s arrival on the planet is thunderous, as are some of the military’s unsuccessful attempts at catching Chuck through means of firepower. Surrounds are put to minimal use, but the dynamic range of the track allows them to fill out the sound while not overpowering any of the dialogue or effects. The LFE track keeps itself busy by churning out low-end frequencies for ambient effects, like the hover vehicles. It’s far from an exceptional experience, but the quality is solid. Also included are a German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track and an English Audio-Descriptive 5.1 surround sound track. Subtitles are available in English HoH, Spanish, German and Turkish.
Extras
“Planet 51” has been given the 2-disc treatment. The package is all-inclusive for the home video market, featuring the film on Blu-ray, DVD and a Digital Copy. Included are featurettes, extended scenes, an interactive game, bonus trailers, BD-Live access and a digital copy. DISC ONE: “Target 51” is an interactive game where players assume the controls of Chuck’s spacecraft and blast away at enemy ships intent on destroying him. There is also an optional iPhone controller app (available via iTunes) that can be used in conjunction with the game featured on this disc. There are three extended scenes, presented in 1080p, for the following: - “A Total Disaster” runs for 1 minute and 9 seconds, Lem stresses out over an encounter with Neera. - “When Aliens Invade” runs for 1 minute and 1 second, Chuck flips through the television channels and see a newsflash about what to do during an alien invasion. - “What Do Zombies Say?” runs for 51 seconds, Chuck’s new zombie lugheads try to be the best they can be. “The World of Planet 51” (1080p) is a featurette which gives viewers a brief computer-guided tour of all of the various settings and locales that were designed for the film. “Life on Planet 51” (1080p) is a featurette which runs for 12 minutes and 4 seconds. This starts off as your standard behind-the-scenes piece with the principal cast and crew discussing the film and their roles while clips from the movie play on screen. But then it delves a bit deeper into the production, giving us a look at the voice actors hammering out their lines. We also get to see some of the animators toiling away on storyboards and production art. “Planetarium: The Voice Stars of Planet 51” (1080p) is a featurette which runs for 2 minutes and 47 seconds. Yawn. This short fluff piece shows us a quick glimpse of Justin Long and Dwayne Johnson spouting off lines in the dialogue booth while recapping their characters again; it’s redundant at best. "Planet 51" music video montage (1080p) runs for 2 minutes and 11 seconds, this is basically an extended trailer that has crappy, contemporary punk rock songs played over it. I don’t know what purpose it serves. There are a series of six animation progression reels (1080p), which give viewers a look at scenes from the film in storyboard, work-in-progress and finished form via split-screen windows, for the following: - “Chuck’s Landing” runs for 2 minutes and 23 seconds. - “Chuck on the Run” runs for 1 minute and 12 seconds. - “The Chase” runs for 3 minutes and 5 seconds. - “Gas Station” runs for 2 minutes and 49 seconds. - “General’s Orders” runs for 2 minutes and 20 seconds. - “Showdown with the General” runs for 4 minutes and 35 seconds. There are bonus trailers included in 1080p for the following: - “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” runs for 2 minutes and 15 seconds. - “Open Season 3” runs for 17 seconds. - “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” runs for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. - “The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep” runs for 2 minutes and 32 seconds. - “Open Season” runs for 2 minutes and 32 seconds. - “Open Season 2” runs for 1 minute and 52 seconds. - “Surf’s Up” runs for 2 minutes and 19 seconds. Finally, there is the standard BD-Live link which leads to Sony’s homepage. No material related to the film is present. DISC TWO: The second disc contains a DVD copy of the film, framed with a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track. It includes all of the bonus features found on the Blu-ray with the exception of the “Target 51” interactive game. Also on the second disc is the digital copy of the film which can be used with both Windows Media and iTunes portable devices.
Packaging
The 2-disc set comes in a standard Blu-ray case with both discs housed on either side of the interior. There is an embossed slipcover which replicates the artwork covering the exterior.
Overall
I’m not the foremost authority on current animation, but I think you could do a lot worse than “Planet 51”. It’s as simple-minded as Chuck, our lead astronaut, but the film has enough sci-fi charm to keep fans of that genre entertained. The picture quality is off-the-charts solid, and the audio is no slouch either. Extra material is a bit light in terms of content, but it’s a breeze getting through all of it.
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