|
|
|
Saving Mr. Banks
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (1st May 2014). |
|
The Film
 Walt Disney was such an iconic and enigmatic figure, dreamer, entrepreneur, mogul. Walt built one of entertainment's mightiest powerhouses, The Walt Disney Studios, a leader in animation and managed to capture the imaginations of millions of children around the world (as well as their parents' pocketbooks). After decades of success in their animation division, delivering box office smash after the next, Walt was looking to diversify his studio's output. It was time to transition into live action production, and after a long held promise made to his own children - knew the exact property to adapt, P.L. Travers' "Mary Poppins" and this film chronicles the development of that project. The difficulty is to cast Walt, he was the face of the company until is death and anyone that knows Disney other than recent output from the last 30 years will know Walt. He was in the homes of millions on television, promoting Disneyland, his films, television shows, etc. He was a fixture, that comforting voice welcoming you to the magical world of Disney. No easy task to cast an visionary icon, and what better choice than the perennial favorite, Tom Hanks. Interesting fact, Hanks is actually Walt's distant cousin. Hanks is easily one of the world's most beloved actors, all around nice guy and incredibly personable, matched with being a terrific performer capable of delivering believable and heartwarming performances makes him the ideal choice. It doesn't stop there, "Saving Mr. Banks" is made largely enjoyable by its entire cast. The Blu-ray case perfectly summarizes the film - "Saving Mr. Banks" tells the surprising back story behind on the Walt Disney Company's beloved classic "Mary Poppins" (1964), determined to fulfil a promise to his daughters, Walt (Tom Hanks) tries for twenty years to obtain the rights to author P.L. Travers' (Emma Thompson) beloved book. Armed with his iconic creative vision, Walt pulls all the stop, but the uncompromising Travers won't budge. Only when she reaches into his own complicated childhood does Walt discover the truth about the ghosts that haunt Travers, and together, they set Mary Poppins free. Keeping in mind this is a Disney film, you're going to get a good family yarn with some nostalgia thrown in for good measure, essentially a film that will likely please anyone in the family from the littlest of kids to the oldest of adults. "Saving Mr. Banks" does a commendable job of dramatizing the making of the company's most beloved classics. Dramatizing being a key word here, as with any film based on real events - there are changes, creative licences taken to beef up the narrative or to give characters depth, etc. This film is no exception, nothing too major was changed, just a bunch of little things to give what would in any normal circumstances be a straight forward making-of biopic into something with meat on its bones. Wikipedia does a good job of listing the historical accuracies here. Director John Lee Hancock does a fine job of constructing this film with the help of the Disney archives. Having access to pretty much everything that had to do with the making of "Mary Poppins" as well as production design reference of the real offices and what the studio looked like as Disney during that era, all of which helped to create an accurate picture of the world these people lived in. Adding flare to the production are the reliable due of Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, these two play well off each other - their chemistry carries this film in possibly the best casting decisions made in recent years. Peppering the film with great supporting cast include the likeable Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, B.J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman and Rachel Griffiths. Overall it's a good film, providing light entertainment for the whole family, perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon viewing. If you enjoy Disney nostalgia then this is a film to check out and makes for a nice double feature with "Mary Poppins".
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 mastered in HD 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The film takes on a very era-specific aesthetic. Production design and color palette matched with the lighting gives the film a sun kissed look that evokes nostalgia. The Blu-ray accurately reproduces the look and tone of the film, with a picture that's clean, crisp and clear. The HD image shows off some nice detail, features great depth - especially the expansive and down to the detail sets built for the film as well as the real world locations around the Disney studio look great.
Audio
Four audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS-HD audio. The audio is terrific, dialogue is clean and clear from any form of distortion, the ambient and environmental sounds appear natural and never out of place. The songs add further depth to the surrounds as does the film's score. It's a nicely balanced track that immerses the viewer. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Disney has included a light selection of supplements, three deleted scenes, a single featurette, a song clip, a collection of bonus trailers, and a digital copy version of the film. Below is a closer look at these extras. Three deleted scenes (1080p) are included, they can be viewed with a 'play all' option or individually, they are: - “Stargaze” runs for 2 minutes 22 seconds, in this scene we flashback to Travers' childhood, her mother and father share an intimate moment stargazing on the patio of their house. - “Nanny Song” runs for 2 minutes 27 seconds, Travers asks to hear another song, promising to keep an open mind. - “Pam Leaves” runs for 2 minutes 35 seconds, Travers warns Walt that he should make promises to children that he can't keep, Walt tries to get her to reconsider her leaving. Next up is "The Walt Disney Studios: From Poppins to Present" featurette (1080p) which runs for 14 minutes 35 seconds. This clip is like a time capsule of Disney as the film's director takes viewers on a tour of the studio, offering some history and behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to work for the Disney company at the time of the production of "Mary Poppins" and the research the filmmakers underwent in creating this film among other things. It's short but a great bonus feature to have included on this disc. "Let's go Fly a Kite" song clip (1080p) runs for 1 minute 47 seconds, songwriter Richard Sherman visits the set and gets the crew together for a sing along of the classic song. Bonus trailers included on the disc are for: - "Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition" which runs for 1 minute 38 seconds. - "Maleficent" which runs for 1 minute 28 seconds. - "Anti-smoking spot" which runs for 32 seconds. - "Disney Movie Rewards" which runs for 20 seconds. - "Disney Parks" which runs for 32 seconds. - "Sleeping Beauty: Diamond Edition" which runs for 1 minute 16 seconds. Included is a code to unlock a digital copy version of the film.
Packaging
Packaged in a Blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
|
|||||
|