•
D-Files
•
Deleted Scenes
•
Bloopers
•
Behind the Scenes
Featurette: Fantasy Comes to Life
• Pip's
Predicament: A Pop-Up Adventure
•
Music Video :'Ever Ever After"
Synopsis:
Beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen
from her magical, musical, animated land and finds
herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern
day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment
that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis,
Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need
of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love
with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to
her aid — even though she is already promised to a
perfect fairy tale prince back home — she has to wonder:
can a storybook view of romance survive in the real
world?
The Film:
Life is idyllic in the fairytale world where conflict is
minimal and breaking into song solves every problem, but what happens
when a princess from the fairy world gets magically transported into the
real world? Enchanted begins in the animated fairytale world of
Andalasia where Princess Giselle (Amy Adams) is destined to marry Prince
Edward (James Marsden) and live happily ever after. Problem is, Edward's
step-mother Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) doesn't want to give up the
throne and will do anything to get Giselle out of Edward's life. Queen
Narissa's solution is to push Giselle into a well that magically lands
Giselle smack in the middle of the real world--the center of Time Square
in New York City, to be exact. This launches the live-action portion of
the film where Giselle immediately realizes that things are
frighteningly different in this new world and that she is ill-prepared
for the callous ways of the people who inhabit it. Giselle finds herself
alone on a stormy night in the wrong end of town, but a chance encounter
with Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his princess-loving daughter Morgan
(Rachel Covey) leads to a warm, safe place to spend the night and the
beginnings of a complicated, yet compelling relationship. As Giselle
begins to question the fairy-tale truths she's always inherently
believed, Robert's outlook on life and love also begins to change
significantly. Parallels to the classic Disney fairytales, Cinderella,
Snow White and Sleeping Beauty abound in the form of a King's and
Queen's ball, small animals and rodents who clean house when called, the
threat of poisoned apples, characters impulsively breaking into song,
and the power of the kiss of true love and the absurd juxtaposition of
fairytale idealism and stark reality is hilariously funny. Features
music by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz of Pocahontas and The
Hunchback of Notre Dame fame, Wicked's Broadway Elpheba Idina Menzel as
Nancy, and even a brief appearance by former Princess voice talent Judy
Kuhn (Pocahontas). Enchanted is one of the best, most entertaining
Disney films of the year. (Ages 6 and older with parental guidance due
to some scary images and mild innuendo).
The Video:
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
I am revisiting this
Blu-ray transfer after a couple of years
with newer equipment. The image quality doesn't seem to compare well with
more modern discs. Colors are a shade duller and there is no strong depth to
speak of. Contrast is not prominent - although the bitrate is very high. Even the animated sequences are
flatter than one might expect. The CGI
(fairly seamless) is infused into the live action exceptionally well as is a factor of technology. I don't think this particular film
has many jaw-dropping visual instances that produce the much desired
'high-definition' experience many crave but perhaps the re-issue in February
2011 will produce a different, more dynamic, HD presentation. We will keep you
posted.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
NOTE: the opening 10 minute animated sequence is 1.85 matted onto a 2.35
scope with black bars on both edges.
Audio:
This Blu-ray offers a
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track, which I tested, or a
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (plus 2 DUBs: French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital
5.1). I wouldn't say the film exports a substantial
amount of separation (some closer to the conclusion scene) but it seems to hold its own when
called upon. Music/dance sequences shine the most. I noted nothing overly dynamic but that would probably be
more a function of the original track which I expect is very faithfully
represented by the HD 5.1. Optional
Subtitles are available in English SDH, French, or Spanish
in a smallish yellow font (see sample above).
Extras:
There are some decent extras offered with this package - which starts
with Hi-def trailers for BRD's of
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe, a Blu-ray
Disc promo;
Sleeping Beauty and others.
D-Files is exclusive to the Blu-ray edition of this film
- kind of a gaming thing for children. There are some inconsequential deleted
scenes an a few chuckling bloopers where essentially people forgot their
lines. There is a shortish behind the scenes featurette entitled Fantasy Comes to Life,
another kids supplement Pip's
Predicament: A Pop-Up Adventure. Lastly we get the music
video :'Ever Ever
After'.
Menus
BOTTOM LINE: I can't see too many people not getting some enjoyment out
of this very cute film (it's 7.5/10 score on IMDb is testament to that). My big pet peeve with this disc are the 11
minutes or trailers that precede the feature (although they are in high
definition). I lacked patience chaptering past them and found
it better to scan. It makes
me respect my early Warner Blu-rays - you stick them in and the film starts.
Enchanted fuses old fairy tales with the modern world -
especially in the vein of romance. I love Amy Adams as the angelic
innocent and Susan
Sarandon as an evil queen - sexy, or what? This was very enjoyable and
I'm glad I revisited it. We, very much, recommend the film!
Gary Tooze
Being Re-issued February 8th, 2011
About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.
Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be
it, but film will always be my first love and I list my
favorites on the old YMdb site now accessible
HERE.