Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Blu-Ray)

Twentieth Century Fox | 94 minutes | 2009 | PG | Directed by: Carlos Saldanha |
Blu-Ray reviewed by: Fusion3600

The adventures of Manny (Ray Romano), Diego (Denis Leary), and Sid (John Leguizamo) have taken them to some wild places, but now all three face the biggest challenges of their lives. Manny is expecting his first child, Diego thinks he is losing his hunter's edge, and Sid, well he has been kidnapped. Even Scrat has more woes than usual, as he develops a romance with a female rival, with acorns in the middle of it all. Things took a turn for the worse when the group discovered a new breed of creatures, known as dinosaurs. When the newly hatched eggs of one of the dinosaurs mistakes Sid for their mother, it lands him in a world of trouble and he is taken off by the T-Rex. As everyone sorts out their own issues, they all work together to find Sid, with some help from a new friend named Buck (Simon Pegg). But with so much on their minds and new dangers around every corner, will the group come out on top once again or has evolution taken its toll?

The first Ice Age movie was a little stuffy, but the sequel leaned more on silliness, a trend which continues with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. This second sequel relies on cheap laughs even more, with a stream of pratfalls, pop culture jokes, and of course, more Scrat. I don't see this movie as bad, but it will appeal to children more than anyone else. Some nice in-jokes are here for those of us who have watched the previous films though, which is nice. In other words, don't expect a Pixar level flick with the latest Ice Age, just a passable time. This is a shame in many ways, as the voice talent is impressive and the animation is beautiful, the movie just needs a better plot to make it all come together. The visuals do shine however, with more spectacular set pieces than ever before, some of which are borderline breathtaking. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is decent fun, so if you have children to entertain, this is a more than solid choice.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is one of the best looking transfers out there, a visual masterpiece that dazzles from start to finish. The source is pristine of course, while detail is striking, with all the possible refinement pulled out and put on showcase. This one is eye popping to say the least, with numerous scenes that will have your jaw on the floor. No issues with colors or contrast whatsoever, just clean, crisp visuals throughout. In other words, this is an elite level transfer that could easily be used as a demo disc.

I expected a bombastic soundtrack from this DTS 7.1 option, but that was not the case. Instead, we have a basic and rather forgettable presentation. Some of the scenes just seem to have so much audio potential, but come off as restrained or bland here, which is a shame. This one should rock, but it doesn't. On the plus side, the low end is well handled, the music sounds good, and dialogue is always clean and clear. So it sounds good, but it should have sounded so much better. This release also includes Spanish, French, and Portuguese language tracks, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

This is a three disc collection, but the second disc is just the movie on DVD, while the third is a digital copy, for portable devices and the like. Even so, the first disc does house some extras and some good ones to boot. An Ice Age storybook maker is sure to give the kids some fun for a while, with various levels of involvement. A host of promotional featurettes are present, some of which are fun, but not all that informative. An audio commentary with director Carlos Saldanha is next, with him joined by various crew members to liven things up. The session isn't all that exciting to listen to, but the group shares some good insight into the technical side of the production. You can also check out two unfinished deleted scenes, as well as a music video. I saved the best for last, as this release also includes "The Scrat Pack." This wonderful section has two of Scrat's hilarious animated shorts, plus some featurettes about the little dude.