Not So Sweet Coraline

Classic fairytale with all the schmaltz spat out
Coraline is the latest stop-motion animated feature from director Henry Selick. The man behind A Nightmare Before Christmas. This time he's turned to a novel by noted fantasy author Neil Gaiman, and the result is a dark, disturbing and marvelously grotesque modern fairytale. Bored and neglected by her workaholic parents, Coraline stumbles into an alternate world where the button-eyed 'Other Parents' give her the love and attention she always craved. But as you might expect, it all comes at a terrible price...

There's only one word for Coraline's VC-11.85:1 encode: "flawless Colors are extraordinarily vibrant, blacks are inky and the fine detailing and textures evident throughout the film highlights the beautiful animation. The disc also serves up an anaglyph 3D version of the film (with a generous four pairs of 3D glasses). Not surprisingly, the picture here isn't quite as spectacular, and looks rather muddy and lacks sharpness. The 3D itself works reasonably well, although anaglyph technology will never be anything more than a gimmick.

While not the most dynamic mix you'll ever hear, there's still a lot to love about Coraline's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. The front of the soundstage is wonderfully expansive, while subtle use of the surrounds ensures the creation of authentic acoustic locations for the characters to Inhabit. Perhaps the most striking element of all in this lossless mix is the sheer clarity and rich tonality of the audio, enabling you to pick out each individual instrument used in Bruno Coulais' haunting score.

This two-disc set follows the pattern established by recent Disney Blu-ray releases, delivering both Blu-ray and DVD copies of the movie. The BD50 disc houses 2D and 3D 1080p versions of the film, plus a commentary by director Henry Selick and composer Bruno Coulais a ten-part Making of... documentary, six deleted scenes with intros by the director, Creepy Coraline and Voicing the Characters featurettes, D-Box Motion Code, BD-Live Content (including an additional interview with the director) and a trio of U-Control Modes (Picture-in-Picture, Tours and Voice Sessions, and Picture-in-Picture Animatics).

There's only one word for Coraline's VC-11.85:1 encode: "flawless Colors are extraordinarily vibrant, blacks are inky and the fine detailing and textures evident throughout the film highlights the beautiful animation. The disc also serves up an anaglyph 3D version of the film (with a generous four pairs of 3D glasses). Not surprisingly, the picture here isn't quite as spectacular, and looks rather muddy and lacks sharpness. The 3D itself works reasonably well, although anaglyph technology will never be anything more than a gimmick.

While not the most dynamic mix you'll ever hear, there's still a lot to love about Coraline's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. The front of the soundstage is wonderfully expansive, while subtle use of the surrounds ensures the creation of authentic acoustic locations for the characters to Inhabit. Perhaps the most striking element of all in this lossless mix is the sheer clarity and rich tonality of the audio, enabling you to pick out each individual instrument used in Bruno Coulais' haunting score.

The bonus DVD has the film in standard definition, accompanied by the audio commentary and a Digital Copy.



By: Francis David


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