Up

With the advent of the 'Digital Copy', I can now load the movie into my ipod touch, and take it with me. This takes the step of ripping the original DVD to back up my copy for personal use out of the equation, and I don't have to feel like I'm doing something illegal. (Backing up something you have paid for, and want to last, is only prudent) This review is twofold, in that I personally really enjoyed this film. Also I want to commend Amazon for resolving an issue, literally within a minute of my complaint. First: This film is both going to tug at your heart strings, as the depth of the film reaches into the universal inevitability that we all are going to die. That we all love someone who is going to pass, and that it is a painful process. It will bring tears to your eyes. At the same time, the promise of new, different, and rewarding relationships are possible throughout life, and that all we need do, is be open to them. What a wonderful, funny, entertaining, and fulfilling story. It's colorful animation will entertain the kids, and the underlying 'grown-up' content is there for Mom and Dad. You will not be disappointed. As for the second part of my review, this deals with the professional side of Amazon, and why this company continues to be the success that it is. I ordered this film as a gift for my wife, for Valentines day. I was remiss, and found I was looking for a gift way late in the process. However! Amazon, offering Saturday, (Next day in my case) delivery would get the gift to my home, with one day to spare. This service was of course at a premium. I'm a Prime Member, and feel the service is well worth it. So I paid the $6.99 to get the item here by Saturday. As you may have surmised already, it did not make it on time. I was disappointed with Amazon, who has served me so well, for better then 12 years. The package arrived, Tuesday the 16th. With Monday being a holiday, I could understand that it did not get here then. But it was still later then promised. I found the contact by email button within the 'My Order's' portion of my account, and sent an email to Amazon, explaining my situation. I kid you not, within One Minute, they sent an email back to me, indicating that I would be receiving a refund of the $6.99 I paid, back to my MasterCard. That's customer service. Thanks Amazon. Get this movie. It really is great! :-)

I was very happy to learn that Disney had decided to re-release UP for Blu-ray as a 3D presentation. I have always had a soft spot for this wonderfully charming, touching adventure story that proves once again that nobody makes animated features quite like Pixar. In one of the most poignant animated sequences ever filmed, we learn the story of a young boy named Carl (Ed Asner) who dreams of embarking on great adventures. This young boy stumbles upon the love of his life, Ellie (Elizabeth Docter), who becomes his fellow "adventurer." The two marry and grow old together, putting money away in hopes of being able to visit Paradise Falls, a place that Carl swore he would one day bring Ellie to visit. Unfortunately, that dream is never realized, as Ellie eventually passes away. Now, a grumpy old man, Carl finds that he is about to lose his home to a commercial construction company. In a last-ditch effort to fulfill his promise to Ellie, Carl uses balloons to lift his home and journey to South America. UP excels in both story and animation. This beautifully crisp HD transfer brings out all the wonderful textures within the artistry accented with exuberant and stirring colors. None of the deep, well saturated coloration seems to be hindered by active shutter eyewear. Black levels are exceptional. Chalk this up as another outstanding, flawless rendering. I wasn't quite certain if UP was originally conceived for or later up-converted to 3D. Something seemed rather odd to me when watching the Blu-ray -- it looked too damn good to be a simple up-conversion, particularly for the fact that there was quite a bit of protrusion. Upon doing some research, I was delighted to find that UP was actually Pixar's very first film to be presented in the newly introduced 3D format. There is a predominant amount of depth to be found here which gives a keen sense of giving proper size to foreground and background objects. In the beginning of the film, there is a clever shot of Carl sliding down his electric stairlift. Take a look at the contrast between the wall and the front railing. It really provides a realistic sense of spacing. Many of the best 3D moments of the film involve Carl's home flying over a city street or just gliding amongst the clouds. Those shots provide exceptional view master-like moments that greatly illustrate size amidst various objects. As I recently mentioned, the one aspect of watching UP that convinced me that this wasn't a simple up-conversion was the amount of objects that protruded from the screen. As we watch Ellie lying on her back next to Carl describing cloud formations, her fingers seem to extend beyond the borders of the screen. There are many similar moments where Carl's thick black-rimmed glasses, nose and chin poke outward. Even the snouts of dogs find themselves popping forward. Now mind you, I wouldn't consider these real "In Yo' Face" moments, but the jettisons are so tastefully done, that one can't help but still be admired by it all. Disney's 5.1 DTS-HD MA is a real pleasure to listen to, particularly for Michael Giachinno's wonderfully soothing score with touches of waltzes and anthems which immerses and seemingly lifts the viewer as if attached to a string of balloons. I rarely hear a score for an animated film that perfectly captures the adventure on-screen than this one. Of course, the rear channels do an exceptional job of relaying all the surrounding scenic and weather elements. There is a good amount of rumbling LFE response to be found here whether it be during a thunderstorm or when Carl's home is flying too close to the ground. Clean, clear and crisp are three words that come to mind when describing how well the sound is translated to the viewer. A exceptional HD experience in both picture and sound. UP arrives as a 4-disc combo pack that includes 3D/2D Blu-ray+2D Blu-ray Bonus Features+DVD+Digital Copy. It even looks as if all the extra features of the original Blu-ray release have been ported over. There were no trailers included on the 3D disc. The Blu-ray case is sleeved in lenticular packaging. UP is yet another masterpiece from the Pixar animation team. In 2009 it was awarded two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Score. If you have not had the opportunity to see this film in 3D, it is definitely time to take a second look. UP looks even more uplifting than ever before thanks to a 3D presentation that is nothing less than perfect.

I had no expectations of being disappointed with a Disney/Pixar BD, and being that it took me a whole dedicated day to get through everything, I now feel it was worth every penny. The film was enjoyable, funny, sad, and scary filled with some nice messages about life and loss. I can understand why the majority of my customers loved it. The Blu clarity is outstanding, and the amount of reference points are extensive, but one that stands out the most for contrast lines would have to be when the house is entering the lair (balloons against the dark cavern). The sound is selectable between 5.1 DTS, 2.0 DTS and Descriptive English. The 5.1 was beautiful with tons of reference points, sometimes excruciating (that bird screeching) but thorough nonetheless. Now for the supplements (all times in minutes): DISC 1: (BD) * 5:46 Partly Cloudy short film. Was hilarious. A great depth test for your display with the clouds. Nice little message of tolerance no matter how difficult someone might be. * 4:40 Dug's Mission. An almost lo-def looking short take on our main dog dealing with the main three baddies on a chase. * 22:17 Adventure Out There. A must see documentary about the crew taking the actual trip to the Tepui location in South America. A beautiful travel infomercial in itself. Loved how their guide only wore sandles for the ascent and hikes. * 4:56 Alternate Scenes Ending of Muntz. Sketches and interviews regarding different endings for that bad guy that they had come up with. * 1:00 How-to on using the Digital Copy. * Cine Explore option while watching the film. The two directors give their commentary with multiple pop-up screens showing art, ideas, etc. * Screen Saver. Allows you to set a time period for your screen saver to activate. * Maximize Your Home Theater. The standard Pixar multi-step process for setting all of your theater capabilities. DISC 2: (BD) Documentaries * 6:24 Geriatric Hero. History behind the creation of our old guy. All of these documentaries are interview oriented with sketches and film clips to supplement. * 8:26 Canine Companions. In depth analysis on the breed choices, training and dog behavior studied to get the dogs in the film to be more - dog like. * 9:00 Russel Wild Explorer. Covers the reasons for his character to have the loss and why he was "egg" shaped as opposed to other sketch ideas. * 5:04 Kevin (bird). Nice reference to the Swiss Family Robinson ostrich; covered the hardest part of any of these animation films - the feathers. * 4:38 Homemakers Pixar. Enjoyed the work that went into them studying sub-floors and lighting options in making this look so real in the house. * 6:25 Balloons and Flight. Tells the now famous number of balloons used; some interesting dirigible history; shows the Pixar group using that local Bay Area air service I keep seeing fly around here (research stuff). * 7:37 Composing for Characters. Have to be into the musical/scoring stuff for this one. Extras * Global Guardian Badge Game. After the initial setup of name, difficulty levels and tutorial material, the game has an extensive amount of country/geography material. Customers grouped around and we did fine for the United States section, but we randomly tried Africa and we bombed (some of the countries they were asking for I hadn't heard of in years) - good learning tool though. * 9:15 Alternate Scene - Married Life. Another sketch/interview piece about more material being removed/added into that section of the film. The scene itself would have been only a minute longer. * 6:00 montage. A mix of characters doing funny things - will make the kids laugh. * Screen Saver option. DISC 3 (DVD) * Film, plus special features from disc 1. WITH THE EXCEPTION of no Spanish subtitles/language; English only. DISC 4 (Digital Copy). * Code both unlocks the copy and gets you the usual points at the Disney site. Overall, an excellent product no matter how you look at it. The case has that new single hinge, multi-page off center chassis that has proven to be less than durable, but it should suffice for low usage storage. Enjoy.

One of the most charming and well done animated movies I have ever seen.

I have a 5 year old niece that would really like this Video, especially with the dogs and other animals in it. I whole story line is excellent that even as you get older, there still can be a life worth living

Good family watch. A little sad but overall good family movie.

FORMAT: Blu-Ray + Digital HD UPC: 7-86936-85148-9 RELEASED: 2016-11-27 TITLE: Up (2009) • PG • 1:36:08 Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, Delroy Lindo, John Ratzenberger Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (Directors) With this movie, Pixar offers up a RESOUNDING rebuttal to all of those close-minded, misguided souls who insist that "cartoons" are ONLY for children. Case in point: the montage very early in the film that shows many of the major events in Carl's life is some the most emotionally moving film-making — in ANY medium (using either "real" people or animated characters) — that you will EVER see! And, that doesn't even include the action, adventure and humor that follows! Though it is ONLY a "cartoon", this movie is an amazingly touching, and sweet, rumination on the joys and sadness of relationships — and, by extension, life. So, the lesson here is: just because the kids like it, does NOT mean that it has nothing to offer us poor, jaded adults. Buy it today, and watch it with your kids — heck, buy it today, and watch it EVEN if you don't have any kids. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. See the other reviews for more detail and/or other opinions regarding the plot of the movie. VIDEO: 1.78:1 • Color • 1080p • MPEG-4 AVC (29.7 Mbps) This movie's image, while featuring vivid well-saturated colors, and sharply rendered, finely-detailed objects, has — in quite a few scenes — some slight banding on large areas of the same (or nearly the same) color. Aside from that, it also has very good, to frequently excellent, contrast; and, it has very good shadow detail (as seen in the many dark and shadowy areas, such as the night scenes, and the dark scenes located in Carl's house). Also, fine detail is frequently evident in the brighter scenes (such as those in the jungle settings), and in the many close-ups of the "rare" bird and of Charles Muntz's dogs. Lastly, there are no obvious artifacts such as specks, white dots, hair-lines or color fluctuations (obviously, because this is a CGI-based, animated movie). Overall, this movie's presentation on blu-ray has very good picture quality; and, it should satisfy the vast majority of viewers. AUDIO: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48 KHz, 24-bit) The sound quality of the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack for this disc, was pretty good (not great, but still pretty good) — while, it is NOT amongst the very best examples of the art, it is still better than many of the audio presentations out there. The film's dialog is clear and well placed, and the rear and side channels (I used the Dolby PLIIx mode on my processor while listening) are sometimes active and fairly directional; with clear, well recorded, sound cues and (on, all too rare, occasion) a decent amount of bass. Overall, the audio for this movie is a pleasing affair, that should satisfy all but the pickiest of listeners. EXTRAS: Director's commentary Several Short Films Several 'Making Of' videos Alternate Scenes Character Biographies Global Guardian Badge Game None of the extras were reviewed.

Great movie

まさかの新品で驚いてます。ありがとうございました

„Oben“ hat es noch einmal bestätigt: Ich liebe Animationsfilme! Und ganz besonders die von Disney Pixar! :-) Wieder haben die Macher ein liebevolles, herzergreifendes und extrem unterhaltsames Stück Filmgeschichte geschrieben. Hier steckt unendlich viel Herzblut drin. Taschentücher sollte man auf alle Fälle bereitlegen. Es geht um einen alternden Mann namens Carl, der den Lebenstraum seiner verstorbenen Frau Ellie verwirklichen will: Nach Südamerika reisen! Von der Zeit der Moderne überrollt und vom Altersheim regelrecht verfolgt, fliegt er mit seinem kleinen Häuschen davon. Tausende von bunten Luftballons tragen sein trautes Heim und führen ihn nahe ans Ziel. Doch während der Reise stellt er fest, dass er nicht allein an Bord ist: Der junge Pfadfinder Russel hat sich an Bord geschlichen und sucht nach Anerkennung. Außerdem sammelt er Abzeichen für bestimmte „gute Taten“ und eines fehlt ihm noch: Einer alten Person helfen. Zusammen gelangen sie also nach Südamerika, wo sie einigen „schrägen Vögeln“ (u. a. im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes) begegnen und das Abenteuer nimmt langsam aber sicher seinen Lauf… Die Geschichte ist sehr liebevoll durchdacht und trotz der Tatsache, dass sogar der Tod Thematik in diesem Film ist, besitzt er eine ganz klare Kindertauglichkeit. Es ist einfach genial zu sehen, wie gut Animationsfilme funktionieren, um wichtige Botschaften zu vermitteln. In „Oben“ gibt es einige, z. T. sehr anrührende. Einfach toll. Auch den Charakteren wurde viel Leben eingehaucht und es ist interessant zu beobachten, welch große emotionale Wandlung der zu Anfang noch sehr muffelige Carl durchlebt. Der kleine Russel wächst einem auch schnell an’s Herz. Hier hat Disney mal wieder alles richtig gemacht. Die verstehen ihr Handwerk. Optisch bleibt sich Pixar ebenfalls treu. Liebe zum Detail. Das ist alles, was ich dazu sagen kann. Schlichtweg umwerfend!!! Der Film ist einfach schön :-) Und ich würde ihn fast als kleines Meisterwerk bezeichnen, denn nicht nur der Spaßfaktor ist extrem hoch, sondern auch die emotionale Tiefe. In diesem Animationsfilm ist wirklich für jeden was dabei, nicht nur für Kinder. Auch der Soundtrack ist wunderbar. Verblüfft mich immer wieder, wie es Komponisten schaffen, die Musik genau auf die Atmosphäre abzustimmen. Oder wird die Atmosphäre durch die Musik überhaupt erst erzeugt? Egal. Der Film stimmt von vorne bis hinten! Fazit: Liebevoll, toll animiert und sogar zu Tränen rührend. Disney kann es einfach.

I seem to get more and more surprised with Pixar releases - the company continue to produce wonderfully imaginative films that are an alternative to the more standardised Disney-solo efforts these days. In my view, I feel that 'UP' represents the quality of film-making that Disney always used to aspire to back in the earlier hand-drawn days, though given a modern twist to appeal to a new audience which I think attracts both adults and children more equally. No doubt it is argued by many that both Pixar and Disney are responsible for some controversial decisions lately; more often than not, it was a minority of Americans that felt 'Wall-E' demonstrated environmental concerns, which was apparently a problem as were all supposed to sit on our backsides doing nothing, and that the protagonist in 'Princess and the Frog' has no right to be black, because Princess are supposed to be trim, pale figures with blonde hair (Courting a Prince with as much personality as a Prune. Sorry Walt!). The good news is that 'UP' has very little content for the P.C brigade to pick up on! After discussing the film with others, it was always the opening scenes of the film that came to conversation - a wonderful reel of sequences that fast-forwards the life of Karl Frederickson - a quiet young boy who aspires to venture out to the mystical Pleasure Island with his new friend, Ellie - both of them being avid explorers. But the Karl of the modern day is a grumpy old man who is in danger of being sent to an elderly folks home when the plots of land around his house are being developed for new buildings. Trust him to remember the joy he once had of having his own balloon stand in his younger days, eventually leading him to the quick conclusion that he could sail up, up and away with his beloved home and escape to the Island he always dreamed of... Despite my reluctance to give away more information, the film truly unfolds into an unexpected adventure. As to be expected from Pixar, the visuals are gorgeous and continue to exceed any films before it (possibly even Wall-E). The directing was noticeably very effective - key frames were well thought out, but the film never strays into a dizzying 3D environment, but rather having a more linear look in the layout terms which helps the travelling theme to the film. Whereas other CGI film companies tend to faff around with annoying camera angles and visual oddities, Pixar have always been careful to use the computer medium to its advantage - creating situations that would have been impossible with traditional animation techniques, yet never too far away to suggest we haven't learnt anything from the past 70 years. I also found the balance of 'Humour and Heart' perfect; granted, I read before writing this that many reviewers suggested their kids either cried too much or didn't laugh enough. Given that companies like Pixar will always be in the shadow of the Disney 'Golden Age', I can only laugh at such suggestions. Films like 'UP' are an incredible achievement when so many themes and standardisations have been run to ground in films over the years - to continue to produce such original content is what makes Pixar so special. The way they can balance Humour and Heart should be recognised as a fantastic quality, given how mushy and lifeless many "kids" TV/film content are these days (Hannah Montana? Yuck). If films like this are considered too distressing for 'darling children', I really don't recommend subjecting them to the wonderful morals demonstrated in films like Pinocchio (1940) - masterpieces of film-making. 'UP' possibly ranks as Pixars most adventurous outing, and no doubt one of their best along with the likes of Toy Story, Wall-E and Monsters Inc. In fact, the only issue I have with the product is that of Disney's incompetence regarding release schedules. I've found it quite frustrating that 'Fantasia' Diamond Edition has yet to be officially announced in the U.K, yet in the U.S, a trailer was released a month ago on their release of 'UP', available via BD Live, yet no trailer has even been put on this Blu-Ray/DVD. Whats even more puzzling is that the discs contain trailers from back in October! Come on Disney, all we want are dates... My only guess is that the trailer will be put on 'Dumbo', which is being released March 22nd if you're interested. That is currently available to Pre-Order, why not go check it out? To try and summarise though, I think 'UP' is just a genuinely heart-warming film that, granted, simple in plot, proves you can pack a lot of entertainment in to such a basic concept. The Blu-Ray is, as usual, of amazing quality and far more so than the DVD - bear in mind however that, as with any Blu-Ray, you are really only going to see the benefits to a good degree on a 30-inch and bigger Television. This is the point at which DVD's really become 'softer' and Blu-Rays only start to show how detailed they can be. To be fair however, our TV is only 26-inches and the difference is still wonderful. God help us when Green-Ray comes out! Then Purple... Regarding the other version of 'UP' that includes a "Digital Copy Disc", all that means is that it includes a disc that allows you to copy the film to your Computer so you can transfer it to an MP3 player with video play-back, or anything similar. Given that their are 'various' ways of easily ripping a DVD to ones computer anyway, the fact you could just 'place' the DVD in your computers drive to watch it (radical huh), and of course the fact that once you've used the Digital Disc its completely useless, I feel its poor value and wasteful on Disney's part. Never the less, I'm done ranting.

UP è un film di animazione di altissimo livello prodotto dalla Pixar e dalla Disney nel 2009. E' un riuscito mix di dolcezza, bellezza, sentimenti ma anche ironia, comicità e profondità di pensiero dove l'enorme esperienza tecnologica Pixar si unisce magnificamente a quella struggente poesia che da sempre contraddistingue le creazioni Disney. E' un film su come invecchiare, sul rimpianto e sul rendersi conto che la vita è disordinata e fuori controllo, per quanto si possa provare a farlo diversamente. Ma è anche un film sull'amore, sulla compassione e sul fare in modo che ogni giorno sia importante. Che è esattamente ciò che fa Carl, anziano venditore di palloncini, vedovo, scorbutico e scontroso. Quando le autorità locali cercano di mandarlo in una casa di riposo, Carl si rende conto che ha una sola possibilità per dare un senso alla sua vita e ricordare/omaggiare la sua amata moglie Ellie, quindi lega centinaia di palloncini pieni di elio alla loro casa e la fa galleggiare fuori dal caos della città, attraverso le cime delle nuvole verso il luogo che lui ed Ellie avevano sempre sognato di visitare: le Cascate Paradiso in Venezuela, Vi divertirete e vi commuoverete ridendo ma sempre con intelligenza. Il menù offre le classiche 2 tracce audio digitali in italiano ed inglese con l'opzione dei relativi sottotitoli. Molto curati i contenuti extra con cortometraggi, scene alternative e commento audio del regista. Molto consigliato a visioni di gruppo adulti e bambini.

I first saw this movie many years ago but it has never left me. The beginning is a sweet tale, two children, a boy, Carl and a girl, Ellie meet and find they share a love of adventure. They eventually marry and plan to move to Paradise Falls in South America to find their hero Charles Munz who went missing years ago. But life gets in the way, and they never make it. Now a widower, Carl finds that his life is changing in many ways, his house is blocking new construction and he finds himself becoming reclusive. Into the mix comes boy scout Russell who needs his helping the elderly badge to complete all of the scout badges. Unfortunately for Russell he finds himself trapped on the front porch of the house when Carl flies it away with balloons. Somehow they make it to South America, fairly close to Paradise Falls. While heading toward the falls with the house slightly overhead (they have a day until the balloons inflate completely) they met characters such as Dug the dog with a collar that makes him talk, Kevin a giant and rare bird and a mysterious stranger who has many other dogs like Dug also with talking collars. The stranger seems to be someone that Carl knows and sets the story up from being a touching tale about following your dreams to a tale of good against evil. This is one of the sweetest and also most enjoyable animated movie I've seen in a while able to bring you to tears one minute and then have you laughing the next.