Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Can't say I had high hopes for this one going in but Alvin and the Chipmunks ended up being one of the most enjoyable family films I saw this last year. I used to watch the cartoon when I was a kid and this feature film did a good job capturing the spirit and humor of the original show. There are some great laughs here and the music is catchy enough that my daughter had to get up a boogie a bit during the movie. Sure it has a lot of comedy clichs and Hollywood formula, but it was still solid family fun.

Fox delivers a solid AVC encoded transfer on this one. The back packaging reveals a slightly lower average bitrate than we typically see from the bigger Fox releases, but it doesn't look like the lower bitrate affected the transfer at all. Fine detail is excellent throughout most of the film. The opening sequence was a bit noisier than I would have preferred, but the image quality gets significantly better as the film progresses. Some of the special effects soften the image from time to time and artificial backdrops are a bit too glaring, but color rendition and contrast are great. Depth of image is solid throughout and the image has a nice dimensional quality to it.

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is also quite good. This is a family comedy so dynamics are a bit reserved but spatial quality is preserved. The highlight would have to be the upbeat musical selections with nice bass lines and wide soundstage delivery. They really open the mix up and give the track a more immersive feel. Dialogue sounds very natural and has a nice balance with the rest of the mix. I was happy to see a lack of ADR issues with this release, a problem I've been noticing with quite a few Fox Blu-ray releases lately.

Extras are a bit meager on this release but at least they are in HD. There are two featurettes. One looks at the music in the film and how the chipmunk's trademark voice work is created. The other gives a retrospective on Alvin and the gang and their popularity over the years. Last up is the theatrical trailer.

This movie made a small goldmine for Fox during the holidays and it is easy to see why. The film truly has a great heart and you can't help but laugh out loud during most of the chipmunk's antics. It is nice to sit down with the family and actually get a solid film for the whole family, and this is one of them. Definitely recommended.