Bedtime Stories—Walt Disney Pictures (Blu-ray)

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 3.5/5

When Skeeter Bronson babysits his sister's children, his imagination runs wild as he dreams up elaborate bedtime stories - always casting himself as the hero. Entranced, the children add their own ideas to these once-upon-a-time tales of heroics and chivalry. Then...magic happens. These nighttime fantasies become Skeeter's daytime realities, leading him on a real-life adventure in search of his own happy ending.

Sandler takes a crack at the family comedy this time around and manages to pull it off quite nicely. There is still plenty of his trademark down home comedy, but the themes are toned down considerably. The film has the typical Disney moral fiber and a nice breadth of imagination. I loved the cast in this one and as far as family films go it is one of the more entertaining non-animated features I’ve seen lately.

Disney delivers a wonderful HD presentation full of rich detail with this one. The image has an impeccably clean look with lots of dimensionality. Some of these newer films are just looking so crisp that you truly do feel like you’re looking through a window at times. Colors are very vivid with a touch of oversaturation that really makes the image pop. Contrast levels don’t suffer at all and depth of image is fantastic. An outstanding HD presentation.

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack gets the job done with a decent level of dynamic range and plenty of surround sound effects. The track has a very open quality with plenty of ambiance in the soundstage. Dialogue is devoid of strain but I did find the imaging across the mains to be a bit inconsistent at times. Disney does like to do some hard panning at times with voices. Deep bass extension is a bit reserved but the dream sequences do have their moments with some pretty fun sound design now and again.

Disney continues its 3-disc trend including a digital copy for portable devices and the full DVD version of the film. This provides the ultimate level of convienience for playback in the home or on the go. This title is also BD-Live enabled giving you the opportunity to interact with friends during the film. Extras also include outtakes and deleted scenes along with a pretty funny look at the film’s guinea pig.

Overall this is a pretty good family film. While it doesn’t have a classic feel to it there is enough comedy and heart for a family rental.

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