Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The wizards at Pixar discovered that when left alone toys will come to life. In Andy's room his favorite toy is Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), an old-fashioned cowboy doll whose status is usurped when Andy is given the latest and greatest space toy, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). With the social dynamics thrown into chaos, Woody and Buzz end up in the clutches of any toys worst nightmare—Sid, the toy-torturing boy next door.

In Toy Story 2—arguably one of the greatest sequels of all-time—Woody is kidnapped by a greedy toy collector who plans to complete his collection of the "Woody's Roundup" gang and sell them to a museum in Japan for big bucks. Buzz and the gang come to the rescue and remind Woody what being a toy is about.

To say I love these movies would be an understatement. When I heard Pixar was making a third film I was excited for two reasons. First, I could revisit the characters that have become part of the family and second, I knew Disney would release the Blu-ray's in order to promote the new film. When my son was 18 months old, all he ever wanted to watch was Toy Story 2 because he's a dyed in the wool Buzz Lightyear fan. In fact, even at 11, he still has a hand painted caricature of the space hero on his bedroom wall.

Video Highlights

• AVC/1080p encodes on a BD-50 discs
• Outstanding detail
• Vivid color saturation
• Excellent depth

Audio Highlights

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtracks
• Immersive presentations
• Pinpoint discrete effects from every speaker
• Tight chest-thumping bass

I've yet to watch a Pixar film on Blu-ray and not be blown-away by the presentation and the trend continues here. Toy Story's soundtrack has never sounded better and the opening sequence of Toy Story 2 is a crowd-pleaser.

Bonus Materials

Toy Story

• The Story: An Exlcusive Sneak Peek at Toy Story 3
• Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs - Episode One: Blast Off
• Paths to Pixar: Artists
• Studio Stories
• Buzz Takes Manhattan
• Black Friday: The Toy Story You Never Saw

Toy Story 2

• Characters: An Exclusive Sneak Peek at Toy Story 3
• Director Commentary
• Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs – Episode Two: International Space Station
• Paths to Pixar: Technical Artists
• Studio Stories
• Pixar's Zoetrope
• Celebration our Friend Joe Ranft

If you haven't preordered these already, what's wrong with you? The audio and video are perfect and a must have for every collection. Highly recommended.

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Release Date: March 23 2010
Studio: Disney

Movies: 10/10
Picture: 10/10
Sound: 10/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Panamax M5400PM power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics