WALL-E (Single Disc Edition) DVD Review

Posted by Joseph Lee on 11.22.2008

Pixar's latest and greatest hits DVD, final-E.



Starring:
Ben Burtt as WALL-E/M-O
Elissa Knight as EVE
Jeff Garlin as the Captain
Fred Willard as Shelby Forthright
John Ratzenberger as John
Kathy Najimy as Mary
Sigourney Weaver as Axiom's computer

Story: After mankind leaves Earth behind, now inhabitable due to pollution, a little robot is still cleaning things up. His solitary life is interrupted by the arrival of EVE, who soon changes the way he looks at things and may be the one companion he's been wanting for a long time.

Fun Trivia: The idea for WALL-E was conceived before Toy Story was even made.

Pixar is recognized these days for being the leader when it comes to animated films, and for good reason. Every single film they've released, between Toy Story and Ratatouille have been really good. Even Cars is enjoyable enough, although it's the least liked of the group. When WALL-E was originally advertised, I think everyone loved the little robot that would pop up on the ads. In typical Pixar fashion, it looked like they had another winner. Over the summer when I originally watched this, I was blown away. There are so many reasons why I loved this film, but it managed to exceed my expectations and be my favorite film of the year at that time.

WALL-E begins with a little robot all alone on Earth. WALL-E has long before that become sentient, and collects objects he finds to be interesting while he does his job of cleaning the planet. His only companion is a little cockroach, but he doesn't mind so much. That is, until the day that EVE arrives looking for life. WALL-E is infatuated with her, and wants to do anything and everything for her. That's when the story begins.

That is the first great thing about this film: the story. While it's a fairly simple story about love, it's also set in the future and uses mostly non-speaking robots as the main characters. The story works because of all the nuances and quirks that appear throughout. The robots themselves are actually fully-developed and have more personality than the most hyper cartoon characters (or even human actors). The screenwriters did everything they could to give life to these characters and the animators did the rest. WALL-E, EVE, M-O, and Auto all have different personalities and show them here.

Praising Pixar's animation may seem a little redundant these days, but its' very appropriate here. Pixar is able to create a bleak, desolate Earth with their animation that looks almost real. Next they get to craft beautiful images of space and the spaceship, and give a design to the characters that helps in personifying them and letting the audience root for them. There is so much detail to everything, so many specific things that are barely even noticeable that they worked hard to make look perfect.

Next it would be wise to mention the audio. There have been complaints that because there was no talking for the first half of the film, that should lower it, somehow. There is so much visually and story-wise going on, there doesn't need to be dialogue. These characters are able to emote without words and I think that shows just how good Pixar is. They do use sound, in the form of robotic noises, brief words and music. One thing that's always amazed me about the sound work is again, the level of detail. If WALL-E switches terrain while moving, the sound makes up for it. If he barely sets something on a shelf, there's a little tap sound for that.

I've always loved Pixar's films and I think it takes Disney back to a time when everything they touched was gold. I don't know when Pixar is going to put out a bad film or if they even do, but WALL-E is not it. Far from it, it's the best Pixar movie ever released. It may even be my pick for film of the year, but as the year is not over yet I don't want to jump the gun. It's definitely up there and it's an instant classic. I highly recommend the movie on it's own.

Film: 10.0

This film comes in it's original theatrical aspect ratio, and looks just as good as it did in theaters. I didn't experience any problems and you shouldn't either.

Video: 8.5

The audio is in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0. There are also English subtitles. The sound would have to be just as good as the theatrical release, if not better to notice every little detail, so that's good too. I expect nothing less from a Disney DVD release.

Audio: 8.5

While it's no three-disc set, the single-disc version actually provides a good amount of entertaining extras. This is something that a lot of other companies are ignoring, but Disney/Pixar still provides something to those who may want a cheaper option.

Presto: Theatrical Short: This was attached to WALL-E in it's original theatrical run. A rabbit really wants his carrot and will try to sabotage his magician if necessary. It reminds of me of a Warner Bros cartoon and it has a high level of slapstick. It was fun to watch.

BURN-E: All New Original Short: BURN-E, a character who appeared very briefly in the movie, is given his own short here. He wants to fix a light on the ship but thanks to WALL-E's antics, he finds trouble doing so. Nice little short and fans of the film will love it even more.

Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds From The Sound Up: Needless to say, I loved this special feature. It's almost twenty minutes long and covers all aspects of how they have to perfect the sound of this film. Before I always imagined a lot of work when into it, but I didn't know how much. It's a lot. Very informative, and there are clips of the movie for entertainment value.

Deleted Scenes: We get two here. One is "Garbage Airlock", which is almost identical to the scene in the film, only EVE and WALL-E's roles are reversed. It's a nice look at what could have been, and I loved WALL-E's interaction with the bigger versions of himself. This one was fully-finished. The other, "Dumped", pulls moments from the film only at a different location. It's essentially the same thing that made it in, however. There are also explanations for why the scenes were cut.

Audio Commentary By Director Andrew Stanton: Andrew Stanton provides an engaging show, explaining why he did certain things the way he did. He was also a writer so he's able to tell the audience about previous story ideas and how he came to specific decisions. An enjoyable commentary.

Sneak Peek: WALL-E's Tour of the Universe: Just a short clip advertising a feature on Wall-E.com.

There are also a set of sneak peeks for other Disney releases, as well as an ad for next year's Pixar effort, Up.

Special Features: 7.0

The 411: Wall-E finally hits DVD and it's worth the wait. The film is perfect, from the comedy to the story and attention to detail. WALL-E is the next great Disney character and Pixar has created their greatest film to date. The single-disc DVD is good for a cheaper option for consumers, as you get the movie, and a nice little group of special features that are both entertaining and informative. A worthwhile DVD purchase and a very great movie.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]