Bolt Blu-Ray + DVD Review
Posted by DC Perry on 03.25.2009
Who needs super powers when you have friends?
Starring:
John Travolta
Miley Cyrus
Susie Essman
Mark Walton
Malcolm McDowell
Bolt (John Travolta) is the world’s mightiest dog, and he must protect Penny (Miley Cyrus) from the evil Dr. Calico (Malcolm McDowell). He has laser eyes, super speed, super strength, and a sonic bark. He also has a successful TV show and no idea that he’s in it. In order to get the most realistic performance from the dog, the producers make sure he never finds out it’s all staged, and Bolt buys it hook, line, and sinker. After a dramatic cliffhanger ending in Penny’s abduction by Dr. Calico, Bolt is returned to his trailer until the next episode. But a mere trailer can’t contain a super dog, and he escapes to rescue his girl.
What follows is a dramatic, poignant, and humorous movie, full of the best kind of Disney magic. Bolt ends up in a shipping container that leaves him in New York City, where he meets a cynical alley cat named Mittens (Susie Essman). Believing her to be an agent of Dr. Calico, Bolt forces Mittens to lead him to his hideout. They travel west, Bolt in search of Penny, Mittens in search of food. In a trailer park in Ohio, Mittens finds food heaven, but Bolt won’t rest until he’s found Penny, and the two pick up a new traveling companion – Rhino (Mark Walton), a hamster who spends his day in an exercise ball watching Bolt on his owner’s TV.
Slowly, through various and disappointing reality checks, Bolt realizes his powers aren’t real, and Mittens, whose owners abandoned her years before, convinces him that he’s just a pet, and all pets are replaceable. Bolt doesn’t want to believe that Penny could ever forget about him, but when he arrives and finds a replacement Bolt on the Hollywood set, he starts to buy into Mittens’ cynicism.
In the end, Bolt discovers that super powers aren’t the only way to be brave, that love can overcome even TV stardom, and that happy endings are sometimes just a matter of changing your priorities.
Film: 8.5
Until they figure out how to recreate Digital 3-D on your home theater, the Blu-Ray video is the best you can get. The DVD and digital copies are obviously less spectacular, but what they lack in crispness, they make up for in convenience – after all, not everyone has a Blu-Ray player, at least not in every room.
Video: 9.0
Dolby 5.1 Surround, and it sounds fantastic, both on the Blu-Ray and the DVD. Obviously, the experience will be limited by your sound system, but if you’re hooked up right, the sound loses nothing in the translation to your home theater.
Audio: 8.0
This package is loaded with special features.
Super Rhino
At last, it’s Rhino’s chance to shine. When Bolt is incapacitated, only one man – er, hamster – is powerful enough to save Penny. Dr. Calico won’t know what hit him. And neither will Miley Cyrus.
Deleted Scenes
Not a ton of material here, but cool alternate storyboard versions of some story ideas, with introductions and commentary from the directors.
Backstage Disney
The disc has several cool behind-the-scenes features, including A New Breed of Directors: A Filmmakers’ Journey and Creating the World of Bolt, a pair of mini-documentaries on the making of the film, and Act, Speak! The Voices of Bolt - it’s always cool to see actors creating the voices for animated films.
Music & More
Here, we get plenty of Miley Cyrus and John Travolta: a brief introduction to the music video with In Session with John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, and the music video itself, ”I Thought I Lost You.
Bolt’s Be-Awesome Mission Game
This is only available on the Blu-Ray disc. It’s fairly entertaining, but honestly, if you want to play a Bolt game, you’d be better off getting the Xbox 360 game.
Special Features: 8.5
The 411: Bolt is charming and funny, and this Blu-Ray + DVD release brings the experience home as perfectly as possible. The package is ideal – if you already have a Blu-Ray player, the DVD is a great backup copy, and if you haven’t upgraded your system yet, this package lets you plan ahead while still being able to watch the movie.
