Cars 2

VIDEO:

Pixar films are always spectacular on Blu-ray, and 'Cars 2' continues this trend with its direct digital transfer (1080p/AVC MPEG-4, 2.35:1 aspect ratio). Colour, detail, texture, and depth are nothing short of jaw dropping in every scene. What always amazing me in Pixar films is how, despite the fact that it's a cartoon, textures for water, painted metal, paved streets, and various other surfaces all look photo realistic. Tokyo and London in particular will be a showstopper for home cinema enthusiasts. The bright neon signs contrast nicely with wet surface streets, inky black skies and shadowy alleys. Buckingham Palace and all the historic sites are so realistic. Pixar films are known for their attention to detail, not only in terms of technical achievement, but in filling every pixel with information. (5/5)

AUDIO:

The 7.1 DTS-HD MA surround track is pure auditory delight. While not nearly as aggressive as something like a 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon', this track is filled with bombastic bass, perfect voice work, outstanding panning, and an array of discrete effects that will suck any listener into the world of 'Cars 2'. (5/5)

TRIVIA:

Miles Axelrod's engine (referred to by Mater as the worst engine ever made) is a 3.9 liter Rover V8, which was installed in Land Rover Defenders from 1994-1998. Lightning McQueen calls Sir Miles Axlerod "Sir Axlerod" several times. The correct way to address him would be "Sir Miles"; a knight is addressed as "Sir" followed by his first name.

In the Paris scenes, a rooftop sign is visible in the distance, for a restaurant called "Gastow's". The restaurant and sign are a parody of "Gusteau's," the restaurant that is the main setting of Pixar's Ratatouille.

Finn McMissile (voiced by Michael Caine)'s license plate - 314-FNMC - includes Michael Caine's birthday, March 14th.

This is also the first John Lasseter-directed Pixar film not to have a score by Randy Newman.

At the End Credit, I realized that voice of Jeff Gordon (NASCAR racer) was used for Jeff Korvette, and Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton as himself...wow!

It has a budget of $200 million. The domestic box office gross was disappointing ($190 million), while the Worldwide box office gross faired better ($548 million).

'Cars 2' takes a cue from successful sequels like 'Aliens' by changing genres. Gone is the ode to Small Town Americana, and in its place we have a spy thriller parody set against an exotic international racing tournament sponsored by an alternate energy fuel. Beside genre, the big shift from 'Cars' to 'Cars 2' is the lead character. While NASCAR racer Lightning McQueen is still here, tow truck sidekick, Mater, takes center stage when his fish out of water antics get him mistaken for a spy. There is much more action in Cars 2 than Cars 1.

From the trailers, I learn that the next Pixar film for theatre in 2012 is called Brave, while for 2013, the film will be Planes..in the theme of Cars as live characters.

'Cars 2' is an entertaining spy thriller/comedy with reference quality HD video and 7.1 audio. The film itself is very good, but doesn't quite live up to the other Pixar films in terms of emotional investment. Anyway, it is an enjoyable film with top-notched video and audio. Highly recommended.

My 5-disc 3D edition actually cost the same as the 2 disc combo. How come, you may ask? Please allow me to share my experience and some of the tips to get the lowest price or the best bang for your money, shopping at Amazon.ca:

1) Review the future releases to track down the titles that you want.
2) Pre-order the item EARLY...like as soon as Amazon.ca announced the date and price. In some cases, this price is the lowest (e.g., Steve Winwood blu ray, Peter Cetera blu ray..my initial price was $16.09 as soon as it was announced, and now it has gone up to $22.99). Of course you also have the Pre-order Guarantee, but it only guarantees the currently listed price (which may be the higher price already as noted in the previous examples). In this case of Cars 2, my initial price was $36.99.
3) Check the website often to look for special coupon. In this case, there was a $7 off coupon which I used.
4) Note down the price you have ordered. Prices in the website do vary from time to time. So check the actual prices often. The % discount ($ saved) figure alone could be misleading sometimes.
5) When you notice that the price of your pre-ordered item has gone down, check your Account Page. Normally, Amazon.ca will accordingly adjust the price to the lower one. But if this was not done, feel free to email to ask Amazon.ca to adjust to the lower price (as long as the item has not been shipped). In my case, the original $36.99 was lowered to $34.99. The final price at shipping was $27.99 which was now the same as the 2 disc combo. The staff at Amazon.ca is always very courteous and prompt in action and reply.
6) As I noted before, besides pre-order early if you know what you want, or simply just pre-order, because prices may go up after initial release, e.g., initial pre-order price for Star Wars The Complete Saga (blu ray) was $99.99 at first, but before release, it was lowered to $79.99, which I paid. Now it has gone back up to $90. The Force is definitely NOT with Amazon.ca right now. Other bargains that I got included West Side Story box set (blu ray). I pre-ordered it at $47.99 as soon as it was announced, and now before release, it has gone up to $62.99, a $15 saving so far...I can go on and on.

I hope my tips will help you in savings shopping at Amazon.ca. Happy shopping.

The Cars series is definitely the weakest of the excellent movies put out by Pixar. I think it has more to do with what they have to work with. There's only so much you can do with a car.

Although, visually as usual it is fantastic and the details are tremendous. If you read Japanese, you'll get a kick out of the names of the shops during the opening race held in Japan. Plus kudos on getting the colloquial spoken Japanese right.

I just found the whole spy plot a bit silly and way too much focus on Cars 2 on Mater. He's goofy for sure but I wouldn't consider him the character you'd want the focus on.

The extras are nice. You get a Toy Story short where the toys create a Hawaiian vacation for Ken & Barbie. There's also an Air Mater short as well as in the previews is one for a Pixar movie called Planes coming out in spring 2013. The tie-in is obvious as it looks basically like Cars in the air. What's next--Boats? I'm sure a cute but grumpy little tugboat will bond with a snazzy speedboat in that one.

I dont really understand why people like this movie so much. I found it one of the more boring pixar movies. I almost feel asleep. Same for the first cars. perhaps this just isnt my type of movie. Regardless I think there are better animated movies with more deeper meanings that this.