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Roald
Dahl’s classic
adventure of
James and The Giant
Peach
got the Disney
treatment years ago
via Henry Selick
directing and Tim
Burton producing.
The film mixed live
action work with
stop-cap animation
and made a final
product that paid
homage to Dahl and
told a classic kid’s
tale in movie form.
Most
people know the
story of
James
and the Giant Peach.
James lost his
parents in a
horrific accident
and was forced to
live with his evil
aunts Sponge and
Spiker. When the
misery of James hits
a high point, a man
stops by and gives
James a container
filled with magical
objects. James drops
the little objects
near a dead Peach
tree, the tree grows
a gigantic Peach and
James and some very
large insects fly
across the ocean to
New York by
attaching seagulls
to it. Roll Credits.
I’m not giving the
story enough credit;
it really is an
amazing story and
one of Dahl’s most
popular books. The
story is stellar and
it’s told very well
through the course
of the movie. They
even kept Dahl’s
sense of humor
throughout which is
a good achievement
for a Disney movie.
The description of
the magical items
that are given to
James is the truest
testament of the
Dahl sense of humor
and how Selick and
co. didn’t hold
anything back.
The
story of
James
and the Giant Peach
is one of my
favorites and it
turned into a great
movie. The movie
isn’t wildly
popular, but it
hasn’t been totally
overlooked. This
most recent release
of the film puts it
out on Blu-ray for
the first time. This
film on Blu-ray
looks decent- it’s
not a huge step up
from the DVD
version, but you can
definitely tell that
it’s Blu-ray and not
DVD. The same can be
said for the audio
of the feature- you
can tell it’s Blu-ray,
but the mix isn’t
amazing-
the
audio mix isn’t very
atmospheric. You
would have liked a
better mix, but it
sounds better on Blu-ray
than it does on DVD.
The bonus features
on the disc are a
bit of a bummer. The
original DVD bonus
features are here
and are great, but
the only exclusive
Blu-ray feature is a
game where you hit a
button and have a
rhino poke Sponge
and Spiker on a
circle to make them
spin as many times
as possible. It’s a
great movie on Blu-ray,
and it’s great to
have it on Blu-ray,
but the bonus
features are a bit
weak.
James
and The Giant Peach
is worth picking up
if you don’t have
the movie on DVD or
you’re a huge fan of
the book. This Blu-ray
release contains the
Blu-ray of the movie
as well as the DVD
for added value. If
your kids are the
right age for this
now and weren’t
around for the
original release of
this movie it’s
definitely worth
introducing them to
a classic child’s
tale.
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