Blu-ray Review: TMNT
By
Jon Liu
Video Format: 2.40:1 1080p
Audio Formats: English Dolby TrueHD 48kHz/16-bit, English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kevin Smith, Laurence Fishburne
Directed by: Kevin Munroe
Release Date: August 7, 2007
General
After the evil Master Shredder was defeated the Ninja Turtles went into hiding. Without crime-fighting holding them together the team somewhat disbands. Their fearless leader Leonardo is instructed by Master Splinter to train in Central America to become a better leader, while the other three (Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael) are forced to fend for themselves. That is, until an evil presence returns to the city where The Turtles live and runs amuck. Leo returns once again try to lead his brothers to defeat the enemy Max Winters as he tries to set his plans in motion.
While this movie has its flaws, I enjoyed it more than I expected I would because it was simply fun to see the Ninja Turtles franchise brought to life once again. Also, there was a bit of fun humor and fun action sequences, which made it a pretty worthwhile movie.
Tech Specs
Video: The transfer of TMNT looks good! It’s hard to go wrong with a direct digital transfer. Colors are very vibrant and detail is incredibly sharp. There are several amazing scenes in the movie that had my jaw on the floor because of the clarity. Contrast is spot on and has an incredibly natural look to it at times. The only problem that I saw was slight color gradation in a couple of the sky scenes. It’s hardly noticeable otherwise, but there were definitely two instances where it easily stood out. Other than that, TMNT offers a very good transfer!
Audio: I was expecting slightly more from this soundtrack in some aspects. The overall sound is good and has a good sense of space and environmental sounds, but the surround activity was slightly subdued. There were times when the action did envelop you, but I think I was expecting much more to be happening in the surround speakers. Also, with the amount of action, I was expecting TMNT to be a bass-heavy movie. There are certain portions where the bass kicks in and you can feel it, but while I had expected TMNT to be a weightier soundtrack overall, I was disappointed.
Extras
I anticipated more from a release like this in terms of extras. There are a handful of brief featurettes, which would normally be fine, but absolutely none of them were in high definition. I can understand some of the pre-visuals and storyboard sequences not necessitating HD, but the couple of fully rendered deleted scenes should have been in HD. There is a nice audio commentary by the Writer/Director that gives some interesting insight into some of the technical aspects and production of the movie, though.
Menus/Navigation
I really enjoy Warner’s approach to the HD formats. When you insert the disc, you are provided the normal warnings and parental rating screens at the beginning and then the movie automatically starts. I wish other studios would catch on to this trend. Aside form that, the menus are very straight forward, with language, scene selection, and extras tabs when you press the menu button.
Overall Impressions
This movie is a must for Ninja Turtle fans. For non-Turtles fans, this movie will seem a bit strange. Most, however, will likely still enjoy it for what it is: a CG cartoon with some pretty cool action sequences and some light humor. While the surround sound track may not be the best I’ve heard, it still has its moments. The video side will definitely be thoroughly pleasing, aside from the slight color banding/gradation problem. Definitely a release worth checking out!
Linear Mode
