Open Season Blu-ray Review

The Blu-ray presentation of "Open Season" in both 2D and 3D formats is a technical marvel, delivering a spectacular viewing experience. The 2D version boasts an exact widescreen 1.85:1 1080p transfer, featuring strikingly bold colors, solid contrast, and immaculate brightness that brings out deep blacks, particularly evident in the shadow-rich nighttime forest scenes. The animation's detail is exceptional, showcasing the artists' meticulous work with lifelike textures, such as Boog’s hair and the surrounding grass. There are no notable issues like banding, posterization, or compression artifacts, offering a pristine image quality akin to reference standards.

However, it's the 3D presentation where "Open Season" truly excels. The MVC encoded 3D version is exemplary, establishing a new benchmark for Blu-ray 3D discs. The depth and layering in the 3D imagery are highly sophisticated, providing a near-realistic viewing experience despite the animated style. Individual elements like Boog's fur exhibit considerable depth and volume, making characters appear almost tangible. Foreground and midground detailing are superb, although distant background elements occasionally lack depth due to flat background mattes. The directors wisely prioritize immersive framing over mere "pop-out" effects, contributing to an overall superior 3D experience. Memorable scenes include Boog and Elliot's convenience store raid and Shaw’s pursuit shots, showcasing intricate textures and vibrant colored details that leap off the screen.

Sony's transfer handles the complexities of 3D imagery masterfully with negligible ghosting, thus lending stability to blacks that enhance fine detail retention throughout. Each frame brims with dynamic third-dimensionality, making the movie not only visually engaging but also a reference standard for demonstrating Blu-ray 3D capabilities. This commitment to quality ensures that "Open Season" presents an awe-inspiring visual treat from start to finish, reaffirming Blu-ray 3D's potential for delivering unparalleled home entertainment experiences.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack of Open Season delivers a technically sound and quality performance but falls short of creating a truly immersive experience. Despite featuring eleven soundtracks, the audio remains front-heavy, lacking significant surround activity and substantial power output. The dynamic range is good, with excellent stereo separation ensuring clarity and natural-sounding dialogue. However, the surround channels are sparingly used, and even the musical score fails to light up the surround landscape, save for a few standout scenes such as the dam burst and underwater sequence where effects are well-realized.

Bass presence is consistent and well-defined, anchoring the audio without overpowering the other elements. Nevertheless, low-frequency effects are minimal, with notable rumbles only during key scenes like an explosion that sets off a chain reaction. Overall, while the soundtrack covers essential bases – clear dialogue, balanced music, and occasional effective use of surround channels – it lacks the depth and dynamism that would elevate it beyond a basic, satisfactory level. Audiophiles may find it competent yet unremarkable, overshadowed by the visual presentation but adequate for less discerning listeners.

The Blu-ray extras for "Open Season" offer a comprehensive and engaging behind-the-scenes look into the creation of the movie. The standout feature is the audio commentary by Producer Michelle Murdocca, Directors Jill Culton and Roger Allers, and Co-Director Anthony Stacchi, who provide an affable, informative, and technical insight into the film's development, character design, and animation process. Additionally, the Inside the Animals Studio mini-commentaries present humorous analyses by the animal characters themselves. The featurettes, Behind the Trees and The Voices Behind the Stars, delve into the animation process and voice acting, respectively. The animated short "Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run" adds charm, while deleted scenes, a music video, interactive games, scene deconstruction, and art galleries further enrich this extensive collection. Although some content is recycled from previous releases, this meticulously curated set of extras should satisfy both fans and animation enthusiasts.

Extras included in this disc:

• Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run: An animated short featuring the main characters.
• Audio Commentaries: A detailed commentary by the producers and directors.
• Behind the Trees: A featurette on the animation process.
• The Voices Behind the Stars: Examination of the voice acting.
• Deleted Scenes: Storyboarded deleted scenes.
• Music Video: Deathray’s "I Wanna Lose Control (Uh Oh)."
• Wheel of Fortune: Forest Edition: Interactive game.
• Voice-O-Rama: Characters dubbed in various languages.
• Swept Away Scene Deconstruction: Four stages of animation of a scene.
• RingTales: Brief animated shorts.
• Galleries: Production and design images under Environments, Characters, and Beat Boards.
• BD-Live: Online interactive features.
• 3D Previews: For other animated films.

"Open Season," Sony's inaugural venture into CG animation, regrettably adheres to an overused "buddy movie" template, yielding a pedestrian experience for the discerning adult viewer. The plot centers on Boog, a domesticated grizzly bear (voiced by Martin Lawrence), and Elliot, an eccentric deer (voiced by Ashton Kutcher), as they lead a forest rebellion against hunters. Despite the involvement of talented voice actors, the character dynamics fall flat, failing to evoke the charm seen in higher-caliber films such as "Shrek" or "Ice Age." The narrative is a series of predictable events, lacking innovation or depth that results in a fundamentally uninspired film.

Technically, "Open Season" excels in visual presentation, particularly in its striking 3D Blu-ray transfer, which stands as a benchmark for quality in animation. The animation is noteworthy for its fluid character design, especially Boog's realistic fur texture. However, the environmental backdrops do not achieve the same level of visual flair, displaying inconsistent quality. Voice acting performances from Lawrence and Kutcher struggle to transcend the confines of their poorly-developed characters, while Gary Sinise's portrayal of the antagonist Shaw lacks impact. The film's visual splendor is juxtaposed with its inadequacies in sound mixing and supplementary content, creating an unevenly compelling package.

In essence, "Open Season" may find endearment from a younger demographic due to its visually captivating aesthetic and formulaic humor, but it offers little to elevate it within the pantheon of animated classics. While its trailblazing role in pushing Sony into the animated film sphere is notable, it remains overshadowed by more robust successors like "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." The film's primary allure lies in its technical accomplishments rather than its emotional or narrative engagement.

Open Season's Blu-ray release brings to the forefront the movie's lackluster qualities: a lazy script, unremarkable characters, and subpar voice acting. These flaws overshadow any potential the film had, making it blend into an already oversaturated genre of computer-animated talking animal films. The filmmakers’ apparent disinterest in creating a standout movie is evident, and the result is a film that feels more like a cash grab aimed at younger audiences who are indiscriminately fond of animated cinema. What should have been a heartwarming or memorable adventure falls flat due to the generic and uninspired execution.

However, the Blu-ray 3D release of Open Season makes a compelling case for its place within a home theater setup. Sony has outdone itself with this high-definition transfer, which arguably stands as the best Blu-ray 3D experience available. The visual presentation is superb, offering a crisp, vibrant display that enhances the animation significantly. Coupled with a robust lossless soundtrack, the technical qualities of the Blu-ray release lift the viewing experience considerably. The package is rounded out by a commendable selection of extras, adding further value to the purchase.

In conclusion, while Open Season may not impress with its storyline or character development, its Blu-ray release does not disappoint in terms of technical delivery. For those looking to showcase their home theater capabilities or simply enjoy superior 3D quality, this release comes highly recommended. Despite the film's narrative shortcomings, the exceptional audiovisual presentation ensures that it holds merit in any Blu-ray collection.