Shrek: SE |
Dreamworks/Universal .
R4 . COLOR . 86 mins .
PG . PAL |
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Shrek has been discussed to such an extent since it was released that it is hard to think of anything new to add to the argument of how good it is. The largest benefit it has is the scope of the audience that it attracts. It is a lot like The Simpsons in this respect – there are many sight gags to entertain the children, but there are also many masterfully implemented witticisms for more mature viewers to catch on to and enjoy. The story is simple enough for the children to easily follow. Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is an ogre who is having big problems. His beloved swamp is being overrun by many fairy tale creatures that have been evicted from their native lands by the tyrannical Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). Shrek is of course none too pleased with this situation, and he travels to see Farquaad to try and sort the problem out. The two strike a bargain whereby Shrek must journey to a castle that is guarded by a dragon, rescue a princess, and return her to Farquaad. When this is done he will get his swamp back. Off travels Shrek with his new tag-along friend, Donkey (Eddie Murphy). "I'm a donkey on the edge!" |
Along the way the the company comes across many interesting characters and situations. Eventually Princess Fiona is returned to Farquaad by Shrek and Donkey, but there is a twist. The story is well designed and laid out, and the characters are all loveable and nearly all are very memorable. The voice cast seems to suit the characters so well it is almost scary. After watching this, it just seems to make sense that all ogres have Scottish accents. Cameron Diaz gives the beautiful Princess Fiona a fittingly beautiful voice. John Lithgow is tremendously evil as the narcissistic Farquaad. Eddie Murphy brings such humour to the character of Donkey that he becomes one of the funniest characters in recent animation history. By the way, in case you were not aware there is a Shrek 2 scheduled for release in 2004 (and John Cleese is one of the voices).
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Just like the original version of Shrek on DVD, this video transfer is of a supremely high standard. There are two versions of the film presented in this release: a 1.33:1 full frame pan & scan version for the kiddies on disc one and a 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced version on disc two. Of course the main reason that the video transfer is so good is because its source is entirely digital, much like the Star Wars Episode II release. The sharpness of the image is extraordinary and detail is impeccable all the way through the film. Colours are very rich and vibrant whilst still being very easy on the eyes. Of course another benefit of the totally digital transfer is the total absence of film artefacts. Naturally there is no grain present on the picture at any stage, either. Shadow detail is wonderfully natural and well constructed. The skin tones look very accurate and true to life. I picked up on a couple of instances of very, very minor aliasing, but this is really only a small quibble. The disc is RSDL formatted with the layer change occurring at 51:11. The placement of the change is good, but as in most cases it is noticeable. The only subtitles available are English for the hearing impaired, they are very accurate and unabridged.
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There are two audio tracks available in this release, and they are a Dolby Digital 5.1 and a DTS 5.1. Both are in English. The 1.78:1 version of the film has access to both tracks, whereas the full frame version only has the Dolby track. The audio transfer is nearly as good as the video. The only small problem with the transfer is the audio synch, which seems to be a little more common in the DTS track. Of course, being an animated film, it is exceedingly difficult to wipe out this problem all together. Overall however, it is hard to notice if you aren’t looking out for it. Aside from this quite small hitch, there is not really anything wrong with the audio transfer. Dialogue is very crisp and easy to understand. At no stage is anything that's said incomprehensible, or even slightly difficult to grasp. There are no dropouts to disturb the aural experience. The surrounds are used very skilfully, but not excessively. The DTS track seems to be a little more aggressive with their use than the Dolby Digital. Directional use is limited, but the score really uses the surrounds to their fullest extent. In addition, a wonderful ambience is created by proficient use of the rear speakers. Like the surrounds, the subwoofer is not used forcefully, but it adds to the audio brilliantly when it is employed. Also like the surrounds, the subwoofer adds wonderfully to the power of the score and action sequences within the film. Don’t expect a window shattering bass experience… but then again that isn’t what good subwoofer employment is all about. It is accurate, and that is all you can ask for. The score itself is set by John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams, and it is one of the best scores to an animated film in the last few years. It suits the mood of the film well. It is mostly comprised of orchestral compositions, though there are a few contemporary songs thrown into the mix.
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Overall |
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Without a doubt this is one of, if not the best, animated films of the past decade. The often subtle humour works wonderfully well and appeals to a vast audience. If you need more incentive to buy this, then the superb all-digital video transfer and very good audio transfer, combined with the HUGE number of extras, should put the decision firmly in the no-brainer category.
LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=2044
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