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Directed by |
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Starring |
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Specs |
- Widescreen 1.78:1
- 16:9 Enhanced
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Languages |
- English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
- French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
- German: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
- Dutch: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
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Subtitles |
French, Dutch, English - Hearing Impaired |
Extras |
- Theatrical trailer
- Audio commentary
- 3 Featurette - Basics of Computer Animation, Facial Animation, Character Design
- Production notes - 4 page booklet
- Awards/Nominations
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Antz |
Dreamworks/Universal .
R4 . COLOR . 79 mins .
PG . PAL |
Feature |
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Contract |
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Trying... struggling...... ....failing... A Bug's Life. There. I mentioned it. Invariably, this film has to be compared to Pixar's juggernaut, due to unfortunate timing. Disney were apparently interested in producing Antz but had already committed themselves to A Bug's Life when creators Pacific Data Images pitched their story. Luckily, backing was found courtesy of the new Dreamworks SKG studio, and PDI's first feature film was brought to life. "Call me crazy, but I have a thing about drinking from the anus of another creature." |
As the above quote may give away, this isn't a film aimed directly at the kiddies. In fact, I'd suspect that the producers knew full well what they were up against (A Bug's Life) and deliberately aimed for a more mature market. They made a crafty casting choice, placing Woody Allen in the title role, knowing that his presence alone would stir interest amongst filmbuffs that wouldn't normally consider seeing an animated feature. Allen is perfect in the part, which seems tailor-made for him. He plays a worker ant, Z (or to be more precise, Z-4195), one of millions working in a colony, completing a new tunnel to the surface. Problem is, he's suffering an existential crisis - he feels he has no identity, as his society places the needs of the colony over that of the individual. His mood changes rapidly when Princess Bala (Sharon Stone) spends a night slumming in the worker ant's bar, and Z is instantly smitten with her. Of course, a worker could never meet the princess, or even see her under normal circumstances, so Z talks his soldier buddy Weaver (Sylvester Stallone) into trading places for a day so that he can attend the army's march. What Z wasn't aware of was the reason for the march - the ants are marching into battle against a termite colony, as part of a plan by the demented General Mandible (Gene Hackman) to rid the colony of lower-class creatures. Of course, there's the usual romantic subplot as well, and an excellent example of overt corporate sponsorship (mmm, I'm feeling thirsty!).
Video |
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Contract |
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It seems that Dreamworks are determined to maintain their excellent reputation for film-to-video transfers in Australia as well as the US. Only a couple of white specks give this away as a transfer from film. While A Bug's Life is full of bright primary colours, Antz goes for a more realistic, gritty palette with a lot of dark, earthy tones. The ants themselves are deep shades of orange and purple, far removed from the bright blue tones in Pixar's film. This tends to make the video less eye-popping than you might expect, but the image is as close to perfect as you could hope for in all other areas. We're talking great black levels, very good sharpness and a near complete lack of artefacts of any kind. Examining the bitrate for the film shows why the picture is so good - it barely drops below 8Mbps for the entire runtime. This is very close to a reference transfer, only missing out from slightly less-than-stellar sharpness and a lackluster layer change.
Audio |
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This is pretty much business as usual in a big-budget animated film. It seems that mixers are starting to get over the habit of underutilising the full capabilities of digital sound formats for fear of scaring the kiddies, so we can finally enjoy some serious bass extension and rear channel sounds. Which is just what Antz delivers. This film was featured on a DTS demo disc a year or so ago (and there's a DTS DVD edition available in the US), simply because it's so dynamic and expansive. The LFE channel gets a thorough workout (passing my window-shaking test), and action scenes get the rear channels buzzing with split-surround effects. Dialogue is obviously ADR-produced, and sometimes doesn't integrate into scenes as well as could be expected, but the score is spacious and well-produced.
Extras |
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Contract |
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Overall |
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Contract |
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For me, while this movie definitely had more 'head' than A Bug's Life, it seemed to have less 'heart'. I could appreciate the Allen-esque humour, but whether it was the subdued palette or the characters, I simply didn't enjoy it as much as the Disney film. Don't get me wrong, this is still a worthy film, and definitely worth picking up, but to my mind it lacks that essential spark that Pixar has managed to imbue in all of their films to date.
LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=457
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And I quote... |
"A sophisticated examination of individuality in an oppressive totalitarian society... with slapstick." - Paul Dossett |
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Review Equipment |
- DVD Rom:
Pioneer 103(s)
- MPEG Card:
RealMagic Hollywood Plus
- TV:
Mitsubishi Diva 33
- Amplifier:
Yamaha DSP-A1
- Speakers:
Richter Excalibur
- Centre Speaker:
Richter Unicorn
- Surrounds:
Richter Hydras
- Audio Cables:
Monster RCA
- Video Cables:
Monster s-video
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