 |
|
| Home · Reviews · Interviews · Contests · Blog · Forums · Follow Us On Twitter |
|
by R.J. Carter Published: November 4, 2006
Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a rookie to the Piston Cup circuit. He lives for speed. Everything has to be fast, fast, fast! He's so intent on speed and winning that he foregoes anything that will slow him down -- like preventive maintenance, which causes him to blow his big lead for a three-way tie. So it's off to California for a tiebreaker race -- and in true Lightning McQueen style, he wants to be the first one there, pushing Mack (John Ratzenberger), his semi, to drive all day and all night. When Lightning and Mack become separated, Lightning loses the interstate and gets stuck on old Route 66 at night -- not a good thing for a car without headlights! (Racetracks are usually lit, so he's never needed them.) He speeds in a direction that he thinks is west, and winds up in a police chase that ends with McQueen damaging a stretch of road in the small town of Radiator Springs. When the judge, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), sees that McQueen is a racecar, he's willing to let him go -- not out of sympathy to racecars, but because he doesn't want McQueen's type hanging around town. But the town lawyer, Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) insists that McQueen be kept in custody until he's repaired the road. As McQueen begrudgingly labors to put down new blacktop, he finds himself learning to like the slower way of life and the cars that populate Radiator Springs -- particularly Sally, who teaches him how to drive just for the sake of driving. McQueen also learns a little bit about racing from Doc Hudson, who has a secret past he's been hiding from the townsfolk. It's a heartwarming lesson in slowing down, that ironically runs on all cylinders from start to finish. Larry the Cable Guy shines as Mater, the rusted towtruck who becomes McQueen's best friend. So much so that he earns top billing in a new short included on this DVD, "Mater and the Ghostlight". In this, Mater is enjoying sneaking up on folks and scaring them -- but when the Sheriff tells them all the story of the Ghostlight, the scare is on Mater! It's a hilarious bit that features the original cast from "Cars". As with all Pixar films, you cannot turn this film off just because the credits begin rolling; that's always where the funniest stuff is. Particularly enjoyable is the segment where the cars all go to the drive-in theater to watch "Toy Car Story", "Monster Trucks, Inc." and "A Bug's Life"; John Ratzenberger voices Mack, who goes on about the wonderful actor who appears in each of these films (who is, of course, John Ratzenberger!) The wrapup of the credits include a touching Pixar tribute to "Cars" co-director, Joe Ranft, who passed in 2005. Also adding to the excitement of this film is an absolutely killer soundtrack, featuring Sheryl Crow's "Real Gone", Rascal Flatts' version of "Life is a Highway", and two different takes on the standard "Route 66" by Chuck Berry and John Mayer.
Also included in the bonus features you will get a full-size version of the four-minute epilogue -- a nice touch, since we normally only ever see that bit in a shrunken form next to the rolling credits. The big featurette on this disc, however, is the sixteen minute documentary of the crew as they take a road trip down historic Route 66, meeting interesting people and taking in unusual sights along the way; they also tour the racecar circuit to get a feel for the vehicles they'll be animating -- and recruit themselves some voice talent from racing's finest along the way! Wrapping up the bonus features are eleven minutes worth of alternate/deleted scenes, animated in colored pencil. This is worth watching for Lightning McQueen's nightmare sequence alone, but it becomes obvious why the scenes had to be taken out: a junkyard is a very scary scene for a world filled with cars, and no adult could miss the innuendo of the "Top Down Truck Stop" featuring "all-convertible waitresses", regardless of how funny it was. Audio options on this disc are limited to English only, in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX or Dolby Digital 2.0. Subtitles are also in English only. The audio option screen includes a THX optimizer tool. Previews on this disc include "Ratatouille", "Peter Pan" 2-Disc Special Edition and "Meet the Robinsons". Additionally selectable previews include the "Cars" videogame and an ad for Disney Blu-Ray. All the preview selections are presented on a menu designed to look like a drive-in theater, in keeping with the Route 66 theme. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 1997-2010 Burlee LLC. All rights reserved. | Reprints | Privacy Policy | Disclosure | About Us/Contact Us | RSS Feed |
