Bolt
Bolt is the newest computer animation film by Disney starring John Travolta as Bolt, that super wonder dog who will save the day until he finds out he is an ordinary pooch.
Film making 23/25
Cinematography 23/25
Audio 23/25
Bonus Features 25/25
Total 94/100
It just does not get any better than this for Blu-ray, a fantastic computer animated movie starring John Travolta as a dog who thinks he’s a super hero plus a DVD and digital copy of the movie. You also get plenty of bonus content and additional features on the Blu-ray and DVD version so sit and beg for the film to start.
Bolt is a super hero, paws down with plenty of super powers like paw karate chop, laser vision and a super bark that tears asphalt from a road. But one day after filming the executives at the studio that own Bolt, and are not telling him he’s an ordinary dog, change the script.
The director decides to have his owner and most trusted friend Penny, played my Miley Cyrus, kidnapped just as her father was by the evil Doctor Calico played by Malcolm McDowell. Bolt must come to the rescue of his owner now that he is all alone; Penny’s father was previously kidnapped by the same bad guy which started their whole adventure.
Penny’s father turned Bolt into a super hero just before being kidnapped, sounds like a great story and it is, but Bolt doesn’t know this. Bolt has been swindled into thinking he has all these super powers so he will act accordingly during filming.
The crew, director’s and everyone else go to great lengths to hide all the cameras and filming from the dog so he will act like a hero and be all the more believable. Penny is getting tired of keeping the truth from her beloved Bolt and wants to take him home but her agent and the shows executives will not hear of it.
When a studio executive comes by to tell the show’s director’s that the show needs a boost in ratings they decide to have Penny kidnapped. Bolt is thrown into a kennel instead of the usual Penny taking him to a trailer for the night between filming and Bolt ends up escaping and getting taped into a shipping box.
He ends up in New York and starts a real life adventure trying to rescue Penny from Dr. Calico in Hollywood and meets an unlikely pair of friends in a hamster and cat. The hamster, Rhino played by Mark Walton, and the cat, Mittens played by Susie Essman, help Bolt to make his way back to Hollywood and back on his feet when he finds out he is an ordinary dog with extraordinary loyalty to his owner.
The films story is really good and the animation is superb with some really fantastic effects like the reflections from helmets on most of the bad guys. Another great shot is a chase scene at the beginning of the film where Penny uses a milk trucks mirrored finish to look behind her for a split second.
They did a great job as usual with the animations and computer generated effects for things like fur and movement but the reflective surfaces used throughout the film really stood out to me. The well done effects with the hamster ball we see Rhino in most of the film is another example of taking some good computer work and turning up the quality for a great looking effect.
The film comes with some great songs and audio throughout in the usual Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound on all three versions so you have plenty of great high definition quality computer animation to enjoy. The Blu-ray Combo Pack comes with the Blu-ray edition with all its high definition and bonus content as well as a DVD copy and digital copy of the film.
All the copies of Bolt comes in three languages, English French and Spanish with subtitles and the regular DVD and Blu-ray setup features. The Blu-Ray edition comes with the same bonus content of the DVD version but with a few more additions such as a game and some art galleries.
Both the Blu-ray and the DVD copy include a making of feature and a World of Bolt feature, a look at the characters behind the voices and an interview with John Travolta and Miley Cyrus. They also have a music video for a pretty decent amount of extra content but the additions to the Blu-ray disc above the DVD copy is not all that great.
The Blu-ray has a simple platformer video game with Bolt and Rhino that is okay but nothing to really pay extra for and an art gallery of pictures from the film. The Blu-ray edition also comes with the BDLive features that include some Disney chat and games where you can earn points toward movie art and other downloadable content but that’s about it.
Bolt is a great film and just continuing in the Disney tradition of great family entertainment that also looks to me to be taking the computer animated films maybe not to the next level but certainly reaching for it. The Bolt Blu-ray Combo Pack is definitely worth the cost with three full editions of the film so you have the best of all worlds.