DVDizzy Forum

I'm in no great hurry to purchase this title, but if I do it will probably be the 4-disc release. I don't have a 3D TV or BD player, and I don't have any plans of getting one anytime soon. At least, though, if I do buy it, I won't regret not having bought it in the past, and, also, if 3-D flops, the disc would be a neat novelty...

DisneyLuver wrote:

SmartAleck25 wrote:Couldn't they just have both 3D and 2D on the same discs, ala Coraline? I mean, it is Blu-ray, there's plenty of free space. I believe Coraline is longer than A Christmas Carol, so that really wouldn't be an issue, right?

But it isn't the red/blue 3D like Coraline.
This is the real, genuine 3D (with polarized glasses and such, like in theaters) that works only with the very newly released 3D TVs.

The 3D spec was designed so it's compatible with both 3D and 2D televisions, so why they're on separate discs is very odd. Probably just to make the people pay more, or something.

Wait, only the 2D blu-ray, 3D blu-ray, digital copy, and the dvd.


Where's my VHS.

Duckburger wrote:Wait, only the 2D blu-ray, 3D blu-ray, digital copy, and the dvd.


Where's my VHS.

Really, it seems ridiculous. Do we really need the exact same movie on 4 different mediums now?

4 disc...
Disney! Wouldn't it be just great to drop the Digital Copy?!
Who uses that?

Any word on any promotions for this yet?

is this a good film??

It sure is! Very surreal adaptation. Also, best cover art in awhile.

I didnt know there are two different combo packs for this film. I'm guessing the one with the red banner will feature the 3D version. Are there any other differences?

toonaspie wrote:I didnt know there are two different combo packs for this film. I'm guessing the one with the red banner will feature the 3D version. Are there any other differences?

The 4-disc is the only one with a digital copy. There's also supposed to be one extra exclusive to that version ("Mr. Scrooge's Wild Ride in 3D!"). Disney only sent out the 2-disc combo for review.

An amazing movie! Seen it 3 times at the cinema. Invited all my friends for my birthday, and they all loved it. It's funny, beautiful, emotional and dark. A must buy on Blu-ray/DVD, a classical Christmas-movie for sure!

And the soundtrack is really good too, I bought it on iTunes because I really liked the music in this film.

I will buy this on both Blu-ray (2D)/DVD and Blu-ray 3D:)

Could it be that I don't like Jim Carrey? I didn't care for this film for one minute. The motion-capture was pretty shoddy compared to "Avatar", which has set the bar pretty high.

I am so spoiled by the Alastair Sim version of this film, and the only other "Christmas Carol" movie I will watch is "A Muppet Christmas Carol".

I personally enjoyed it. Could've done without the carriage sequence, but I thought it did a really good job in capturing the tone of the original story. And surprisingly, Carrey was pretty restrained considering this is a character that has been portrayed to death and could have been played in a more silly manner.

I just realized how soon this is coming to video. Does anyone know if there will be a coupon for this?

I absolutely enjoyed this movie. I HAVE seen the Alastair Sim version and it is a great film, but I enjoyed this movie for the creepy atmosphere and fantastic music. I never saw it on 3D so I can't comment on that.

Prices for the movie
Target dvd $16.99, blu $24.99 and blu-3d $29.99
Best Buy Target dvd ?, blu $24.99 and blu-3d $34.99
Toys R Us ?? but $10 gift card if you spend over $40 in disney movies

I'm still debating if I should order the standard Blu Ray or the 3D one...

Best Buy is selling the BD/DVD/3D/DC combo at 27.99 if you preorder now.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Disney's+A+ ... 75984&st=a christmas carol

Does anyone know if you have to put in any deposits for preorders at BB?

About the movie

A Christmas Carol may be the greatest story of all time. If not, its certainly one of the greatest. Unlike other stories, it truly is timeless - it holds just as much impact today as it does when it was first written. And I'm pleased to say that Disney's Christmas Carol is a masterful adaptation. We can all argue which is the best adaptation (personally I favour Patrick Steward's TV movie), but nobody can doubt the sheer quality of this version, which is full of respect for Dickens' novel.

I personally don't mind the moments of slapstick. Considering this is a family movie, it can (I would imagine) be very scary for young children. And the moments of humour will hope to relieve the tension. The filmmakers are walking a very thin line here, and I think they do so with near faultless skill and judgement. A Christmas Carol needs its emotional content to retain its impact; and that means it needs as many scares, chills and moments of sadness in order to remain what it is. I'm so pleased that Zemeckis understands not only this, but also that children like to be scared. After all, isn't this what made Grimms' original fairy-tales so popular. In a time of neutered family films afraid of causing offence, I find it somewhat fitting that its a story from the past that shows us how such films should be made.

But...

I still don't get the purpose of motion capture. Really, what is the point. Sure, there's some spectacular effects throughout the movie, but I'm sure that they could be done with a real-action/CGI combination, to better effect. I'm also not entirely sure what Zemeckis (who scripted as well as directed) wants from his film. It strives for realistic movement and environments, but the characters look cartoony. Indeed, the characters sometimes even do cartoony movement (such as the dancing at Fezziwigs). Why motion capture, when you also do things which don't obey the laws of anatomy and physics too?

That said, Jim Carrey does superb performances throughout - not just as various Scrooges but also the three ghosts. Personally I feel Carrey is a great actor who deserves much more recognition for his skills - but it dressing up and fooling around in something like The Grinch or acting straight in something like the (underrated) Majestic. I feel its a shame this movie is "motion captured" because once again, Carrey won't get the approval he deserves.

About the Blu-ray

There's two surprises on this disc. Firstly, although we knew that there was a PiP track showing the complete motion capture performances, this also comes with an optional full length commentary from Zemeckis. It can also be resized at any time to full-screen and is presented in 1080p when it is. Being as Disney can do the full-screen resize, its a shame this isn't possible on the Work-In-Progress Beauty and the Beast. However, I guess there's hope for future PiP presentations.

I briefly put on the short making of documentary. [sigh] Considering the respect the main feature has for its source, its such a shame to see the making off so dumbed down. Crappy puns. Crazy camera angles. Childish narration. And that's just in the first two minutes. I actually turned this off before the third minute.

I'm hoping the motion capture footage and the commentary are a proper, insightful description of both the writing and filmmaking process, because I don't think it will appear anywhere else on the disc. A shame, considering the adult tone of the film. A documentary on Dickens' or A Christmas Carol or even Victorian London would have been preferable to a making of directed to people with an attention span of less than thirty seconds.

2099net wrote:I still don't get the purpose of motion capture. Really, what is the point. Sure, there's some spectacular effects throughout the movie, but I'm sure that they could be done with a real-action/CGI combination, to better effect. I'm also not entirely sure what Zemeckis (who scripted as well as directed) wants from his film. It strives for realistic movement and environments, but the characters look cartoony. Indeed, the characters sometimes even do cartoony movement (such as the dancing at Fezziwigs). Why motion capture, when you also do things which don't obey the laws of anatomy and physics too?

This is basically the film's biggest "flaw". In nearly every review I have read of the film, this is the one element that gets the most criticism. But some have taken it beyond and focuses on JUST this. In other words, the review just consists of the reviewer bashing the animation without giving the story and performances proper credit, and this bothered me, especially since these same people hailed Avatar as a great ANIMATED movie, even though both are using the same techniques (though clearly one is more refined than the other).

But to me at least, the motion capture does add to the tone of the movie. One common complain is that motion capture makes the characters look "dead" or "ghostly". It seems that in a stroke of genius Zemeckis decided to use this to his advantage. It's why the ghost of Jacob Marley is so disturbing, and pretty much the last half of the film is so discomforting, the look of the film is adequate for these scenes.

If you want an even more disconnected movie featuring realistic movement versus extremely cartoonish designs, look no further than Monster House.