Cars DVD Review (Owen Wilson) Empire Movies

CARS DVD REVIEW

Cars
(Buena Vista Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

8/10

7/10

Liam

One of the things that burns me about having daughters is that I don't really get the opportunity to bond with them while watching a movie like "Cars". Not that I found "Cars" to be the greatest movie ever made -- just that the only movies we tend to watch together usually involve princesses or other assorted dolls-on-film type movies. Which brings me to my bigger point... Why can't Pixar make a movie that I can enjoy with my girls. Pixar's last 2 efforts have been "The Incredibles" and "Cars" -- both decidedly "boy" movies. "Toy Story" is okay. The addition of the "Jessie" character in "Toy Story 2" was nice. But looking over every single Pixar movie, why haven't they ever had a lead character that was a girl?! What's up with that?

Cars follows a somewhat-selfish car named Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) who is the star of the "Piston Cup" racing series. In his rookie year, he has it all. Fame. Money. Groupies. But he also has a bit of an attitude. So, after the latest race puts Lightning in contention for the series championship, a winner-takes-all race is called for. On the way to the race, Lightning accidentally finds himself lost in a small town called Radiator Springs. At first, he's hell-bent on getting out. But when a judge (voiced by Paul Newman) sentences him to hard labor to fix the roads he destroyed while trying to get away, Lightning has no other choice than to stick around. While in Radiator Springs, he meets a variety of new friends and takes a "crash course" on how to appreciate the little things in life. The movie also features the voices of Bonnie Hunt, Larry The Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, George Carlin and Pixar-regular John Ratzenberger.

I really enjoyed "Cars". The characters were fun. The animation was incredible. And the message was one worth telling and one worth sharing with our children. There were your standard jokes that only those adults watching might get, which is always fun. There's not a whole lot to complain about here. Again, if anything, I'd just like a more girl-friendly movie. Is that a lot to ask?

Special features here begin with a new animated short titled "Mater & The Ghostlight" directed by John Lasseter and featuring lots of voices from the feature-length movie. (Be sure to stick around after the credits.) This is followed by another animated short titled "One Man Band" which is only "okay". Under the title of "Bonus Features" we get an Epilogue extra (which is just the end of the movie minus the credits), a 16-minute "Inspiration for Cars" featurette about the genesis of the story and some of the research the filmmakers did for the movie and, finally, 4 deleted scenes with audio introductions by Lasseter.

As for special features, I really found this DVD lacking. A featurette, some deleted scenes and a bonus short. That's all pretty standard stuff -- and I felt this movie deserved a little more. For a movie that is billed as the year's best animated feature, is this really the best they could offer? Of course, the kids who'll be watching this movie probably won't care. So, if you've got kids who like movies, there's no reason not to check this one out. That is, unless like me you've got girls who really couldn't be bothered.

Features
"Mater and the Ghostlight" Animated Short
"One Man Band" Animated Short
"Inspiration for Cars" Featurette with John Lasseter
Deleted Scenes

Video
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX
English Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles
English SDH

Release Date
November 7, 2006

Rating
G

Length
116 mins.

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