Reviews Archive for Ben Simon

The Halloween Tree

In time for All Hallows Eve, Ray Bradbury’s tale of ghosts and magic debuts on DVD from the Warner Archive. The disc is skeleton barebones but contains enough other mummies, witches and creatures to spell a suitably spooky Halloween treat.

The Great Mouse Detective: Mystery In The Mist Edition

Disney’s Blu-ray update adds nothing but an HD transfer to the Studio’s hugely entertaining 1986 adventure, which allowed the new generation of artists to flourish.

Cinderella: Diamond Edition

Walt Disney turns the classic fairytale into one of his most definitive examples of the genre, with a charming Prince, wicked Stepmother and comedy animal sidekicks complimenting the detailed animation.

Heidi’s Song

Hanna-Barbera’s animated musical take on the classic story of Heidi provides all the elements you’d expect, but with an artistry of craftsmanship rarely seen from the Studio. WB’s disc adds nothing to a lovely presentation.

Looney Tunes’ Mouse Chronicles

Three of Chuck Jones’ lesser-known Looney Tunes characters come to the fore in this very nice looking but otherwise non-too essential collection for all but the biggest fans.

Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation

Exceptionally bad video and low-volume sound remove any of the fizz to be had in this classic video premiere, the 21st anniversary of which goes unmentioned or, it seems, cared about. What a shambles!

The Rescuers / The Rescuers Down Under: 35th Anniversary 2-Movie Collection

Two terrifically unique Disney adventures look perfect in HD. The extras are largely disappointing, but this set represents the best value of the Studio’s Aug. 21 releases!

The AristoCats: Special Edition

Disney’s jazzy classic gets the groovy hi-def treatment, baby, and these cool cats swing like never before, with stunning picture and sound and a fair mix of old and new extras. Oh, yeah!

Pocahontas: 2-Movie Collection

How about losing Pocahontas’ crucial If I Never Knew You sequence and pretty much all of the previous discs’ bonus features for its made for video sequel? Great, because that’s about all you get in this extremely disappointing set.

The Tigger Movie: Bounce-a-rrrific Special Edition

Arguably the most authentic Pooh film to come along since his Many Adventures, The Tigger Movie bounces along on a wave of nostalgic charm, proving that this is what Disney does best!

Lady And The Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure

Disney’s made for video sequel is easily one of the better titles to emerge from the unit, with authentic feeling backgrounds and an old-time spirit that recalls the original film nicely.

Treasure Planet: 10th Anniversary Edition

Disney’s “tradigital” adventure represents the epitome of hand-drawn and computer animation, and even though a Visual Commentary is (kind of) missing, the set is the best presentation one could hope for!

Home On The Range

Disney’s wild Wild West comedy isn’t the layered kind of film that the 1990s renaissance was built on, but it wasn’t meant to be: Home On The Range is simply comical fun for the sake of it!

John Carter (Of Mars)

Junk the clunky 3D and enjoy Andrew Stanton’s traditionally exciting adventure for what it is: a reclaiming of sci-fi ideas and concepts from 100 years ago, since borrowed for a host of “inspired”-by movies!

The Muppets

The true best picture of 2011 becomes the instant must-have disc of 2012 as Kermit and the gang find themselves in new but very assured hands. Made by fans for fans, if you don’t have this already, get it now for a fun family Easter treat!

The Lion King II / The Lion King 1½

The first sequel suffers from too much comparison to its predecessor, but where the third film hits the mark is in being just the opposite: an all-out, almost full-on parody of Disney’s classic hit.

Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention

Although not featuring Nick Park’s classic characters as we’re more often used to seeing them, the Wallace and Gromit hosted World Of Invention is informative and fun thanks to their (brief) links.

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn

Hergé’s iconic graphic album adventures burst onto the screen courtesy of top-flight motion-capture animation under the watchful eyes of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, and the result is simply astounding!

Happy Feet Two

This poor, poor retread of the original film won’t win over any new fans, and old ones should just watch the first film again, but the disc wins big points for including an excellent new Looney Tunes short with a classic twist.

Lady And The Tramp

Walt Disney’s classic brings kitchen sink drama to animated film, and this latest home video version, while not adding much new to what the Platinum DVD served up, scores with its pristine audio and video presentation.

Mad: Season One, Part Two

The usual gang of idiots return for a second helping of the original satirical magazine’s surprisingly consistent transition to the screen, and even if the strike rate isn’t quite as strong as the first episodes there are still (“cheap!”) laughs to be had.

Real Steel

Memories of robot-in-the-ring childhood toy games will come flooding back for those of a certain age, for whom the big-hearted Real Steel will entertain as a good-time, old-style movie, but with state-of-the-art visuals.

The Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Volume One

Looking better than ever, the Looney Tunes have hit Blu-ray with a stunning collection of classic toons and tributes to Chuck Jones. Excellent.

The Essential Daffy Duck

An overpriced random selection of milestones, also-rans and specials don’t really add anything to the Daffy Duck legend, but a couple of nostalgic TV specials may help to round out some collections.

Dr. Seuss’s Holidays On The Loose!

A rather odd grouping of previously released Grinch specials, collected together under the pretence of the holidays when only one of them is actually tied to one, with undistinguished audio and video on all but the classic Christmas show.

Disney Blu-ray 3D Reissues: Chicken Little / Meet The Robinsons / Bolt / G-Force

The lowdown on the upgrades for four of Disney’s recent CG features, now presented in high-definition 3D.

Cars 2

Lacking any of the heart or speed of the original, this flat as a flat tyre sequel finds Pixar running awfully low on gas, and the extras scrape the barrel in trying to tune-up a rare misfire that doesn’t get out of the pit-stop let alone make the finish line.

Toy Story / Toy Story 2 / Toy Story 3 – 3D Editions

The toys are back on disc, now with an added dimension in these reissued combo packs that bundle in 3D and Digital Copy platters. The supplements are as plentiful as ever, but what about the new perspective?

Winnie The Pooh

Though sometimes overly familiar and not remarkably new, there’s an innocent sweetness to this return to the Hundred Acre Wood, and the disc’s package puts together some welcome supplements including the animated short The Ballad Of Nessie.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: Limited 3D Edition

Fourth time around the sails look pretty worn on the franchise. The supplements show off the detail gone into its making, but sneaky of Disney to hold them back just for this otherwise redundant 3D edition.