Product Description

Directors: Henry Selick, Mike Cachuela, Pete Kozachik

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #310 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Kids & Family
• Released on: 2009-10-12
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .53 pounds
• Running time: 101 minutes

DVD Description
Based on Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling book and helmed by The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick, is the first high definition, stop-motion animated feature to be shot in 3D. In the film, a young girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life--only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit other mother (voiced by Teri Hatcher) tries to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her stubborn determination, bravery, the aid of her neighbours and a talking black cat to save her real parents and some ghost children and to get back home.

Special Features
- Includes 3D lenticular sleeve and 4 pairs of 3D glasses
- Feature Commentary
- PIP tours and Voice Sessions
- PIP Animatic
- Deleted Scenes
- The Making Of Coraline
- Voicing The Characters
- Creepy Coraline

Synopsis
As covetous children are often warned: 'Be careful what you wish for'. It's this very cautionary wisdom that sets the stage for Henry Selick’s CORALINE, an eerily eye-popping stop-motion animation tale of fractured dreams and families made whole. As the films opens, Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) and her parents (Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman) have moved into the Pink Palace, a once-vibrant boarding house that's turned drab and dilapidated. As her parents work feverishly on a new gardening catalog, the bored and belligerent Coraline is admonished to explore her new world's possibilities. Along the way she meets her fellow tenants, including two aging English showgirls and a mouse-training Russian acrobat, as well as an outcast neighbourhood boy named Wybie. But it is a mysterious hidden door that most piques Coraline's interest--a gateway to a parallel world where her 'other' parents and neighbours live only to see Coraline well fed and endlessly entertained. All is not cakes and carnivals for Coraline, though, and the black buttons that have replaced the eyes of these otherworldly imitations hint at darker intentions. When these intentions are revealed, Cora and a friendly magical cat use their wits and willpower to defeat Coraline's wicked 'other mother' and restore balance in the real world.
Based on Neil Gaiman’s beloved children’s novel, director Selick (THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) uses the stop-motion technique to bring CORALINE to life with amazing visual and emotional depth. The result is a frightfully magical adventure that will give the whole family plenty to shriek, cheer, and talk about.

Customer Reviews

Great - except for 3d perhaps?
First of all

I'm 22, and male. And I loved this film. It was quite eerie, and the dark undertones were brilliantly conveyed. I think the film itself is absolutely fabulous.

My review though is going to be mainly orientated around the blu-ray quality/etc.

The blu ray picture is akin to other recent animations like Wall-E... Absolutely fantastic and five star.

The 3-D feature though, as has been discussed a few times before, is a bit of a different story. The quality in the 3-D from the original blu ray is amazingly retained - to me it looked as stunning (of course there are colouration issues from the r/g but so far as the actual resolution, etc, it looked as good). However, the 3-D was quite gimmicky. It worked really well in some parts of the film - it gave an amazing added depth perception which was quite cool to see, but in quite a lot of the film (~50/50 in my opinion) its very miss - giving the same appearance as it appeared in 2d blu-ray. I think the way the 3-D has been brought in could have been incorporated to a much better method - though with technology at where it is at now - e.g. waiting to move onto either polarizing glasses or differential TV sets - it might not be entirely important.



As a side note - I got this product today after pre-ordering off Amazon like a month ago. Hugely impressed - 2 days before the official release date.


All in all I'd strongly recommend this - after picking up my PS3 and 1080p tv I'm really starting to get into genres of films I wouldn't have considered before, for video quality alone, and along the way I'm enjoying the films too. I'd throw Wall-E, Coraline, things like Pan's Labyrinth up there.

----Update: ***********

I re-watched Coraline in 3D the same night, and the quality was bundles better than what I observed in the day.

The 3D is absolutely stunning quality, and you don't depreciate any of the blu-ray quality when watching it in 3-D, absolutely brilliantly worth it. Watch out for the gravy train scene and the performing mice circus.

"...No Coraline..." said the Evil Spider. "I'm Your "Other" Mother..."
I would echo other reviews of "Coraline" - an absolute wow on the 2D BLU RAY image - but gimmicky, dark and blurry on the 3D version.

This is aimed at both the kids and their accompanying parents - childlike enough to capture the wee ones for two hours, but adult enough in other ways to keep us old-folk glued. My 11 and 15 year olds loved it, though I would say it might be a bit 'too' scary for children younger than that (it's quite sinister in parts - this is not saccharine Disney, but Tim Burton territory - and he rarely panders nor holds back).

Four flimsy card glasses are provided for the 3D version (you choose either 2D or 3D from the main menu), but as you watch it, they irritate and you're far too aware of them. Pixar's "Up" had proper 3D glasses when we went to see it at the cinema and they made a huge difference to both the quality of the 3D effect and the comfort (too busy enjoying the film to notice).

The 2D version couldn't be more different. The BLU RAY image is awesome - really bringing out the workmanship that went into each shot. The richness of the animation and the hugely imaginative way all the characters look in every single scene - it's all an absolute blast. The vocal work is typically ace too (Dakota Fanning shines) and the story of parents and their children straying apart is like a dark Brothers Grimm tale that will unfortunately ring too true for many. The extras are superb too. Shame the whole thing is let down by the 3D side of things.

To sum up - and despite some niggles - the gobsmacking beauty of the print, the great voice talent and the dead clever grown-up story make it all worthwhile.

This is one you'll watch again and again - and impress friends with. Recommended.

Coraline
The Plot
After being ignored by her busy parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman), Coraline (Dakota Fanning) finds a doorway in her new home to a happier mirror world, where everything seems perfect. But all is not as it seems.

The Review
With Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas helmer Henry Selick, immerses viewers in a Dahl-esque world of secret passage ways, talking cats and eccentric neighbours. Despite the pleasures Caroline experiences in the other world - most noticeably, parents who pay attention to her - everything is not as it seems, as Coraline will have to give up her eyes and have them replaced by buttons if she wants to remain in this new world.

Coraline has everything which a good children's film should have - thrills, spills and also some frights, as the belief that children don't like to be scare is a myth. The magical world she is transported to emerges into a tense game of hide and seek, with puzzles and riddles to be solved, all anchored by the smart young Coraline. However, it isn't completely edge of the seat stuff, as there is a distinct lack of peril.

The stop-motion `Other World' that Selick and his massive team have created is beautiful and vivid with great attention to detail, which contrasts with the grey and drizzly real world. The 3D is also stunning, immersing the viewer in Coraline's world. Again though, the 3D in Coraline felt unnecessary, as the story and stop-motion animation are strong enough on their own without the need for the 3D gimmick.

The Verdict
Positively chilling in places, Coraline transports you to a world full of adventure, making for an enthralling film.