Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #926 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-07-27
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It’s hard to pinpoint just which part of the Monsters Inc high definition presentation will blow you away the most. Will it be the gorgeous colours that flash before your eyes? Will it be the picking up of even the most minute details? Or will it, as we suspect, be the fur on the creatures that inhabit the world of Monsters Inc, most specifically the big blue monster himself, Sulley?

Pixar films, as you might expect, have been exceptionally well served by the Blu-ray format, and you can chalk Monsters Inc up as a raging success, too. This is genuinely reference quality visual and audio material that you get here, with few films coming close to the quality Pixar has served up.

It helps too that the film is a firm family favourite, as the main duo of Sulley and Mike go from the day to day of their job collecting screams from children to a changing of their approach, courtesy of an encounter with a small girl who they inevitably warm to. Among the many highlights to watch out for, check out the frenetic denouement, with the abundance of different doors flying before your eyes.

Monsters Inc was and remains one of the best family films of the past few years. And this Blu-ray release is the perfect way to appreciate it, with the level of detail and jaw-dropping spectacle that we almost take for granted now that Pixar will deliver. Roll on the forthcoming sequel… --Jon Foster

Synopsis
Intelligent, funny, adorable, and beautifully animated, MONSTERS, INC. will delight fans of SHREK and TOY STORY, while drawing a new audience of curious, kid-friendly viewers. Billy Crystal and John Goodman make a fiercely funny comedic team as job partners and best friends, Mike (Crystal)--a little green guy with one huge eyeball, and Sulley (Goodman)--a big purple and blue fuzzy guy with dinosaur spikes down his back. Mike and Sully work at MONSTERS, INC., a gigantic corporation that captures the screams of little children and turns them into energy. To make the children scream, the monsters must enter each child's bedroom through the closet door, then deliver a frightening affront. The only problem is, kids aren't scared anymore. And because of this problem, Monsters, Inc. is in a jam. But when one little girl, Boo (Mary Gibbs), follows Sully through her closet door and into the factory, she brings an even more dire issue to the fore: the monsters are actually terrified of children. From Pixar Animation Studios, MONSTERS, INC. is an exciting adventure with a sweet, happy ending.

From the Back Cover
Audio
DTS 5.1 HD: English, DTS 5.1 French, Dutch, Dolby Digital 5.1 Belgian
Subtitles
English, English hearing impaired, French, Dutch

Customer Reviews

A perfect film
I know Monsters Inc is popular, but I've always thought of it as living in the shadow of the other Pixar films; it came nestled between the more successful and considerably more famous Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo, it's not one of the 'Brad Bird masterpieces'; it's even outshined by the comparatively duller Cars, a film that coasted into kids' hearts despite being missing something perhaps only we older Pixar afficionados can see.

This is a shame, as Monsters Inc is one of the studio's very best films, and indeed one of Disney's very best by default. First time director Pete Docter knows his stuff- the film is filled to the brim with background detail, and after the discovery of the child the pace is frantic 'til the thoroughly satisfying conclusion. Following three films directed by studio head John Lasseter, Docter paved the way for the other directors to tackle their own ideas, and ironically Lasseter's return to directing (with Cars) fell far short of the bar set by Andrew Stanton with Nemo, Bird's The Incredibles, and this sterling effort.

The Blu Ray is a stunning transfer. While it's arguable that the film's groundbreaking fur rendering looks dated now, it still looks amazing compared with lesser offerings from Dreamworks. EVERYTHING in this film, in fact, looks amazing, from the subtle hues and colours of the sky to the photorealistic blizzard and underground halls. The animation on token child Boo is so human its impossible not to fall in love with her, share her fears and her delights. Background detail is too presented with astounding visual clarity- see the combination locks in the locker room or cars in the exterior shot of the building for proof.

Billy Crystal and John Goodman are the perfect double act to lead the film, though there's good support from a spiteful Steve Buscemi as the piece's villain Randall and Bob Peterson as grumpy, paperwork-fond Roz, who really shines in the outtakes reel (which for this release has been removed from the film and put on the extras disc).

The extras aren't as excellent as I would have hoped for, though this is a catalogue release rather than a new film, so that's understandable. It's been released as a tie-in for Docter's second film as director, the apparently-awesome Up, though the significance of that is lost on us as we don't get it until October anyway. The only new extra of significance not ported over from the DVD special edition (which itself has long been out of print, and is replaced by the standard edition in the yearly 'Complete Pixar' collections) is a far-too-short (at 20-odd minutes) discussion between four of the film's creators about their inspiration and experience. I know it's essentially a kids' film by I would appreciate a longer feature all the same.

I can't recommend this film highly enough. It's touching, exciting (the door chase is spectacular in HD) and hilarious ("23 19!"). It looks amazing, everyone in the family will love something about it and you've no excuse not to buy it. Away you go.

Another stunning Disney/Pixar Blu-ray
Where to start? I am pretty sure everyone knows the story, so i will stick with what the blu-ray is like, rather than the film itself.

In a word, stunning. Another straight from Digital transfer, and the picture is simply sublime. Colours are rich and vibrant, with dark inky blacks and the detail is amazing. Having owned the DVD, I thought that was detailed, but this transfer brings out all the little details that DVD simply fails to convey, like the detailed texturing on the reptilian monsters skin, or the simply amazing fur on sully. As its a Digital transfer, there are no apparent blemishes, marks or scratches on the transfer, with no grain or imperfections either, but thats to be expected from a CGI film.

If I did have to fault it, and it is hard to, I would say that some of the textures look a little flat (the toys on the shelf in this first very first scene are a good example), although this isn't a problem with the transfer, more with the film itself, but still its a very minor point.

I would go as far to say this could easily become a demo disc for any blu-ray system, but to be honest any of the pixar movies could!

The sound is provided by DTS-HD Master 5.1 (in English) and DTS 5.1 in a few foreign languages. Like the Picture, Pixar have not skimped on this, giving a rich, balanced audio throughout. Vocals are clear and rise above the rest of the audio seamlessly. Low end is good. Not too hard and not too soft and balancing is just right. The surround isn't used as much as I thought it would be, but it still gets a good workout, especially towards the end of the film with the chase in the door warehouse. One thing that impressed me greatly was all the little background noises that you don't get from the DVD version. The noises in the factory, the kids playing in the street when they are walking to work. It doesn't add up to much, but I feel it adds immersion, helping you believe that you are right there, and for me that is one of the true reasons for blu-ray.

Extras are plentiful, being handled on a seperate disc. All the stuff from the special ed. DVD is there, along with a few extra blu exclusives like a developers chat, discussing the films development and a game for the kids. Not much new there, but that would be my only criticism.

So, its great. If your a fan of Monsters inc. then this is a must buy. A vast improvement over the DVD and above all, its a stunning movie. Roll on Finding Nemo!

Missing Material
Monsters, Inc. [Blu-ray] [2001]
The film is still 5 stars fantastic, and the picture and sound quality on blu-ray are stunning... but for some reason they have seen fit to remove the 'outakes' and the 'Put That Thing Back Where it Came From musical' from the end credits. Not only that, but they do not appear to be anywhere at all on the whole 2 blu-ray set.

I think I will be selling my copy on ebay and living with the DVD version as the kids (who love the film even more than me) love those elements and when we watched it on blu-ray they were so dissapointed that I had to dig out the DVD and stick the credits on for them so they felt they had seen the whole film!

I cannot understand why this would have been removed. Very dissapointing.