1080p ScreenShots Coming Soon
Alvin and the Chipmunks “The Squeakquel” has released onto blu-ray. Wait, wait, wait- Hold your applause! I know that last Tuesday you ran out to the store skipping and singing along like a school girl to pick this title up. Wait … huh, you didn’t? Well then it’s time to skip along buddy! The sequel to their last hit Alving and the Chipmunks has been rightfully deemed “The Squeakquel”. I haven’t quite figured out why yet, but I’m working on that one! (Sarcasm) Anyways, the hit film has released to a lot of kids praise as this baby damn near cleared 500,000,000 at the box offices. Yes, that is six- zero’s there.
As a kid I loved Alvin and the Chipmunks, amongst other things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, Battle Beasts, (who rememebers those?) and of course Chip and Dale the rescue rangers! But uh, yeahhhhhhhh back to Alvin and the Chipmunks!
The Squeakquel showcases Alvin, Simon and Theodore still as pop sensations as they are touring France. When a concert goes wrong due to Alvin, Dave winds up in the hospital and from there the Chipsters are sent packin’ back home to the USA. While back in the states staying at Dave’s cousin’s house, the Chipmunks get enrolled back in High School.
As you can see, that’s where the movie begins and the drama and action ensue. The principal wants to put the Chipmunks in a singing contest to try and net the school a cash prize. However, low and behold come the Chipettes courtesy of rival Ian Hawke who plans to use them as his tool to win and push him back in the limelight. With that premise in mind, that pretty much sums it all up. Of course their is some enjoyable scenes spread throughout the film with tons of humor and kiddie gags sprinkled all throughout, but what else did you expect?
The kids will love it, no matter if the voices or cheeseball moments annoy you. Heh.
As one could expect, Alvin and the Chipmunks “The Squeakquel” makes its way with a beautiful 1080p transfer that livens up any HD screen. Animations can usually do that but it just seems as if these furry friends tend to pop a little more than others. Albeit, not always the case, but they sure do look great in HD. As always of many CGI represented films the picture quality is overall great but its the skill in blending those CGI moments in seamlessly with real background surroundings. Although I enjoyed the film 2012 and thought the CGI was cool, many others thought it was cheesy and too fake looking. Well, with the Chipmunks they are for the most part well within their realm and blended in nicely although their are a few spotty moments that you may or may not catch. All in all, it doesn’t matter what I think nor what you think … it’s more so what your kids think, and trust me they’ll love every minute of this flick in regards to the video quality. Hell, most kids are fine with the DVD version. :p
Alvin and the Chipmunks “The Squeakquel” makes its way to blu-ray disc with an entertaining DTS HD Master audio track. One would think that with the all the voice changes and squeakin’ going on that it would be hard to nail this audio track down pat. Not the case, Fox did a great job with this audio track. Sure it is mostly front heavy with the sub puttin’ in some needed work, but you would’ve thought the rears would have got a little more play what with all the music performances had within the film. None the less, for the kids they wont care and the audio track is good enough that even audiophiles can’t complain all too much. Given the genre this film falls under, that means the audio track is out of this world. Parents can be happy with the purchase for its technical rights and kids will be full of glee to be able to ding and sing along to a great sounding movie. Audiophiles aren’t buying Alvin and The Chipmunks as reference material anyways, but it’s nice to know the film got its proper treatment and sounds that good.
Alvin and the Chipmunks comes packed with a DVD and Digital copy to boot along with this long list of nice supplemental features. It’s obvious that this is a very generous package from Fox and more than any kid can sit through. In this regard, I’m forced to 5 disc the rating as there is a great deal of supplements. Thumbs up!
Munking History: 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem and Music (1080p, 9:21): The History of the Chipmunks, a nice taste of nostalgia for us older folks.
Alvin Album Maker (1080p): Pretty cool feature allowing you to play with screenshots and voice overs and stuff.
Munk Music Machine (1080p, 10:57): Contains all the music from the film and you can now hear it back selectively or in whole.
Music in a Nutshell: Song Trivia: Pop up trivia that can play during the film with notes and info about the songs.
A-Nut-omy of a Scene (1080p, 2:39): Cool feature dealing with the CGI and animations.
Meet the Stuffies! (1080p, 3:09): Props on how they blocked certain areas of scenes for where the Chipmunks CGI will be inserted
Meet the Chipettes (1080p, 8:37): The voices and Producers / Creators of the chipettes deliver insight on the characters.
Rockin’ Rising Stars (1080p, 6:21): two up and coming artists from the film.
Music Mania (1080p, 9:04): Funny stuff, making the music scenes without the munks’
The Chipmunks: Behind the Squeaking: Cute mock up behind the scenes interview.
Shake Your Groove Thing with Rosero (1080p, 8:59): A “How to” of dance moves with the choreographer.
Music Videos (1080p): Music Videos from the film.
BD-Live Functionality
Time again for “The Bottom Line”. Bottom line is simple, if you are buying this because you have kids then they will love it. If you’re buying this for yourself as an adult then you’re more than likely a fan and thus will still love it. It’s a kids movie through and through and kids love Chipmunks and their high pitched voices. The video and audio quality are great and their is a plethora of supplemental features to sift through any evening. Overall, Fox came through with a great release well worth the price tag. So if you are looking for something to watch with the young’ns then this will definitely create the smiles. Recommended.
Good fun watch with the family.
I grew up with the Chipmunks, I didn't even realize this had been released yet. I'll have to go pick this one up as my wife and kids liked the first one. Seems like only yesterday it was in theaters.