This is the third in a series of live-action musical films featuring The Muppets, and sadly it was the final film before the death of creator Jim Henson. It would also be the first solo directorial debut by Frank Oz, who also performs Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear (Oz had previously co-directed The Dark Crystal with Henson). The Muppet Babies were first introduced in a fantasy sequence in this film as well, and would later receive their own Saturday morning cartoon.

The Muppets have graduated college, and Kermit and friends decide to make a quest to New York. The mission, to get their variety musical show on Broadway. However once they hit the streets of Manhattan, they find it much more difficult than they had anticipated. After failing to secure the funding they needed, the Muppets go their separate ways, that is all except for Kermit, who stays the course. Eventually he secures a producer who is willing to take on their show, the Muppets are once again united, and their production of “Manhattan Melodies” hits Broadway.

Here we have another great release from Sony. Although this release isn’t as completely perfect as their usual releases, “The Muppets Take Manhattan” takes the screen with a grainy, yet realistic, 1080p transfer. The transfer is extremely clear and rich with great attention to detail, especially the intricate textures of the Muppets, all the while remaining true to the filmmakers creative cinematography. Everything from the colors, to the whites and blacks are pretty stunning. The blacks are deep and rich, while the whites are pure.

The film is presented with a pretty amazing DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Being that this is a musical, the sound transfer of this release is almost more important than the picture quality. The music is never booming, but is rich enough to leave you satisfied, and makes use of all of the speakers fairly evenly. The dialogue track is clear and crisp, and never gets lost among the music.

Not being a company that likes to change things from their norm, Sony has released yet another release with the bare minimum they could scrape off the cutting room floor. There’s little to nothing to say about these, so check what you are given out below:

• Muppetisms
• Jim Henson Interview
• Previews of Additional Sony titles
• BD-Live
• DVD Copy

Considering this isn’t a brand new film, you already know if you love or hate the film itself, so I’ll leave anything related to that out of the bottom line. What I’m assuming you’re interested in is the technical specification.

While the picture and audio quality isn’t as amazing as it could be, it’s still pretty amazing. If I were a betting man, I’d certainly bet that we’re not going to see this get a re-release anytime in the near future. As I said above, the tech specs are definitely nothing to scoff at. If you’re a fan of the film, then I’d certainly recommend you go pick this up!