This... should please all but the most die-hard Chipmunk fans.
Overall, you can´t go wrong with "Alvin and the Chipmunks." The first half is well worth the shortcomings of the final half of the film. Jason Lee is very good as Dave Seville and while he didn´t quite have the deep and parental voice of Ross Bagdasarian shouting the overly familiar "Alvin," he brought likability to the character. The film shines brightest when Dave discovers the magic of the trio when the first sing "The Chipmunk Song" and I´m very thankful the filmmakers retained that classic as a key part to this film. Once the ´Chipmunk Sound´ went to modern pop and dance, I thought some of the magic was lost, but I remembered back to when I was younger and how I enjoyed hearing the Alvin and the Chipmunks cover some of the songs I liked from the time. I´m sure kids today will love hearing Alvin, Simon and Theodore singing the music of their time. This isn´t a great film, but it´s a lot of fun and good for fans of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" of all ages.
Video:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" combines photo-realistic CGI effects with a live-action film. Essentially, the three chipmunks are computer generated and the remaining elements of the film were shot with a standard camera. I had expected great things with the Blu-ray release of this film because of the presence that CGI films typically have in high definition. The release didn´t disappoint, but it wasn´t as visually stunning as I had hoped. Don´t get me wrong. It is a good transfer and the colors are nothing less than ´awesome like Alvin,´ but the level of detail seemed a chipmunk hair off. The computer generated chipmunks are the best looking element of the presentation, but compared to the average level of detail as present in the rest of the film, the live-action footage looks dull. My slight disappointment with the transfer could wholly be based upon the contrast between the uber-sharp CGI work and the more commonplace visuals. The disc is mastered in 1.85:1 AVC MPEG-4 and the source materials are clean and the digital mastering is superb.
Audio:
Let´s face it: Alvin and the Chipmunks are historically about the music. Thankfully, Fox delivered the goods with a steller sounding DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 transfer. The film featured a fairly aggressive mix that really comes to life in the second half of the film and while I felt the storytelling was sub-par on the back nine, the sound was quite impressive. From watching the bonus features, I learned that there were at least twenty four tracks of music for each song. It shows and to quote one of the personalities from those bonus materials, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" boasts a "Wall of Sound." The .1 LFE channel pounds heartedly with the pop beats and the rear surrounds are used with nice effect. The high pitched chipmunks sounded superb and dialogue was clear for the trio and their human counterparts. My favorite sounding part of the film was the closing credits and hearing the super-cleaned up version of "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don´t Be Late)." It sounded amazing.
Extras:
The Blu-ray release of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" could be considered quite thin, even for a chipmunk. Considering a sequel is apparently in the works and the film did pretty good in box-office returns, I was honestly expecting a little more in the value-added content. The disc contains two brief supplements and some promotional material. The first, Chip-Chip-Hooray! Chipmunk History (12:18) finds Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and some others associated with the chipmunks giving a very nice backstory on how the Chipmunk Phenomenon came into being. For being only twelve minutes long, I was quite impressed with the amount of material presented. The second, Hitting the Harmony (8:55) looked at how the chipmunk songs were created. Finally, Fox on Blu-ray includes trailers for "Ice Age: The Meltdown," "Night at the Museum" and "Eragon."
Closing Comments:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" could almost be called sacred ground. I grew up enjoying the laughs and music of Alvin, Simon and Theodore. Although Jason Lee was attached, I was leery about the CGI-based chipmunks. However, the film is a good outing for the singing chipmunks and the filmmakers did a pretty good job of bringing the creations of Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. to new audiences. I would have kept going with the themes and fun of the first forty five minutes for the whole film, but that is my personal preference and I didn´t enjoy the second half of the picture nearly as much as I enjoyed the first half. The Blu-ray release featured good, but uneven visuals. The CGI chipmunks look amazing, but the live-action visuals cannot keep pace. The soundtrack is quite good. The supplements are short, but I enjoyed the two short vignettes on the music and history of "Alvin and the Chipmunks." This is a nice release for the family and should please all but the most die-hard Chipmunk fans.
Video:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" combines photo-realistic CGI effects with a live-action film. Essentially, the three chipmunks are computer generated and the remaining elements of the film were shot with a standard camera. I had expected great things with the Blu-ray release of this film because of the presence that CGI films typically have in high definition. The release didn´t disappoint, but it wasn´t as visually stunning as I had hoped. Don´t get me wrong. It is a good transfer and the colors are nothing less than ´awesome like Alvin,´ but the level of detail seemed a chipmunk hair off. The computer generated chipmunks are the best looking element of the presentation, but compared to the average level of detail as present in the rest of the film, the live-action footage looks dull. My slight disappointment with the transfer could wholly be based upon the contrast between the uber-sharp CGI work and the more commonplace visuals. The disc is mastered in 1.85:1 AVC MPEG-4 and the source materials are clean and the digital mastering is superb.
Audio:
Let´s face it: Alvin and the Chipmunks are historically about the music. Thankfully, Fox delivered the goods with a steller sounding DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 transfer. The film featured a fairly aggressive mix that really comes to life in the second half of the film and while I felt the storytelling was sub-par on the back nine, the sound was quite impressive. From watching the bonus features, I learned that there were at least twenty four tracks of music for each song. It shows and to quote one of the personalities from those bonus materials, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" boasts a "Wall of Sound." The .1 LFE channel pounds heartedly with the pop beats and the rear surrounds are used with nice effect. The high pitched chipmunks sounded superb and dialogue was clear for the trio and their human counterparts. My favorite sounding part of the film was the closing credits and hearing the super-cleaned up version of "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don´t Be Late)." It sounded amazing.
Extras:
The Blu-ray release of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" could be considered quite thin, even for a chipmunk. Considering a sequel is apparently in the works and the film did pretty good in box-office returns, I was honestly expecting a little more in the value-added content. The disc contains two brief supplements and some promotional material. The first, Chip-Chip-Hooray! Chipmunk History (12:18) finds Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and some others associated with the chipmunks giving a very nice backstory on how the Chipmunk Phenomenon came into being. For being only twelve minutes long, I was quite impressed with the amount of material presented. The second, Hitting the Harmony (8:55) looked at how the chipmunk songs were created. Finally, Fox on Blu-ray includes trailers for "Ice Age: The Meltdown," "Night at the Museum" and "Eragon."
Closing Comments:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" could almost be called sacred ground. I grew up enjoying the laughs and music of Alvin, Simon and Theodore. Although Jason Lee was attached, I was leery about the CGI-based chipmunks. However, the film is a good outing for the singing chipmunks and the filmmakers did a pretty good job of bringing the creations of Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. to new audiences. I would have kept going with the themes and fun of the first forty five minutes for the whole film, but that is my personal preference and I didn´t enjoy the second half of the picture nearly as much as I enjoyed the first half. The Blu-ray release featured good, but uneven visuals. The CGI chipmunks look amazing, but the live-action visuals cannot keep pace. The soundtrack is quite good. The supplements are short, but I enjoyed the two short vignettes on the music and history of "Alvin and the Chipmunks." This is a nice release for the family and should please all but the most die-hard Chipmunk fans.
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