BLU-RAY REVIEW

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Featured In Issue 139, March/April 2009

Picture5
SoundNR
WSR Score3
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
057853
(MPAA Rating):
PG
(Rating Reason):
Some mild thematic elements
(Retail Price):
$34.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
91
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
2008
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
03/03/09
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Raja Gosnell
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM 24/96 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

When a chic Chihuahua named Chloe (Barrymore) goes astray south of the border, she must find her own way back to her indulgent 90210 Beverly Hills life. Wealthy Viv's (Curtis) diminutive darling is misplaced in Mexico by a careless dog-sitter (Perabo), thrusting her into the dog-eat-dog life of an ordinary mutt. As Chloe tries to make her way north with the help of her self-appointed protector Delgado (Garcia) and a pack of new four-legged friends, hometown hero Papi (Lopez), Chloe's ardent Chihuahua admirer, embarks on a cross-cultural mission to rescue his beloved. As Chloe goes from ridiculously spoiled to newly self-sufficient, she also learns to embrace her "tiny but mighty" Chihuahua heritage. (Gary Reber)

Special features include audio commentary by Director Raja Gosnell, the Legend Of The Chihuahua animated short (HD 03:08), the featurettes Pet Pals: The Voices Behind The Dogs (HD 09:28) and Hitting Their Bark: On The Set With The Dogs Of BHC (HD 12:55), 10 deleted scenes (HD 24:59), a blooper scooper (HD 03:08), plus BD-Live interactivity.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture quality is excellent, with finely resolved human and dog facial expressions and fine texture delineation throughout. The imagery appears natural. Color fidelity is superb, with rich hues. Resolution is top-notch, with sharp edges and excellent depth-of-field clarity. Blacks are deep and solid, and shadow delineation reveals fine detail and depth, for a nicely dimensional image. Contrast also is excellent, which enhances the naturalness. This is a nicely presented picture that is sure to please. (Gary Reber)

The uncompressed PCM 5.1-channel soundtrack produces excellent fidelity throughout, with a fuller sound, with nuances of bass delineation and resolution compared to the Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack. The music score is terrific, with an expansive and deep soundstage that, at times, wraps into the surrounds. Bass extension, at times, is deep, with the aggressive and intense LFE .1 action below 25 Hz. Surround envelopment is engaging, with directionalized sound effects that include dog barks and growls. The soundfield is often holosonic®. The dog speak is ADR-produced with poor spatial integration, but nonetheless, the dog speak is enjoyable. Overall, this is a pleasing soundtrack, with at times, an engaging sound design. (Gary Reber)