BLU-RAY REVIEW

Surf's Up

Featured In Issue 125, November 2007

Picture3.5
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):
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
18952
(MPAA Rating):
PG
(Rating Reason):
For mild lanuage and some rude humor
(Retail Price):
$38.95
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
85
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
(Theatrical Year):
2007
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
10/09/07
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Ash Brannon & Chris Buck
(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 TrueHD 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM 24/48 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):

Surf's Up, and when Cody Maverick (LaBeouf) jumps on his surfboard the little penguin is sure he's the hottest thing to hit the high seas. But when he enters the Big Z Memorial Surf-Off competition, surfing legend Big Z (Bridges) teaches him that winning doesn't necessarily make one the best. (Tricia Spears)

Most of the special features can be found on the DVD (four lost scenes with optional filmmaker introductions, the following featurettes: All Together Now: Surf's Up Voice Sessions (17 minutes); Not A Drop Of Real Water, which is offered in three parts—Surf Cam (7-1/2 minutes), Making Waves (13 minutes), and the two-minute Storyboard To Surfboard, which can be watched eight different ways; and Meet The Penguins (four minutes); filmmaker commentary; a character gallery and a location gallery; the Lose Myself music video by Ms. Lauryn Hill; the short films The ChubbChubbs Save Xmas and the Academy Award® winning short The ChubbChubbs!; and previews). Additional supplements include visual effects commentary and a Surf's Up Pinball game.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD shows good detail and shadow delineation, but black levels are slightly milky, which limits the dimensionality of the presentation at times. Colors are bold and vibrant, which should keep young kids interested. Some scenes show much more film grain/noise than others, which can be distracting. Edge enhancement is not overly distracting, but it can be noticed from time to time. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows deeper blacks, which helps create a more realistic-looking image. Details are resolved well, although there are times when the imagery can be slightly soft. There are still scenes that are shrouded by heavy noise, which can be distracting. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack features a fairly wide front stage with adequate surround envelopment, although the depth of field around the room is limited. The soundtrack is engrossing, but there is little believability to the soundfield. Fidelity is decent, although voices can have a harsh digitized edge to them at times. Music is mixed well across the front stage, with a good use of the surround channels to draw the music more into the room. The Blu-ray Disc includes two lossless encodings—linear PCM and Dolby TrueHD. Both provide noticeably improved fidelity over the DVD's encoding, with better tightness in the bass and more fluid, natural audio. (Danny Richelieu)