Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

Scott Calvin (Allen) a.k.a. Santa Clause is in a bit of a time-crunch for Christmas number 3 (okay, its number 12) under his direction. After making a scene at the Council For Legendary Figures, Mother Nature (Aishja Tyler) and Father Time (Peter Boyle) decide to give the jolly elf an Escape Clause and send cold-weather sprite, Jack Frost (Short), to help out. But Jack has a more permanent solution in mind—to cause so much mischief that Santa will give up his holiday completely, so Jack can finally have the holiday he can bend to his will. (Stacey Pendry)

Additional supplements to those found on the DVD include the virtual holiday decorator "Deck The Halls," and a Movie Showcase. The supplements that are the same include commentary with Director Michael Lembeck, a three-minute blooper reel, an alternate opening, and the following featurettes: "Jack Frost & Mrs Clause: A Very Different Look" (four minutes), "The New Comedians: On The Set With Tim & Marty" (three minutes), and "Creating Movie Magic" (four minutes). Also included is "Christmas Carol-oke" songs to sing along with and a music video "Greatest Time Of Year" with Aly & AJ.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.84:1 DVD exhibits a bright picture with a bold color palette and contrast that is rendered well. The result is an image that really pops from the screen and should help keep young kids interested. Fleshtones have a pink hue that makes everyone look sunburnt. Black levels are deep and shadow delineation is decent, but there does seem to be some crushing in the near blacks. Pixel breakup can be noticed at times throughout, and while edge enhancement is minor, it can be seen on high-contrast transitions. The VC-1-encoded Blu-ray Disc can look very good, although there are times when the image can be somewhat soft. For the most part, however, the image is highly detailed with bold, vibrant colors. Fleshtones can still have a pink tone, however, and shadow delineation still isn't quite right. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack is quite enjoyable, with good depth around the room and an effective use of each channel throughout the presentation. Phantom imaging around the room can be impressive, but for much of the presentation effects are constrained to the physical locations of the loudspeakers. Deep bass is delivered well in each of the channels, with a good use of the LFE channel. Dialogue sounds natural, and the noise floor is low. This is an enjoyable soundtrack. The Blu-ray Disc includes the Dolby Digital encoding as well as an uncompressed linear PCM track that improves fidelity, providing a fuller, more natural experience that really helps bring life to the presentation. (Danny Richelieu)