Alice in Wonderland, Blu-ray 3-Disc Combo Pack (2010)

by | Jun 12, 2010 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews | 0 comments

Alice in Wonderland, Blu-ray 3-Disc Combo Pack (2010)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter,, Crispin Glover, Anne Hathaway
Director: Tim Burton
Music: Danny Elfman
Studio: Walt Disney 103159 [6/1/10]
Video: 1.78:1 for 16:9 1080p HD
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DD 5.1, choice of dubbed French or Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Extras: Finding Alice, The Mad Hatter, The Futterwacken Dance, The Red Queen, Time-Lapse: Sculpting the Red Queen, The White Queen, Scoring Wonderland, Effecting Wonderland, Stunts Of Wonderland, Making the Proper Size, Cakes of Wonderland, Tea Party Props, BD-Live
Length: 109 minutes
Rating: ****½

Great fun; not quite as creepily dark as most Tim Burton films, and although I really missed the 3D in watching Avatar on Blu-ray, I didn’t find the same problem with Alice in Wonderland.  Perhaps because it wasn’t originally shot in 3D as was Avatar.  Burton and his writers have come up with some imaginative twists on the original beloved Lewis Carroll story. The costumes and special effects are terrific.  In fact, watching the 2D version revealed all sorts of details that I hadn’t noticed in the 3D version – probably due at least partly to the darker image caused by the 3D glasses.

For this version Alice is 19 years old and returning to Wonderland which she had visited as a child but forgotten. So in a way this is sort of a sequel to Disney’s 1951 Alice in Wonderland and probably should have indicated that in its title.  The beginning and concluding sections of the film aren’t nearly as interesting as the return to Wonderland.  The opening deals with Alice’s approaching marriage to a rather slimy but socially-set suitor, and the final scenes have her setting out in control of her own life, which she has learned from her adventure in Wonderland.  

Although Wonderland is an amazing visual spectacle, it’s not an especially hilarious place – though there are some funny characters. Burton’s usual touches make it look almost like some post-Apocalyptic environment.  I love the surreal parts, but not the Nightmare Before Christmas-type parts. And from the moment Alice arrives, she is pursued by soldiers of the Red Queen, bloodhounds, and a terrible beast. Poor thing – I don’t recall Lewis Carroll’s original had anything about Alice having to save Wonderland by dressing up like Joan of Arc and chopping off the head of the Jabberwocky. Burton also has Depp reciting part of Carroll’s Jabberwocky poem, which was not a part of Alice in Wonderland and really doesn’t work very well.

Depp does make a great Mad Hatter, and in one of the extras talks about how hatters became mad.  There is an extra on the time-consuming makeup his character, as well as giant-headed Helen Bonham Carter’s Red Queen, required.  Tweedledum and Tweedledee are fun, and the Cheshire Cat is lovable. But there’s a nasty little mouse who loves to put out characters’ eyes with a needle.  The good White Queen, with her dainty hands up in the air all the time, seems as silly as the Red Queen, using a pig on its back as her cassock in front of the throne. The young actress doing Alice is beautiful but not a standout in her role.

The Blu-ray transfer looks terrific and the surround track is put to good use. Most of the extras are worth viewing.  The reason for the three discs: one of the Blu-ray version plus the extras, a second for the standard DVD version plus three of the extras, and a third for the film’s digital copy to put on your portable device or computer – if you want.  Disney’s Blu-rays and DVDs seem to pack in the most previews of any studio before you finally get to the movie you are supposedly viewing.  Fortunately, this one allows use of the chapter button to skip ahead thru all of them to the feature.

 — John Sunier

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