The Lego Movie: Everything is Awesome, 3D+2D Blu-ray+DVD+UV Copy (2014)

by | Jun 15, 2014 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

The Lego Movie: Everything is Awesome, 3D+2D Blu-ray+DVD+UV Copy (2014)

Voice Talents: Chris Pratt, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Charlie Day, Will Ferrell, Will Forte, Channing Tatum etc. 
Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
 Studio: Warner Brothers Home Ent./ Deltamac (Hong Kong) [2 discs] 
Video: 2.39:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 1080p HD color
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA; French, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
All Regions
Extras: Audio commentary with directors and actors; Featurettes: (“Batman’s A True Artist”, “Michelangelo and Lincoln: History Cops”, “Enter the Ninjago”, “Bringing LEGO to Life”, “See It, Build It!”, “Stories From the Story Team”, “Fan-Made Films: Top-Secret Submissions”, “Alleyway Test” and “Dream Job: Meet The LEGO Builders”); “Everything is Awesome” sing-along; Deleted scenes; Outtakes; Promotional content; 3D Blu-ray copy; DVD copy; UltraViolet copy
Length: 102 minutes
Movie Rating: ****1/2    3D Video Rating: *****
2D Video Rating: *****     Audio Rating: *****

The LEGO Movie comes from the same directors that brought Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street to the big screen.  It is the story of Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt), an average city construction worker who is not special or remarkable in any way.  When Emmet accidentally discovers, and then becomes fused to, a red block known as the ‘Piece of Resistance’, his life forever changes.  Prophecy holds that a Master Builder known as ‘The Special’ will use this special red block to defeat the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and his mega-weapon called ‘The Kragle’.  Lord Business intends on using The Kragle to permanently super-glue every citizen and structure in such position and form as he determines most suitable.  Emmet, thought to now be The Special, is wholly-unprepared to embark on such a crucial mission but fortunately he receives assistance from a diverse band of rebels.  These rebels include a plucky female named Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), the wise sage Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), Batman (Will Arnett), pirate Metal Beard (Nick Offerman), 1980s space guy Benny (Charlie Day) and the cheerful Unikitty (Alison Brie).

I should note for purposes of this review that I am not a LEGO-enthusiast nor did I have a LEGO set when I was a child, so some of the references in the movie may be lost upon me.  With that being said, I genuinely enjoyed watching The LEGO Movie.  It is wildly-imaginative, creative, and full of energy.  The voice talent is well-cast and they enthusiastically deliver the goods.  The humor seems more geared to children than adults, but adults should find enough humor to keep them smiling from start to finish.  The video and audio is spectacular and make for a perfect demo disc.  Highly-recommended!

The overall high-definition video quality of the 2D Blu-ray presentation is excellent.  Images are pristine with superb detail.  Black levels are velvety-dark throughout the movie.  Colors are vivid and bold with fully-saturated hues.  Picture defect mastering is top-notch with no major flaws or compression artifacts.  The 3D video was shot in native 3D.  Colors and black levels are on par with the 2D version.  Separation, dimensionality and depth of the 3D image are among the best that I have seen in any 3D Blu-ray release to date.  There are a handful of pop-out effects that appear to extend beyond the screen (such as lasers, vehicles and LEGO block explosions), but the majority of the 3D effects are inward-looking rather than outward-extending.

The overall audio quality is also excellent with the English DTS HD-MA 5.1 track.  The soundtrack is lively, engaging and makes wonderful use of all discrete channels.  Dialogue is crisp, always intelligible and properly positioned among the forward soundstage.  The surround channels are aggressively utilized for the sound effects and music score, plus include several split rear effects and directional pans.  The low frequency effects channel is deep and explosive.

—Calvin Harding Jr.

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