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Big Hero 6 Blu-ray Review

“Big Hero 6” is fully deserving of its Best Animated Film Oscar award.

The story: Tired of his intelligent younger brother (Hiro) wasting his talent with bot fighting, Tadashi coaxes Hiro into joining him at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. While initially hesitant, Hiro sees that his genius brother and his fellow students are creating some amazing technological devices. Tadashi, in particular, has created a nursebot (Baymax) designed to help people. Impressed by the university, Hiro winds up joining and creating a fabulous invention called the microbots. Just as things seem to be going Hiro and Tadashi’s way, however, a fire ends up tragically taking the life of Tadashi. Understandably depressed and withdrawn, Hiro keeps to himself, but his demeanor changes when he activates Baymax (wonderfully voiced by Scott Adsit by the way). From there on out, Baymax essentially leads Hiro on a new mission in life when the two discover a masked man has stolen Hiro’s microbots invention and is using it for presumably evil deeds. Knowing this masked individual needs to be stopped, Hiro teams up with Baymax and 3 tech nerd students (GoGo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon) and a mascot (the scene stealing Fred voiced by comedian TJ Miller) to stop the masked man. Note: I could say more about the masked man’s plot and identity, but it would be venturing into serious spoiler territory.

While some people were partial to “The Lego Movie,” “How To Train Your Dragon 2,” or “The Tales of Princess Kaguya,” for my money, “Big Hero 6” was the best animated film of 2014.” Despite being a familiar mish mash of other projects, this Marvel Comics adaptation hit all the right notes. It was funny, tragic, action-packed, but, above all, it had heart. While the superhero elements are sure to capture the imagination of many viewers, it is the emotional weight of the story of brothers Hiro and Tadashi that makes the film rewarding. Even though Tadashi passes away in the film fairly early on, having Baymax essentially be a part of Tadashi is what drives the story. Had Baymax merely been a cutesy marshmallowy robot character, the film would have been lacking that emotional impact that we have with Baymax being a piece of Tadashi that lives on.

It should go without saying that “Big Hero 6” also benefits from some incredible CGI animation. From the vivid, detailed, fully realized futuristic city of San Fransokyo to the high flying action set pieces, this Disney animated film is truly a spectacle to behold.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.39:1 1080p. How does it look? It should come as no surprise that the CGI animation looks flawless on Blu-ray.

Audio Track: 7.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? This DTS track is brimming with life as the sound f/x, music, dialogue, and action set pieces put your speakers to work.

Extras:
* Digital HD copy and DVD copy.
* Disney trailers and a “Big Hero 6” trailer.
* “Feast”- An incredibly moving and charming Academy Award winning animated short told from the POV of a little dog that loves to eat. You can’t ask for a better bonus feature than this.
* 4 delted/alternate scenes with optional intros by directors Don Hall and Chris Williams.
* “The Origin Story of Big Hero 6: Hiro’s Journey”- Jamie Chung hosts this 15 minute featurette that contains film clips and conversations about the “Big Hero 6” comics, how the film came about, the characters and themes, technology, animation, lighting, and more.
* “Big Animator 6: The Characters Behind The Characters”- A 6 ½ minute roundtable discussion with the film’s animators.
* An easter egg.

Overall Thoughts: “Big Hero 6” is a crowd pleasing four-quadrant movie. I can only hope we get more sequels in the not to distant future. A must own Blu-ray.

February 23, 2015 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Academy Awards, Baymax, Big Hero 6 Blu-ray Review, Big Hero 6 Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review, Feast