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The Movie:
The "Wallace and Gromit" short films have had a cult following for years now, and have earned high praise and awards for their efforts. They deserve even more; fans of the series will be thrilled with this DVD set that captures three adventures with the duo - new fans will find what they need to know about the charming series.
Included on this disc are "Grand Day Out", where Wallace must venture to the moon to find more Cheese; "The Wrong Trousers", involving a criminal penguin who must be stopped by the duo and "A Close Shave", where W&G must find who is shearing sheep. All three last about 30 minutes and are wonderfully told stories on their own, with great dialogue and details.
If you haven't seen "Wallace and Gromit" before, you really should - the animation is fantastic, and the stories are creative and fun. The company's animation can also be seen in this Summer's "Chicken Run".
The DVD
VIDEO: The adventures of Wallace and Gromit are presented as they originally were, in full-frame. The image quality here is really stellar at times, and I was instantly suprised when I started playing "A Close Shave". All of them recieve an equally solid presentation though. Sharpness is not perfect, but definitely pleasing. Detail is good, and scenes are consistently well-defined.
The series is also quite colorful, and it shows up here, as well. Colors are rich and well-saturated, looking smooth and without any instances of bleeding or other sort of problems. There's no pixelation whatsoever, and shimmering also does not appear. The only thing that I really noticed was the occasional slight speckle on the print used. Even this was not a distracting flaw.
Fox has offered this set on a dual-layer disc, and the picture quality for each of the three short films is really excellent, with no complaints.
SOUND: The soundtrack for the series is essentially pretty basic, offering the dialogue between the two characters and sounds from the occasional action scene clearly. The musical score is also pleasant, and quite natural sounding.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with W&G-themed images and easy navigation.
EXTRAS: 2 mini-shorts: "Rat&The Beanstalk" and "Walter Goes Fishing"; Tests: "Dog Test" and "Grand Day Out Test", Excerpts from "Inside The Wrong Trousers" documentary and a series of short ads.
Final Thoughts: The price seems slightly high at first for a 90 minute or so total running time, but the series is wonderful and highly amusing, and the short batch of extras included make this worth recommending.
Film Grade
The Film A
DVD Grades
Video 93/A = (372/400 possible points)
Audio: 84/B = (336/400 possible points)
Extras: 80/B- = (240/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 81/B = (243/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1331/1600
DVD GRADE:B/83%
FILM GRADE: A
DVD GRADE: B
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