The Film
For an author who passed away in 1990, Roald Dahl has done pretty well in the movie business, penning Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang... even the Bond classic You Only Live Twice). James and the Giant Peach is one of the master's many bizarre tales that has received the big-screen treatment. This time, director Henry Selick has sprinkled some of the same funky fairy dust he used on The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline. The end result is a creepy combo of live-action and stop-motion animation.
It's not only creepy, but also kind of sad... and musical! Those three things seem to go together like peanut butter and spam, but it actually does work fairly well here -- at least to a point.
Yeah -- it's as creepy as it sounds. However, the movie is also short and kind of sweet. About 19 minutes in, the live-action leads to animation, as well as a slew of famous voices, including Simon Callow, Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, and Susan Sarandon. That's where the real magic happens.
Much of the real world action is often depressing and played a bit too over the top. Sandwiched in between those live-action segments is a cool little adventure; the rest is just the pits.
The Picture
For such a magical plotline, this 1.66:1 transfer offers very little in the way of image magic. The live action portion is extremely dark, and not always in a good way. While the dark image does convey the sad nature of James' life, details are nondescript and nothing really stands out. Even the first appearance of the magical peach is a bit fuzzy. Instead, it looks like most of the main characters got leftover makeup from the Zombieland set. And when the action turns animated inside the peach, that image isn't much sweeter. While we know that Selick has a soft spot for all things goth, the muted color palette and lack of fine detail suck the life out of an interesting and completely bizarre adventure.
The Sound
The audio fares much better than the picture here, with the DTS-HD Master Audio track creating the type of creepy immersive ambience and you'd expect from such an outlandish adventure. There are tons of teeny tiny effects that play well in the background. However, there's also a lot of oomph. Some of the best sonic moments are found in the action sequences, such as the moment James ends up in this peachy predicament, or the attack by a mechanical menace at sea. Also, in the music department, Randy Newman's soundtrack is a huge standout. When is it not?
The Extras
On paper, James and the Giant Peach's extras seem, well... peachy. However, we can't always pick a good piece of fruit, right? The "Spike the Aunts" game is kind of cute, but loses its luster after just one round. Aside from that, there's a Randy Newman music video and a super-fluffy production featurette, which runs less than five minutes.
Final Thoughts
James and the Giant Peach is a creepy, cool kiddie adventure. Unfortunately, that doesn't come across all that well in this Blu-ray. The bland live-action sequences compounded with a blah animated image takes some of the fun out of what should have been a fantastic voyage.
Product Details
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