The Film
Usually, you can tell how good a Nicolas Cage movie is by the caliber of his hair. It's really the best gauge, considering how the guy seems to have at least one movie per season now. However, the hair rule does not apply to The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a good old-fashioned story of good versus evil, with a boatload of magic and special effects sprinkled in. That's not to say that it's a good movie, but it won't leave you wincing in pain either.
The story follows Dave, a budding uber-nerd who encounters super sorcerer Balthazar (Cage) and all of his super powers at a young age. Countless therapy sessions later, now mostly grown-up college uber-nerd Dave (Jay Bauchel)meets Balthazar once again, gets a quickie lesson in magic, and the two team up to defeat other evil forces in the magic kingdom (no, not the one in Florida).
The plot to The Sorcerer's Apprentice is actually way more complicated than that. It's also completely unnecessary. It's a throwaway premise with another bad 'do for Cage. Overall though, it's not a bad popcorn flick.
Want to conjure up a little more detail about the movie? Check out Beth McCabe's review of the theatrical release of The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
The Picture
Disney never seems to disappoint, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice is no different. This is yet another lively Blu-ray presentation. Portions of the movie are a bit dark, but also sharp and detailed. Overall, this 2.40:1 transfer has more than a bit of magic to it. Colors are extremely bold, as are the black levels. The film's most chaotic moments also offer some of the best imagery, most notably during the Chinatown sequence. This is one of the many moments that really seems to pop. It's not just the color, however, but the detail -- right down to (you guessed it), Cage's scraggly hair. It always seems to go back to that hair, doesn't it?
The Sound
This DTS-HD Master Audio track perfectly matches the film's image. There are a ton of special effects in this film, and every single one of them seems to shoot out of the surrounds like one of those sorcerer-style lightning bolts. Again, we have to mention the Chinatown scene, which erupts the entire soundfield with growls and howls of a ginormous dragon. There's also a noteworthy car chase, and the whole climatic conjuring up the dead thing. It really is a nice showcase, and actually manages to keep you interested in the movie. Now that's saying something!
The Extras
Disney has conjured up quite a collection of extras for this 2-disc set. (A 3-disc set also features a digital copy of the movie.) All of the featurettes are less than 15 minutes each, making them fairly easy to blow through. However, each one has a few interesting tidbits.
Out of the entire collection, the must-see is the one that covers the recreation of the classic Fantasia broom scene. In between all of the gushing about Disney, it's kind of cool to see just how this scene was created, via computers, little green guys, and a lot of great music. "Magic in the City" spends most of its 13 minutes covering the locations of the movie, with much of the focus on Chinatown and New York City's subway. It also has a few fun minutes on the film's fight scenes. Magic geeks will also want to take a peek at "The Science of Sorcery," which has the main cast members reviewing their respective methods of mayhem. The rest are just blips on a few characters, props, adorable wolf puppies, and other noteworthy moments in the movie.
Aside from the standard-def disc and BD-Live features, it's also worth noting that this set includes the short, "Discover Blu-ray 3D with Timon & Pumbaa." It may not convince you to buy a 3D TV, but covers some of the basics. Plus, your kids will love it.
Final Thoughts
This stellar Blu-ray must have us under some type of spell. Because frankly, if anyone else tried to recommend The Sorcerer's Apprentice, we'd blame the black magic thing. However, the bottom line is that it's not such a bad movie. Don't even try to understand what's going on, and you might just enjoy yourself.
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