9 – Blu-ray Disc Review

December 14, 2009 – 11:07 AM - Posted by: Brendan Surpless

Tags: BD-Live, Bonus View, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Elijah Wood, Fred Tatascione, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Martin Landau, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, Universal

has an average rating of 7.1 on IMDb
1080p in VC-1 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
include BD-Live and U-Control
–
– 2009
– 80 minutes
– Universal
–
This uses 42.1GB total.
Street Date: December 29th, 2009

Overall Verdict – A True Gem/Highly Recommended

Buy it for $24.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Brendan Surpless —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself was produced by Tim Burton (“The Nightmare Before Christmas“) and Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted“) and was directed by Shane Acker. The world as we know it has seemingly come to an end. Humanity has been nearly wiped out thanks in part to a scientists creation gone mad. Trying to fix this error in humanity final days, he gives his final creation life. These 9 creatures now must band together and wade throw an entirely unrecognizable barren landscape of darkness and machinery if they hope to change the course of history. What results is a truly excellent animation effort that, while dark in its tone, needs to be seen.

While watching “9“, I continuously found myself amazed by what was on screen. Not necessarily because of the stunning visuals (which they truly are, more on that later) but more how the film was able to take a dark and serious tone and turn it into something that, hopefully, will reach a far bigger audience than it previously has. The real charm and long-lasting appeal here came both in part from the story and the wide-array of voice talents. The story, while certainly nothing new (more of a less-violent spin-off of “The Terminator” series where machines have eliminated their human counterparts), was still refreshing enough to be interesting. Perhaps in part because of just how the film created a world of barren nothingness into something that has heart. As each of the ’9′ band together in hopes of destroying these machines and surviving, we feel for everyone of them. Emotion in animation is honestly only really ever dealt with in Pixar films, which help to make them longer and more impacting in the long run.

Instead of banding together random voice actors, the creators of “9” brought in voice talent that not only added substance to their roles but made us actually believe in the emotion. Both Plummer as “1” and Wood as “9” were the two standouts here. Clearly having opposite ideas of what needs to be done in order to survive (more of a sit back vs. stand up and fight), the emotion was felt in their performances. Animation efforts that lack this (*cough* “Shrek” *cough*) end up resulting in studios that are relying too much on pretty visuals instead of overall impacting quality. And this is where and hopefully why “9” will have a lasting place in the tops of modern animation.

Overall, “9” is a stunning effort from producers Burton, Bejmambetov and director Acker. All three have banded together to create a story that isn’t exactly fresh in our minds but have brought a new take on this through performances that had pure emotion and impressive visuals. While this film wasn’t the biggest success during its theatrical run, I truly hope this finds a bigger audience here on Blu-ray.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the VC-1 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte, dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 1:85:1 aspect ratio. Created inside of DeLuxe laboratories according to IMDb, a film like “9“, as expected, looks stunning in hi-def. The film’s color palette, focusing more on the darker side of the spectrum, features bold and inky blacks. Even though all of the film does have that post-apocolyptic feel to its color range, detail is never really lost. In fact just look at our first screenshot capture “here for evidence. This close-up of the designers finger shows each little texture. With this film being digitally created, there’s no grain to really speak of and the film’s print is in immaculate condition as well. There are numerous instances of “3-D” pop as well creating an image that is perfect for demo material. While some may not say this image is as demo worthy as other animation titans like Pixar films, one can’t deny that is truly an extraordinary transfer earning a “5 Star Rating“.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The real amazement of this track is how well it balances everything. Dialogue is expertly reproduced with no instance of drop out. Even though some may complain that the voice actors (like Wood) do speak a bit low, I found that with my AVR at a comfortable 55 with the Center at a +2db, dialogue was never an issue. Dynamics are excellent as well. Such an example is the initial attack by the machines. Here not only are the dynamics great creating a really solid sense of atmosphere (and a 360 degree sound field) but the LFE is also deep and immersive. With my ED sub set at 35%, the bass output was some of the best I’ve seen out of any title this year (with the possible exception being “ROTF“). Pans between rears are fluid as each effect balances itself perfectly. In a word this is a stunner of a track, certainly my new demo FILM considering it’s short length. This earns a perfect “5 Star Rating“.

Bonus Materials are presented in both Standard Definition (MPEG-2 codec) and High Definition (VC-1 codec) with Dolby Digital 2.0 Sound.

• BD-Live: Here, as per other Universal titles, BD-Live capable players (2.0) are able to access their BD-Live Center where one can download bonus content and view their latest trailers. Also included is their new pocket Blu, which gives iPhone and iPod Touch users access to exclusive bonus content from their devices.

• U-Control: Also included here in their patented U-Control, this time giving access to Picture In Picture. Director Acker gives us a behind-the-scenes take on the creation of the entire film all while the film plays.

• Deleted Scenes (SD): Here we get 7min24sec worth of deleted scenes that aren’t fully animated but rather rough cuts. Each are definitely worth checking out as they do delve a bit more into the film.
• 9 – The Original Short (SD): Here is the original 2005 short that runs 10min33sec. This is the short that director Acker was nominated for an Academy Award for.
• The Long and Short of It (HD): This runs 16min28sec and looks how Acker turned the above 11 minute short into a full-length 80 minute feature. Everything from script development to budgets are talked about here.
• The Look of 9 (HD): This runs 13min12sec and gives us a glance into the physical texture look of “9“.
• Acting Out (HD): This runs 4min54sec and shows how animation director Joe Ksander animated “9′s” unique human characters.
• Audio Commentary with writer/director/animator Shane Acker, animation director Joe Ksander, head of story Ryan O’Loughlin and editor Nick Kenway:

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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