Kung Fu Panda is a story about a panda named Po, a fat furry little bear who dreams of being a kung fu master like his idols, the Furious Five. On the verge of following his goose father’s wishes and taking over the family noodle business, Po accidentally stumbles into the ceremony to choose the new Dragon Warrior, to become the unlikely “chosen one” himself. The Dragon Warrior is the supreme master of kung fu, who in a prophecy will defeat their enemy the evil Tai Lung. And not a moment too soon with Tai Lung escaping from the unbreakable Chor Ghom Prison. Will Po’s destiny be that of savior or will he become “noodle folk”? So begins our fun-fu little adventure to follow one’s destiny and live one’s dream.
Kung Fu Panda received very positive reviews when it premiered earlier this year at the 61st Cannes Film Festival and continued that momentum to make it DreamWorks biggest opening of a non-sequel film. If you were one of the few that missed it in the theater, never fear Kung Fu Panda has arrived on DVD and beautiful Blu-ray.
Kung Fu Panda looks amazing on blu-ray, as all of the DreamWorks and Pixar animation films. One of the keys to animation are who they choose as the actors to the voice their characters. Nobody is more perfect to add life to Po the panda then the live wire talent of Jack Black. Black’s crazy deliveries makes you fall in love with Po from the very start.
Along with Jack Black, we have an unbelievable collection of talented actors to bring life to the films colorful characters. From the equally hilarious David Cross and Seth Rogen, to the lovely Angelina Jolie and Lucy Liu, the Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman and of course the real life kung fu master, Jackie Chan. What a list of actors that know how to use their voices to amke these animated characters live.
Along with the feature film, we have a wealth of material here to enjoy with many of it in HD. You have a commentary track with the two directors, a trivia track pop-up (BD exclusive), a picture-in-picture option with the actors and storyboards (also a BD exclusive), along with a slew of featurettes. There’s so many extras that it could take pages to write in detail. Suffice to say, the bonus features available will keep you and the family busy for hours.
Shockingly, the blu-ray is missing one crucial bonus feature. That’s the direct to DVD feature the Secrets of the Furious Five, that continues the story of Po and all the other characters we fell in love with. You can get it in a special 2 disc standard DVD collection of Kung Fu Panda, but to my knowledge, is not available on blu-ray. This 24 minute short film should have been included in the blu-ray edition and would have helped to encourage consumers to purchase Kung Fu Panda on the superior blu-ray format.
Jack Black very well may be the most talented physical comedians of our time. Jack Black has the ability to hold the torch that was once held by legendary artists like Charlie Chaplin, Peter Sellers, John Belushi and take it to new levels.
With the success of Kung Fu Panda, preproduction has begun on the follow up entitled Pandamonium. The release date of June 2011 sounds like forever, but the DVD and Blu-ray of the original is not. Go out and pick up a copy of Kung Fu Panda today and watch a franchise in the making. If you enjoy the orge Shrek, then you’ll equally have fun with a fat furry panda named Po.
Powered by AkoComment 2.0!
Entertainment
Special Features
