BLU-RAY REVIEW

Song Of The Sea

Featured In Issue 198, July/August 2015

Picture5+
Sound5
WSR Score5
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Universal Studios Home Video
(Catalog Number):
61168900
(MPAA Rating):
PG
(Rating Reason):
(Retail Price):
$$34.98
(Disc Type):
BD-50
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
(Running Time In Minutes):
94
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
(Theatrical Year):
(Theatrical Release):
(Direct-To-Video Release):
(Disc Release Date):
3/17/2015
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
(Director):
Tomm Moore
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
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Nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature, Song Of The Sea is based on the Irish legend of the Selkies. This is the story of the last seal-child, Saoirse (O’Connell), and her brother Ben (Rawle), who go on an epic journey to save the world of magic and discover secrets of their past. Pursued by the owl witch, Macha (Flannagan), and a host of ancient and mythical creatures, Saoirse and Ben race against time to awaken Saoirse’s powers and keep the spirit world from disappearing forever. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary with Director Tomm Moore, behind the scenes with commentary by Moore (HD 02:50), animation tests with commentary by Moore (HD 07:48), The Art Of Song Of The Sea (HD 07:25), conceptual trailers, U.S. trailers, upfront previews, BD-Live functionality, and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 1.85:1 1080p AVC animated picture is absolutely gorgeous with its artistic and beautifully rendered color palette. Painting-like, the imagery is nicely textured. Colors often pop with bold saturated hues. Contrast is excellent with deep, solid blacks and perfectly rendered shadow delineation. The diversity of the imagined animated environment and characters is incredible! Resolution is superb, both in the foreground and background, with fine detail exhibited throughout. This is a masterpiece of animated bliss, with beautiful and engaging imagery that is mesmerizing and pure reference quality. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is terrifically engaging, with a beautiful music score that is spread wide and deep across the soundstage, extending to the surrounds and providing surround envelopment. Atmospherics and sound effects are nicely integrated to support the gorgeous imagery storytelling through each scene. Dialogue is Irish dialect and nicely integrated, though, completely ADR produced. Deep bass in the .1 LFE sounds natural and effectively adds weight to the more intense scenes. This is a wonderful soundtrack with at times an engaging holosonic® presence. Fidelity is superb, with excellent dynamic impact. (Gary Reber)