Gnomeo And Juliet [DVD]

GNOMEO & JULIET IN 3D [2011] [3D Blu-ray + 2D Blu-ray] An Epic Tale On A Tiny Scale! A Little Adventure Goes A Lawn Way!From ‘SHREK 2’ director Kelly Asbury comes your chance to step into the secret world of garden gnomes and experience ‘Gnomeo & Juliet.’Perfect for the whole family, this fresh and funny makeover of one of the world’s most timeless stories and features from Sir Elton John, and voice talents of: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Dame Maggie Smith, Ashley Jensen, Stephen Merchant, Matt Lucas and Ozzy Osbourne. Be prepared for a shedload of fun and adventure around every plant pot in stunning awesome 3D!Complete with hilarious never-before-seen bonus features, ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ is an out-of-the-ordinary animate comedy your entire family will love.FILM FACT: Award Nominations: Annie Awards: Nominated: Directing in a Feature Production for Kelly Asbury. Nominated: Storyboarding in a Feature Production for Nelson Yokota. Nominated: Voice Acting in a Feature Production for Jim Cummings. Nominated: Writing in a Feature Production for Andy Riley, Kevin Cecil, Mark Burton, Kathy Greenburg, Emily Cook, Rob Sprackling, John R. Smith, Kelly Asbury and Steve Hamilton Shaw. Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards: Nominated: Best Song for “Hello Hello” performed by Sir Elton John and Lady Gaga and written by Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Golden Globe® Awards: Nominated: Best Original Song for "Hello Hello." Satellite Awards: Nominated: Original Song for "Hello Hello."Voice Cast: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Ashley Jensen, Sir Michael Caine, Matt Lucas, Jim Cummings, Dame Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne, Stephen Merchant, Patrick Stewart, Julie Walters OBE, Hulk Hogan, Kelly Asbury, Richard Wilson, Dolly Parton, Julia Braams, James Daniel Wilson, Tim Bentinck, Neil McCaul, Julio Bonet, Maurissa Horwitz and John Todd (uncredited)Director: Kelly AsburyProducers: Baker Bloodworth, David Furnish, Igor Khait, Kara Lord, Sir Elton John and Steve Hamilton ShawScreenplay: Andy Riley, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Kelly Asbury, Kevin Cecil, Mark Burton and Steve Hamilton ShawComposers: Sir Elton John, Chris P. Bacon and James Newton HowardVideo Resolution: 1080pAspect Ratio: 1.78:1Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English: 2.0 Dolby DigitalSubtitles: English SDHRunning Time: 84 minutesRegion: Region B/2Number of discs: 1Studio: Entertainment OneAndrew’s Blu-ray Review: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and has become a timeless classic, and certainly one of the author's most popular plays. It has been re-imagined many times for stage and screen, most notably in 1961 for ‘West Side Story.’ Now, once again, the tragic love story has been re-imagined by the folks at Touchstone animation Entertainment One in this newest 3D film, ‘Gnomeo & Juliet.’‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ was actually the brainchild of Sir Elton John, who served as Executive Producer on this film. It is my understanding he spent the last decade developing this children's re-telling with the idea of using Gnomes for the subject matter of this film. Personally, I think it was a brilliant idea as these highly-underrated garden sculptures have gone mostly unnoticed with, the exception of the more infamous Travelling Gnome that has been roaming around with Travelocity for all these years. Sir Elton John and the animators certainly had a wide playing field before them and they take every advantage of throwing in as many ceramic and garden puns as possible, though most of the humour that flies over children’s heads will bring a smile to adults.The Montagues and the Caputlets are represented as feuding neighbours living in a London suburb, each with a gardened backyard filled with a variety of adorable gnomes who have taken on the lead characters of the Shakespearean play. These feuding Gnomes are represented as blue and red, segregated into separate gardens divided by a huge wall.The blue painted Gnomeo [James McAvoy] falls in love with the red painted Juliet [Emily Blunt] and both must find a way to continue their relationship despite the escalating feud between the two families. Juliet's cousin Tybalt [Jason Staham] is faithfully represented as the main antagonist in the story, a hot-headed gnome who is bent on destroying Gnomeo and the rest of the blue gnomes. ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ take the source material, follows it mostly through, but takes a few added liberties to give the tragedy a happy ending and all with the blessings of William Shakespeare himself [Patrick Stewart]. After all, this is a children's film where tragedy should be turned to happiness.Mostly, however, Gnomeo is interested in mimicking the William Shakespeare plot without taking anything too seriously. So if Gnomeo is the pride of the blues, it's the loutish Tybalt, the tough-guy actor Jason Statham who does the honours for the reds. As in the play, Gnomeo and Juliet meet without knowing they are from rival families. Once they discover the truth, it is too late, they are already in love, news greeted with morbid delight by Juliet's nurse, a frog with a Scottish accent named Nanette [Ashley Jensen] who all but squeals "it's a doomed love, that's the best kind! How romantically tragic!"More helpful is Featherstone the plastic flamingo with a heavy Cuban accent [Jim Cummings]. Completely uninterested in these colour wars "I'm pink, who cares," Featherstone, like his ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ co-stars, is a force for love, innocence and old-fashioned fun. Playful, inventive and endearing, this 84-minute epic is smart enough not to overstay its welcome as it steers clear of the fatuous and the formulaic. As Shakespeare himself might have put it, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished, even if it took a pack of gnomes to make it happen. You'll instantly appreciate the cast of voices here from the likes of Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Michael Caine, Ozzy Osbourne, Dolly Parton and Hulk Hogan and all the voices seem to fit their characters are really superb and it is a massive big hit with me and a joy to watch, especially in the stunning 3D effects.Blu-ray Video Quality – The clincher in really appreciating this film was its near faultless viewing experience. This is a first-rate 3D Blu-ray and perhaps one of the best looking animated transfers in recent memory. Firstly, the transfer is exceptionally sharp and well detailed. This allows for the film's brilliant array of colours within the gnomes garden world to vibrantly saturate he screen. In fact, this is perhaps the most chroma-enriched animation that I have seen. The 3D is an immaculate transfer. I haven't been able to find out if the film was rendered specifically for 3D or up converted in post, but the end result is just average. There is definitely noticeable separation and at times you get that nice cardboard cut-out look (for those like me who prefer that kind of thing). I felt as if the animators could have made better use of placing their characters behind objects that would lend to a greater perception of depth. Another failing I found was that most all the 3D effects stay within the confines of the screen with the exception of a few poke-outs that include sticks, weed killer gun and a flamingo's beak. There are some overhead shots above rooftops that give a spectacular sense of depth but used only sporadically. There are some lost opportunities with falling flower petals and dandelion seeds that would have looked spectacular floating before the viewer's eyes, but yet, never reach out beyond the display. That's not to say that ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ is a total disappointment in 3D. I felt its use of the format definitely enhanced the viewing experience and it's just not anything anyone's going to display as demo material. It really disappoints me that when dealing with animation, you have the ability to do some really cool 3D rendering and in the end, you are not providing the audience with any "Wow" factor. Fortunately many of the scenes that take place under the veil of darkness do not suffer any ghosting issues. In fact, ghosting is practically non-existent here. Much like those earlier releases, the 3D here doesn’t have a lot of in your face gimmicky elements but instead seems designed to immerse the viewers into the world being presented.Blu-ray Audio Quality – ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ features the music of Sir Elton John whose notable pieces of music are peppered throughout the film either as instrumental or original recordings. There is also at least one new song featured by Sir Elton John and his long-time collaborator Bernie Taupin, though I have to admit it is pretty average. Still, for all you Elton John fans out there, the film plays like a "greatest hits" tribute with songs such as “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” “Rocket Man and Your Song.” Featured on this disc is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack and is brilliant to appreciate the visual ambience, I was quite taken back by the surround's ability to bring out the tiniest nuances in the effect sounds and The surround sound makes you feel as though you are in the middle of the backyard amongst the gnomes. During the lawnmower races you can hear the dust swirl around you and the advertisement for the mega lawn mower, the “Terrafirminator,” practically shook the room. I did enjoy the fact that you could hear the clink of the stone when the gnomes held hands. On top of all that, the excellent 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo imaging to be found also and I mean, you can hear the crack of every branch as the little gnome’s race across the yard. I feel like I could watch this animation film over and over and hear something new each time.Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:Special Feature: Alternative Endings with Filmmaker Introductions: Elton Builds a Garden [2011] [10:00] [1080p] Takes a brief look at Sir Elton John and his studio’s involvement with the movie how his music was used. Alternate Endings with Filmmaker Introductions with Two different endings “All’s Well That Ends Well” and “Dance Routine” both are in storyboard form. Nothing here changes the story, just the routine at the end.Special Feature: Frog Talk with Ashley Jensen [2011] [1080p] [2:00] This is a behind the scenes look at Ashley Jensen and her voice acting performance as Nanette, the talking frog.Special Feature: The Fawn of Darkness [2011] [1080p] [2:00] This is a quick look at the casting of Ozzy Osbourne as the lawn deer character. Overall, this felt very short and I think it would have been interesting to get a deeper look at Ozzy Osbourne at work voicing the deer!Special Feature: Crocodile Rock Music Video [2011] [1080p] [2:00] This is the music video for the Sir Elton John Song “Crocodile Rock” featuring Nelly Furtado.Theatrical Trailers: ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ Theatrical Trailer in 3D [1080p]; Astro Boy Trailer [1080p] and Furry Vengeance Trailer [1080p]Finally, with the extras, the audio is solid and the picture is very strong, meaning the 3D Blu-ray is the right choice for anyone looking to purchase ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ particularly as it includes a 2D version; and children’s re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet told with garden gnomes and an impressive voice cast that may not be the next Toy Story, but provides a decent amount of entertainment, a few jokes even the adults can enjoy, and a painless introduction to the world of William Shakespeare. Overall, this home release of ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ will be most enjoyed by Sir Elton John’s biggest fans, who will love hearing his new tunes mixed in with classics throughout the film. The CGI animation is terrific and the gnomes really do look ceramic and there's enough fun here to keep the children and their parents entertained for the duration. It is definitely a gnome-run and I give it 10 out of 10 for effort and it has now gone pride of place in my ever increasing 3D Blu-ray Collection. Highly Recommended!Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film AficionadoLe Cinema ParadisoUnited Kingdom

First time round it seemed funny and more music. This time it just seemed a little flat, music still good but not as much as we thought there was. For the price though fine

Probably would have got better, but as it was rented and downloaded for my Grandsons Kindle Fire for Kids he only managed to watch about 25minutes of it. What I did not understand was that once the rental period begins you only have 48hrs to watch the film. I misunderstood this to mean that within the months rental period you could watch a total of 48hrs of that movie, as most kids do dip in and out and want to watch the same thing time and time again. WRONG! purchases of this table beware and anyone thinking of purchasing a rental from Amazon for the equipment. The 48hrs starts from when you first start to watch. Given that I only have my grandson once a week and he tends to only watch a film whilst we are travelling the half hour to and from home it was totally pointless. Should have read and understood the small print better - not that I'm stupid or anything, I'm used to reading contracts etc for my job - just didn't expect to be stung like this by Amazon on a kids video rental for a table specifically for kids. Made a big mistake not only with this video but with two others that have also disappeared from the kindle. Should have got a cheap tablet and downloaded loads of TV films instead. BUYERS BEWARE AND BE WARNED

It was a Christmas present

I got this with a new 3d player so I had a nice cheap film to watch, and the film is ok. However, the idea of putting 2d and 3d onto one disc is a disaster. The box says it will recognise if it is a 2 0r 3d player, but it will only do this on one of 4 (at least) tries. I took it to a friend who has had a player for some time, and they had just as much trouble getting it to run in 3d. There is no clue which needs to be switched on first, TV or player, and buttons that should help have the relevant options greyed out. Once you have it running in proper 3d, stick to it. You will recognise it is correct because the 3d is in your face rather than wishful thinking. Having said that, 3d adds little to the film and seems hardly worth the trouble, any more than using well known names at heaven knows how much money rather than using cheaper voice overs. If they had spent less on 'names' they might have been able to afford a second disc to cut out an hour of fannying around.I just hope this is not typical of 3d discs as it has cost a lot of cash to get this facility.

This is a lovely film to watch on a wintry day. It tells the story of two sets of gnomes, red and blue who are in neighbouring gardens. They are enemies and uses the plot of Romeo and Juliet. Music by Elton John. It is funny and cheerful and at the end the lovers are together - not dead as in the original. I am going to watch the sequel Sherlock Gnomes.

Very cute movie.

Didn't know whether I was going to like this film,Was Pleasantly Surprised!Enjoyed this film, found it Quite funny!Plenty of laughs!The Actors voices are very Good at expressing the character voices!Great narration, also clear pronunciation!Liked it all, comedy, action, music & a bit of drama!Made it all an enjoyable film to watch!