Zathura special edition

DVD Free Shipping. Learn more. National Treasure Widescreen. Brothers Grimm, The. History Of Violence, A. Matrix Revolutions, The Widescreen. Jumanji When young Alan Parrish discovers a mysterious board game, he doesn't realize its unimaginable powers, until he is magically transported before the startled eyes of his friend, Sarah, into the untamed jungles of Jumanji!

While their house hovers in outer space, Danny and Walter try to finish the game, and if at all possible, not kill one another sometimes literally while avoiding a series of impending extraterrestrial disasters. But when their older sister Lisa Kristen Stewart and a rescued astronaut Dax Shepard arrive to help out, they begin to realize that a family, even one fragmented as theirs, must stick together in order to truly survive.

Adapted from a book by Chris Van Allsburg, it's easy to look at Zathura as a family-friendly, slam-dunk retread of his earlier effects-heavy board game adventure Jumanji. Directed by Favreau, however, the film not only adopts a properly reverent attitude towards science fiction formula references to Close Encounters among other classics abound , but delves deeply enough into the characters that the end result never feels like just another exercise in special effects wizardry set to the grating score of a motormouthed comedian.

Additionally, the tin-toy game itself is so cleverly conceived it's impossible to imagine why the filmmakers didn't take advantage of the cross-promotional possibilities; I'm still waiting for an astronaut to knock at my own door with opportunities to burn and pillage in the name of fending off Zorgons. And Frank Oz's turn as a malfunctioning robot die-casts the film's atomic age charms and provides some lead-footed fun - including the violent dismantling of their dad's office - to contrast with the film's featherweight themes.

Newcomers Bobo and Hutcherson bicker like a pair of brothers born, while the ancillary characters support this cinematic broken home. But an irresistible combination of realized-fear and wish-fulfillment makes Zathura both an apt metaphor for divorce, and further, the perfect vehicle for family fun - it's sometimes preternaturally mature and others willfully childish, but always in the service of something meaningful.

Ultimately, however, the only discernible reason for the film's failure isn't creative, but commercial: it opened a week after the smash computer-animated Chicken Little and a week before the cinematic pound gorilla Harry Potter. All of which is a shame, because Zathura is still a success in virtually all other aspects - a triumph of set design and special effects, a perfect evocation of tumultuous brotherly bonding, and an overall virtuoso thrill ride.

So fret not, Favs, because there will be other box office hits one of which, John Carter of Mars , is alluded to in the commentary track. But until then, as an actor, director, and consummate filmmaker, you're still one of my favorites; and I venture to guess that Zathura , like was the case with Swingers some ten years ago, will take off for far greater and more glorious locales on the small screen than it did while in theaters - which is no less than it truly deserves.

Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro Jackie Brown excels at rendering modern movies in the grit and texture of '70s exploitation flicks, but that proves to be a significant problem for an effects-heavy science fiction adventure like this that takes place in the modern day and requires little or no further alteration or "enhancement. Unfortunately, I don't believe that either Navarro or director Favreau are to blame; Sony's recent transfers have been less-than-satisfactory check out Midnight Cowboy , for example , and this one is sadly no exception.

That said, this is not a consistent problem, and only proves distracting in scenes where there is sharp contrast - such as when Danny ventures into the Zorgon ship; but commercially successful or no, recent theatrical releases deserve the same superior attention when arriving on DVD to ensure that fans and future initiates have the best possible presentation of a director's vision and by all means, Mr.

Favreau - if this is what you intended please correct me. Score: 6 out of 10 The Audio Thankfully the audio presentation is very good: English 5. The dialogue is mixed primarily in the front channels - not limited exclusively to the center channel - which works well, especially in scenes where Danny and Walter share the screen much less a few cross words.

The score and sound effects, meanwhile, occupy the satellite speakers, offering relatively modest stereoscoping left-right dynamism is underutilized but fantastic volume and clarity. During the "big" sequences, such as when the boys first see the backdrop of space or Walter flees his malfunctioning robot, the volume is great, and more importantly, balanced : the subwoofer and low aural tones are not so thunderous that the rest of the sound is either drowned out or over-amplified.

Needless to say what the disc lacks in video quality it makes up for in sound. Actually, there was only one problem I noticed: a few lines sounded a little edgy. Those occurred solely when the kids yelled at each other, and the distortion remained minor. Otherwise the track sounded great. Most of the lines were concise and crisp, and music fared well. The score was bold and dynamic throughout the movie. Effects were especially terrific, as they showed great clarity and range.

Low-end packed a fine punch and never became loose or boomy. The soundfield was also excellent. The outer space theme afforded many opportunities for all five channels to involve us, and this occurred frequently. The meteor shower was the first real chance for this, and it provided a fine sense of action. Other standout scenes came from the Zorgon attacks as well as the first appearance of the robot.

Really, the whole third act kicked things into gear, with audio that zoomed around us from all sides. The material meshed together smoothly and always seemed well-placed.

We even occasionally got some nice localization of speech to the various non-center channels. This was a consistently strong soundtrack despite the minor edginess to dialogue. Although Zathura tanked at the box office, the DVD offers a pretty sizable roster of extras.

We begin with an audio commentary from director Jon Favreau and co-producer Peter Billingsley. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific discussion. They touch upon a mix of subjects such as casting and working with the kids, various effects, the house set and its features, the story and changes from the original book, influences and inspirations, deleted scenes, and general production notes like costumes and design.

Favreau and Billingsley interact well, though the director definitely dominates the discussion. The track moves briskly and boasts a light and lively tone.

I also like the parts about miniatures and the avoidance of CG whenever possible; the elements about the way the various forms melded for the robot are quite interesting. Overall, this is a very good commentary that tells us a lot about the flick. A whopping seven featurettes follow. All use the same format, as they mix movie clips, production materials, and interviews. First we get Race to the Black Planet , an minute and second look at visual effects. We then watch the various techniques used to achieve these goals.

The program offers a nice behind the scenes glimpse of these methods, as the many clips from the shoot help make this an effective view of matters. Michael Riva, stunt coordinator Tom Harper. It looks at the adaptation of the original story, attempts to give the fantasy a personal tone and ground it in reality, elements of the house set and related subjects, and stunts and the kids.