Shrek (UK)
Click to read:
The greatest fairy tale never told
Certificate: U
Running Time: 86 mins
Retail Price: £22.99
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie
Synopsis:
Shrek is a big ogre who lives alone in the woods, feared from all the people in the land of Duloc. When Lord Farquaad, the ruler of Duloc, exiles all the fairy-tale beings in the woods, Shrek looses his peaceful life and his home becomes a refugees camp. So, he sets to find Lord Farquaad and convince him to take the fairy-tale beings back where they belong, and leave him alone. Lord Farquaad accepts, under one condition. Shrek must first go and find the beautiful young princess Fiona, who will become Farquaad`s bride. So, the big Ogre begins his quest, along with his newfound donkey friend...
Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
`Swamp Karaoke Dance Party` Deleted Scene
`The Tech of Shrek` Behind The Scenes Featurette
Shrek`s Revoice Studio: never-before-used technology enabling you to voice your favorite character
Character Interviews with Shrek, Fiona, Lord Farquaad and Donkey
Production Notes
Cast and Crew Bios
Audio Commentary
Dubbing Featurette
Set-Top games: Trivia Game, Decorate the Gingerbread Man, Character Morph (allows you to mix and match the character`s body parts)
Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.78:1
Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish
Dolby Digital 5.1 Portuguese
Subtitle Tracks:
English
Spanish
Portuguese
Directed By:
Scott Marshall
Vicky Jenson
Andrew Adamson
Written By:
Conrad Vernon
Chris Miller
Cody Cameron
Roger S.H. Schulman
Joe Stillman
Terry Rossio
Ted Elliott
William Steig
Starring:
Clive Pearse
Peter Dennis
Vincent Cassel
John Lithgow
Cameron Diaz
Eddie Murphy
Mike Myers
Casting By:
Leslee Feldman
Soundtrack By:
James McKee Smith
John Powell
Joan Jett
Harry Gregson-Williams
Neil Diamond
Editor:
Sim Evan-Jones
Costume Designer:
Isis Mussenden
Production Designer:
James Hegedus
Producer:
John H. Williams
Aron Warner
Terry Rossio
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jane Hartwell
Ted Elliott
Executive Producer:
Steven Spielberg
Sandra Rabins
David Lipman
Penney Finkelman Cox
Distributor:
Universal Pictures
Your Opinions and Comments
Having bought a microphone - I tried the DVD in my PC for the Shrek`s ReVoice Studio extra. My PC came with Zoran SoftDVD, I had to accept an InterActual player for the extras and that was as far as I got. Error message was "DVD region does not match that in the drive." After some searching around on their website they state that older versions of ZoranSoftDvd do not work with their player. I was prompted to buy SoftDVd Max or WinDvd4. Nothing is ever simple!
Content:
Funny, fast-moving and intelligent. Old-fashioned storytelling with a beginning, middle and an end. No loose ends, no wasted time, nothing remotely controversial or offensive. For once, a film that doesn`t just soak away your I.Q. but equally doesn`t want to challenge you to do anything more than have a good time. I still laugh at absolutely everything, especially the fart joke.
Video:
Exceptional visuals, both in the original animaton and the transfer.
Audio:
Great immersive sound, subtle but effective bass.
Features:
For the first time ever, DVD extras that I think are worth the time to look them up. The karaoke is great, the quiz is fun.
Well, PDI Dreamworks prove they are the perfect competitor to Pixar. Although they both use CGI animation, they both have very different types of movies. The animation of Dreamworks is much more real world, whereas Pixar go for a cuter, rounder image with their characters. Personally I prefer the Pixar movies. I feel they have better characters, better storys and are generally more original. The one major problem with Shrek is that the story is a bit boring and unoriginal. Having said that, the movie is very funny, and just takes the Mickey out of so many films, as well as out of Mickey himself, well, the company at least. Dulock is very much like a certain film companies themepark isn`t it! There are so many small jokes to pick out in Shrek, it just isn`t like Pixar movies, which just work because they have more charm to them I feel. I don`t like the modern feel of Pixar films with their all star voice actors etc. Donkey is also the standout character here. I also wonder if Pixar and PDI Dreamworks have spys on each other, because, Pixar had the one up on Toy Story, but there`s been-
Shrek, Monsters Inc. (based on monsters)
Antz, A Bugs Life (All about insects)
and Finding Nemo, Sharkslayer (underwater)
who`s copying who?
VIDEO
Taken from a digital source, this is an impecable 1.85.1 transfer, and there is no grain or any problems.
AUDIO
The audio likewise is perfect, but there is no DTS track on this. The UK set was only 1 disc, for some reason we didn`t deserve the 2 disc US set till later.
EXTRAS
Although it is a one disc set, there are quite a few extras. There is an audio commentary which is quite interesting to listen to, as well as quite an extensive making of of the film, with some very funny CGI bloopers. There is also a specially produced Karaoke Scene, which is amusing, if only for a few times. For some reason though, it appears when the film ends, from a hidden icon on the main menu and also in the Special Features menu. Also available are some OK games, and a Revoice studio which requires far to much equipment for most kids to even bother with. The menus are also nicely animated.