Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Based on the popular book series by Rick Riordan, "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief" follows trouble-prone Percy Jackson who finds himself having problems in high school...but that's the least of his challenges. It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus have walked out of the pages of his Greek mythology texts and into his life, and they're not happY—Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Learning he is the son of Poseidon, the young teen finds himself caught between angry and battling gods , and embarks on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves. (Gary Reber)

Special features on Disc One include 10 deleted scenes (HD 14:03), the interactive featurette "Secrets Of The Gods" (HD 03:56:24), Discover Your Powers Quiz, three featurettes: "The Book Comes To Life" (HD 04:24), "Inside Camp Half-Blood" (HD 05:09), and "Meet The Demigods" (HD 03:49), on set with Brandon T. Jackson (HD 05:56), Composing For The Gods: a Conversation with Christophe Beck (SD 03:29), and the theatrical trailer. Disc Two is the DVD release and Disc Three is a digital copy of the film.

The 1080p AVC picture is superb with excellent resolution, dimensionality, and color fidelity. The complex visuals provide a wide palette of contrasts and color intensities. Blacks are deep and solid, with revealing shadow delineation throughout. The optimal viewing environment is a darkened room, preferably a black environment, to enhance the full spectrum of grays and shadow details. Brighter scenes, such as the vibrant lake forest camp scenes, display rich and vivid hues. Another vivid scene takes place in the Lotus Land Casino, with its neon lighting. The underworld exhibits fiery oranges. Fleshtones are generally natural in appearance. The imagery is sharp and clear and particularly revealing during close-ups of facial features and object textures. The CGI effects are nicely integrated into the film image, maintaining the cinematic textural character of the picture. Overall, this is a very pleasing and engaging picture experience that is sure to please. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is a dynamic mixture of subtle atmospheric sound effects and system threatening .1 LFE bass response to below 25 Hz. Surround envelopment is aggressive throughout, with engaging directionality, for an exciting holosonic® experience. The sound effects are well conceived and deliver exciting soundscapes, particularly the scene in which Percy manipulates the water from at least four rooftop water towers. More subtle moments occur with the sonic signature of Medusa's snake-infested head. The music score is expansive and well recorded with a wide and deep soundstage that extends deeply into the surround channels. The soundtrack is full of engaging and chaotic soundscapes that will delight and mesmerize. Even the dialogue, while production and ADR derived, is serviceable in terms of spatial integration. This is a fabulous soundtrack that won't disappoint. (Gary Reber)