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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Wizards

    Featured In Issue 166, April 2012

    Picture4
    Sound4
    WSR Score4
    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):
    20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    2278189
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG
    (Rating Reason):
    (Retail Price):
    $19.99
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    81
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    A
    (Theatrical Year):
    1977
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    03/13/12
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    (Director):
    Ralph Bakshi
    (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):
    DTS HD Lossless 5.1
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    In Wizards, it's good versus evil in this story of two brothers, Avatar (Holt) and Blackwolf (Steve Gravers). Both are powerful Wizards who have been enemies from the day they were born. Avatar rules the peaceful kingdom of Montagar with wisdom and magic, while Blackwolf uses propaganda, technology, and war, while sending out his mutant armies to rule the world. Which twin will win? Only time will tell. (Tricia Spears)


    Special features include commentary by Director Ralph Bakshi, the featurette Ralph Bakshi: The Wizard Of Animation (HD 34:14), theatrical trailers, a TV spot, a still gallery, sneak peeks, and a 24-page collection book packaging.

    First reviewed in Issue 86, the anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 DVD picture exhibited source element that was revealing of some flecks of dirt and artifacts. As with the DVD, the Blu-ray Disc's animated images have some dated characteristics. The animated style is not as sophisticated as today's animated films and has some fluctuations in brightness and hue. The simple backgrounds are dark, but reds and greens can be quite vibrant and blacks are extremely deep. Viewing in a completely blackened room is recommended for the dark nature of the visuals. Overall, the transfer of this film is satisfactory and a noticeable improvement compared to the DVD. (Gary Reber)

    The DVD's remastered Dolby® Digital 2.0-channel stereo soundtrack exhibited dated fidelity and below-average tonality. The sound was very flat and dull sounding, as there seemed to be no dynamic range in either the dialogue or the sound mix. The film's original mono mix is absent on the Blu-ray Disc™ release, but there is a new remastered DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack, which is greatly improved over the previous release. The soundfield delivers an aggressive surround presence, while the front soundstage is wide and deep. Dialogue is always intelligible, though, wanting in spatial integration—but then is an animated feature. This is definitely the reference soundtrack for this classic Ralph Bakshi feature. (Gary Reber)

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    Robert Bradshaw
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