STUDIO: Disney | DIRECTOR: Jon Turteltaub | CAST: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer
RELEASE DATE: 11/30/2010 | PRICE: DVD$29.99, Blu-ray/DVD combo
$44.99
BONUSES: nine featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes
SPECS: PG | 109 min. | fantasy adventure | 2.40:1 aspect ratio | 5.1 DTS-HD audio | English, French and Spanish subtitlesRATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie
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I must admit, I had pretty low expectations for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Movies inspired by theme park rides or cartoons are hit or miss, with some turning out great (Pirates of the Caribbean) and others you try hard to forget (The Haunted Mansion). Inspired by the wonderful Mickey Mouse segment of the original Fantasia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is one of the good ones.
Despite having five people credited for the story and screenplay — usually a bad sign — the fantasy movie has a smart script that blends action with comedy and includes a nice homage to Mickey’s clean-up woes. The special effects are top-notch as well, as are the performances from all involved.
Nicolas Cage (The Family Man), who shines in comedy much more than in his action films, balances action and comedy well in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and is paired nicely with co-star Jay Baruchel’s (She’s Out of My League) nerdy, Columbo-esque style. But the stand-out is Alfred Molina (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), who, as usual, makes a delicious villain.
The movie is especially good in Blu-ray‘s high-definition video and sound, which show off the sparks in the magic battles and crashes and explosions well.
The visual effects are detailed in the “Making Magic Real” featurette on the Blu-ray, including how the Wall Street bull and the China Town parade dragon were brought to life.
Cage, Baruchel, Molina and co-star Teresa Palmer are all interviewed in the many featurettes, as well as directer Jon Turteltaub and executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, among others. It’s obvious everyone involved with the making of this movie had a lot of fun.
Fans of the original “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” will enjoy the “Fantasia: Reinventing a Classic” featurette, which shows how they made the brooms come to life — I’ll give you a hint: It’s not magic. (Incidentally, Disney brought out Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 in a double-feature Blu-ray set the same day as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Read our review.)
And car fans will be interested to find out in the brief featurette “The World’s Coolest Car” that the classic Rolls Royce in the film is actually owned by Cage.
The Blu-ray also offers a handful of deleted scenes and a reel of outtakes, with Baruchel doing some fun ad-libbing.
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Buy or Rent The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
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