Toy Story 3 and the Back to the Future Trilogy on Blu-Ray!
Some of our fave movies are out now or very soon in cool Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo packs! The Back to the Future Trilogy, three wonderful and still totally relevant time travel films first seen in the mid-1980’s and this year’s much loved animated film Toy Story 3 would make an amazing home movie marathon this Halloween or anytime! Let’s scope out the goodies….
From Universal Home Entertainment
Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy Combo Pack
Over three films, high schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and his wacky scientist pal Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) visit the past, alternate present and future in Doc’s time travelling DeLorean car as they attempt to correct the damage they’ve done to the space/time continuum. Marty meets his parents (Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover) as teens, his children in the future and his ancestors in the Old West!
Special Features: An amazing ton! Some of the many hours of extras include featurettes you’ve seen before if you own an old DVD or tape but many are brand new including cool comments by Michael J. Fox and fellow castmates and filmmakers. Each movie disc has its own set of extras. On Back to the Future you get “Deleted Scenes”.. some are old and scratchy but all worth watching, especially a longer one with Marty as “Darth Vader” visiting and frightening his dad. Just hilarious! There are two versions of filmmaker commentaries that are also worth a listen.
“Tales from the Future” provides great info on the origin of the story and the struggle to get the first film made, the difficulty in casting (first “Caprica”’s Eric Stoltz was Marty but Michael J. Fox was just funnier so the filmmakers put a full press on his “Family Ties” TV showrunners to get him for the movie despite the fact that he had to work all day on the TV show then all night on the film!) We learn from Lea Thompson how hard she worked to balance humor with the serious side of her character and this featurette also covers music, production design and the film’s release and resulting mega-level of success.
In “Archival Featurettes” you have some original “selling” behind-the-scenes video that has been on other home video releases but its fun to compare the older interviews with new ones.
“Behind the Scenes” offers makeup tests, some funny outtakes and an interesting alternate ending involving sending the DeLorean back to the future via a nuclear bomb! You see well-drawn storyboards etc. “Photo Galleries” with both impressive production art and behind the scenes pictures are fun. A “Music Video” is a retro hit you might have heard called “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News.
On the Back to the Future II disc, “Tales From the Future– Time Flies", we have new interviews with writer/producer Bob Gale and filmmakers who discuss the decision to make a sequel and Michael J. Fox on coming back etc. We learn that “dad” Crispin Glover asked too much money to recreate his role so he was written out as having died. A new girlfriend for Marty was cast because the original actress wasn’t available. The first script was way too complicated and long and had to be cut.
This film was shot back-to-back with BTTF 3. Michael talks about milestones in his life while shooting; marriage and a child etc. and says he really enjoyed playing his future self and two of his children in the movie! Lea and Chris Lloyd also weigh in. Michael admits that it was five years later and, at 29, his knees were hurting this time when re-creating his guitar-playing slide on the floor scene from the first film.
We learn that the film’s future predictions were about 50% correct and 50 wrong by 2010. Spielberg says his fave futuristic item was Marty’s cool tennies that laced themselves up to fit the wearer. Steven really wants a pair of those! In “The Physics of Back to the Future” a real (and very cool) physicist explains that the movies got it right. You do need energy to force time travel. If we could travel the speed of light, it would actually work but we need more power. Flying cars do exist but the general public doesn’t have them because they are way too expensive to make! Cool info!
We get the usual “Archival Featurettes” from back in the day and it’s fun again to see the older interviews etc. “Behind the Scenes” offers new interviews and some fun outtakes (not enough of these) and all aspects of production are discussed; design, storyboards, DeLorean design, Time Travel, Hoverboard tests, effects shots and there are lots of very cool futuristic photo and design galleries, production art etc.
You get another good dual commentary with filmmakers.
For Back to the Future III, there is one deleted scene and the usual “Tales From the Future” featurette collection with new interviews – “Third Time’s the Charm” features Michael and the filmmakers talking about shooting a Western in the classic Monument Valley where all the old Hollywood Westerns were made. Michael had to learn to ride a horse and loved carrying a six gun! Lea loved doing an Irish accent and everybody was crazy about the real steam train used in the film.
Christopher Lloyd and Mary Steenburgen talk about their love story in the movie and Mary reveals that she injured her foot in their big dance number. She also did many of her horseback stunts. In “Tales From the Future – The Test of Time”, you get more new interviews. Michael says the movies totally changed his life and they became icons in magazines, an animated TV series and a speech by then President Ronald Reagan. A superfan made a very accurate replica of the time traveling DeLorean car in the film and we see him show it off. Actors talk about the films’ enduring theme of deciding your own fate and stressing that your future is what you make it. New generations now love the films.
The “Archival Featurettes” continue here and include more on the great music from the movies. “Behind the Scenes” offers funny Outtakes (could have used more), the designing of the Western town of Hill Valley and more great photo galleries, cool artwork and posters from the film. You get the “Music Video” “Doubleback” by ZZ Top, more fun facts and we are taken on the Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios which was uber-popular. Chris Lloyd says he rode it four times in a row. You also get two filmmaker audio commentaries.
Wrapping Up: I’ll admit it. These three films are among this reviewer’s favorites of all time. They have heart, great action, wonderful acting, amazing music, a cool time travel theory, eye-catching production design and they are just ultra-fun! Sure a few of the 1980’s references are dated now but there is no way you won’t connect to the story of a high schooler who goes back in time, finds out that his teen mom was hot and..oh no!, she’s falling for him and that’s just in the first film.
This high quality, extras-packed Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo set is the best way ever to add this amazing trilogy to your home collection. Whether it’s already a favorite or you, as yet, haven’t discovered the films, you’ll just love it. A mega-must!
From Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Toy Story 3 Combo Pack
We’ve all fallen in love with young Andy and his fave toys Woody, Buzz Lightyear, cowgirl Jessie, Hamm, Mr. Potato Head and the rest but, like all of us, Andy has to grow up, head off to college and finally decide what to do with his childhood toys. Andy decides to take Woody with him and put the rest in the attic for safekeeping but, of course, the box meant for storage is put out on the curb for pick up by mistake and it’s up to Woody to follow his donated pals to Sunnyside Day Care where toddlers are practically ripping the guys apart!
Bad guys are the head of this toy “prison”, a big plush bear named “Lots-o’Huggin’ and his enforcer Big Baby, a beat-up doll that’s seen better days. It’s up to Woody and pals along with some new friends to stage an escape and it isn’t easy. In the mix is a sweet pre-schooler named Bonnie who would actually make a great toy owner if she could just take our guys home.
Special Features: This 4-disc pack contains the feature film and some bonus features on one disc, a second Blu-Ray disc with all bonus extras, a DVD of the movie and your digital copy on the 4th disc. You get many of the same features on the DVD but the Blu-Ray contains more. On the DVD are:
“Day & Night” – the really cute short film shown with Toy Story 3 in theaters. It’s very clever and a ton of fun. “Toys!” shows how some of the major toy characters were updated and how new ones were created for the film. A nice character break-down. “Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: The Science of Adventure” is a visit by Buzz to the International Space Station where he researches zero gravity. It will teach you something but is a fun, not painful lesson.
"Paths to Pixar: Editorial" features various Pixar editors who talk about how their careers landed at the famed animation studio. "The Gang's All Here" is a fun reunion of the original voice cast and an intro to some of the new ones. In "A Toy's Eye View: Creating a Whole New Land" you get a preview of a new Toy Story-themed attraction at the Chinese Disneyland. "Studio Stories" gives you a peek behind closed doors at Pixar. There is a hidden room, a cool breakfast cereal bar and a look at the crazy animators who shaved their heads at the beginning of working on the film. These guys have way too much fun.
On the two Blu-Ray discs you can watch the movie via “Cine-Explore”, a commentary from the director and producer with some pop-up drawings that go in the corner of the film. Nice and artsy. Another commentary “Beyond the Toybox” is more techie with the story supervisor, tech director, production designer and two supervising animators….lots of info and really not boring.
The one game on the combo set is "Toy Story Trivia Dash," and it’s a two-player trivia race that is kind of challenging and moves pretty fast. "Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion" is an interesting screenwriting guide to how to hook an audience from the very first scene. There are examples from Finding Nemo, Toy Story and The Incredibles. "Bonnie's Playtime: A Story Roundtable" tears apart one scene with the Pixar team talking about how to make it work the best.
"Roundin' Up a Western Opening" probably belongs with the “Beginnings” feature since it examines the socko opening scene that is further explored in "Life of a Shot". The featurette "Goodbye Andy" talks about creating, designing and animating the very important last scene. In “Making of Day & Night” you get the brief story behind the cute short included in this set.
There are a lot of short promos and picture/art galleries for the movie. I liked “Dancing with the Stars at Pixar” where the filmmakers worked with choreographers to create “Spanish Buzz’s” dance. Cute.
Wrapping Up: As Andy grew up, we knew we had to be headed for his decision on what to do with his beloved playthings. There are dark and sad moments in Toy Story 3 but there is a very happy ending and some really creative, exciting and funny adventures for the characters along the way. This Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack is a must have for your animation collection.. to finish out the trilogy and wrap up the story for the computer-animated film that started it all.
