“minions” is a hilarious CG animated family film featuring the hilarious, cute and naive yellow creatures in their craziest adventure yet. The film will surely entertain fans of the “Despicable Me” films! Recommended.
Image courtesy of © 2014 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
FILM: minions Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD+ Digital HD
MOVIE RELEASE DATE: 2015
DURATION: 1 hr., 31 minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 DVS, Espanol, Francais Dolby Digital 5.1, Subtitles: English SDH, Espanol and French
COMPANY: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
RATED: PG (Action and Rude Humor)
Release Date: December 8, 2015
Directed by Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin
Written by Brian Lynch
Music by Heitor Pereira
Produced by Janet Healy, Christopher Meledandri
Executive Producer: Chris Renaud
Associate Producer: Bret Hoffman, Robert Taylor
Edited by Claire Dodgson
Art Director: Olivier Adam
Voiced by:
Sandra Bullock as Scarlet Overkill
Jon Hamm as Herb Overkill
Michael Keaton as Walter Nelson
Allison Janney as Madge Nelson
Steve Coogan as Professor Flux/Tower Guard
Jennifer Saunders as The Queen
Geoffrey Rush as Narrator
Steve Carell as Young Gru
Pierre Coffin as The Minions
Katy Mixon as Tina
Michael Beattie as VNC Announcer/Walter Jr.
Hiroyuki Sanada as Sumo Villain
Dave Rosenbaum as Fabrice
The story of Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s Minions begins at the dawn of time. Starting as single-celled yellow organisms, Minions evolve through the ages, perpetually serving the most despicable of masters. Continuously unsuccessful at keeping these masters”from T. rex to Napoleon ”the Minions find themselves without someone to serve and fall into a deep depression. But one Minion named Kevin has a plan, and he alongside teenage rebel Stuart and lovable little Bob ”ventures out into the world to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. The trio embark upon a thrilling journey that ultimately leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Academy Award®-winner Sandra Bullock), the world’s first-ever female super-villain. They travel from frigid Antarctica to 1960s New York City, ending in “mod London, where they must face their biggest challenge to date: saving all of Minionkind…from annihilation.
With the huge success of Illumination Entertainment’s “Despicable Me” CG animated film series, it was no surprise that a third film would be announced for release in 2017.
But for 2015, Illumination Entertainment wanted to create a story of how the minions came to to work for the super-villain named Gru and so the prequel to “Despicable Me” titled “minions” was released and it shattered box office records.
The $74 million dollar film would go on to earn $1.157 billion worldwide making “minions” the 10th highest-grossing film of all time, the 2nd highest-grossing animated film of all time (behind Disney’s “Frozen” which earned $1.27 billion worldwide) and the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film of all time.
And now, “minions” will be released on Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD+ Digital HD in Dec. 2015.
The film begins with introducing how the minions, yellow creatures have served history’s villains throughout time. From the beasts of the sea, a T-Rex, a caveman, an Egyptian pharaoh, Dracula and Napoleon, somehow…the minions have accidentally killed their masters due to their own incompetence.
Without anyone to serve, all the minions came to start a new life in Antarctica, but in 1968, the minions slowly started becoming depressed about their situation and desperately want to serve someone evil.
So, a minion named Kevin plans to find a new evil master that everyone can serve. So, he asks for two volunteers to join him on the search for a new evil master and chooses the guitar-obsessed Stuart and the over-enthusiastic Bob, who he chose because no one else volunteered.
As the group ends up in New York and watch television, they see a commercial for Villain-Con and how it will be held in Orlando. So, the three minions take off to Orlando for Villain-Con in order to find a person they can serve.
VIDEO:
“minions” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio). First let’s discuss the 2D version of the film, the film is absolutely colorful, the CG animation features absolutely wonderful detail. While the minions, feature a rubber like surface, their denim is amazingly detailed and looks real. The clothing and even each room and accessory features wonderful detail, while wood and rock feature great detail and everything features amazing textures. I’m quite impressed by how beautiful this film looks in 2D. I didn’t notice any artifacts, banding issues at all. The film looks magnificent in HD!
And as for the 3D version, “minions” features wonderful depth. Moreso, when the trio arrive in New York City, the attempt to capture crown, or when the trio become popular and they run around the mansion. But the depth is well-utilized throughout the film and for fans of 3D, will no doubt enjoy this version of “minions”.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“minions” is presented in English Atmos Dolby TrueHD (7.1) and Dolby Digital 2.0 DVS, Espanol, Francais Dolby Digital 5.1. “minions” is a film that features interesting use of audio as the surround channels feature the minions chanting and singing, while there are a few action sequences involving the minions trying to obtain the queen’s crown, and these action-driven moments utilize the surround channels.
Subtitles are in English SDH/Espanol/Francais.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“minions” comes with the following special features:
- CroMinion – (4:25) A CG animated short featuring the minions taking care of a prehistoric baby.
- Competition – (3:47) A CG animated short featuring a competition amongst the minions.
- Blinky Nelson Unpacified – A CG animated short featuring Binky, who must retrieve his missing pacifier.
- Deleted Scene – (:29) Featuring the deleted scene “Me, Myself and Stuart”.
- Around the World Interactive Map – An interactive map which shows video and still images.
- Behind the Goggles – The Illumination Story of the Minions – An interactive “headquarters” featuring the following featurettes: Writers (3:38) featuring writer Brian Lynch discussing the history of the minions; The Boss’ Office (4:48) Illumination Entertainment founder and producer Chris Meledandri; Art Dept. (3:32) Character designer Eric Guillon, Art Director Oliver Adam and writer Brian Lynch discuss the evolution of the minions.; Recording Studio (2:46) Composer Heitor Pereira, Producer Janet Healy, Illumination Entertainment founder and producer Chris Meledandri and directors Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin discuss the music for the movie.; The Break Room features a bulletin board.
- Jingle Bells Minions Style – (1:52) The minions perform their favorite Christmas song.
- The Secret Life of Pets – (2:33) A preview for “The Secret Life of Pets”.
EXTRAS:
“minions” comes with a lenticular slipcover and a digital HD code. The Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD version of the film is also included.
As fans wait for the third “Despicable Me” film, there is no doubt that the prequel, “minions” is what many people wanted.
I have personally seen friends and co-workers because hardcore fans of “minions” with the toys or some sort “minion” related merchandise on their desks. And while I won’t go so far to say that the franchise has reached “Hello Kitty” popularity of people wanting to collect and display their love for the creatures, the fact is that these minions are popular and audiences have responded as the box office has shattered box office records and earning more than both “Despicable Me” films.
And who can not love these colorful, yellow creatures who speak with a mix of different languages and you can’t help but laugh at their cuteness or their naivety.
But as far as the film’s concerned, it’s a fun tale of how three minions try to find a new master they can support and at first, they feel that Scarlet Overkill is the boss they are looking for. And her first mission for them is to steal St. Edward’s Crown from Queen Elizabeth II of England.
Part of the film’s enjoyment is the humor and cuteness involving each of the three Minions, especially the teddy bear carrying Bob. But of course, because of their naivety, these three minions get themselves in deep trouble.
While “Despicable Me” fans will enjoy the films for its plot, “minions” is more about crazy hijinks and often throughout the film, they are doing the chasing or others are chasing them. It’s purely a family film that will entertain children by its number of slapstick gags and showing that a CG film can attract people without saying much of anything or whichever language the minions speak.
Kids love it! And people, including adults who are buying into the popularity of minions and were out buying the Happy Meals for the toys or buying anything minions-related and repeatedly going to the “Despicable me Minion Mayhem” attraction at Universal Studios, dig the crazy antics, action and overall comedy that this animated film brings.
As for the Blu-ray release, this Blu-ray gives families a way to keep their children entertained. If you have a 3D-enabled Blu-ray player and television, the kids can have fun watching the film. If you don’t, then you have the Blu-ray release to entertain the family, a DVD that they can watch in the car or on a laptop and you also get an HD code which they can watch on Vudu, so they can view the film on a cell phone or tablet.
In addition, there are a few special features that will entertain the children and minion fans, including three short animated films.
And the picture quality of the film is colorful, full of detail in HD and really good use of lossless audio that utilizes the surround channels during the more action-intensive scenes. So, parents and children will no doubt enjoy what “minions” on Blu-ray will bring.
There is no doubt that this film serves as a film to boost the popularity of the minions and many will see it as a big-budget marketing ploy, while others will find “minions” as a animated film that fans of the “Despicable Me” films have wanted and that is more minions!
“minions” is a hilarious CG animated family film featuring the hilarious, cute and naive yellow creatures in their craziest adventure yet. The film will surely entertain fans of the “Despicable Me” films!
Recommended.