For those who enjoy the Smurfs and videophile/audiophile parents looking for an animated film that looks great in 4K Ultra HD, who also want to entertain their children or the entire family, you can’t go wrong with “Smurfs: The Lost Village”. Recommended for the entire family!
TITLE: Smurfs: Lost Village
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 2017
DURATION: 90 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 2160p Ultra High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio), English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Compatible), English – Audio Description Track, Catalan, Cantonese, Mandarin, Danish, Dutch (Netherlands), finnish, French, German, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Vietnamese 5.1 Dolby Digital, SUBTITLES: English, English SDH, French, Arabic, Cantonese, Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian/Bahasa, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese
COMPANY: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: PG (Some Mild Action and Rude Humor)
RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2017
Based on the Characters by Peyo
Directed by Kelly Asbury
Written by Stacey Harman, Pamela Ribbon
Producer: Mary Ellen Bauder, Jordan Kerner
Co-Producer: Veronique Culliford, Mandy Tankenson
Executive Producer: Raja Gosnell, Ben Waisbren
Co-Executive Producer: Ben Haber
Music by Christopher Lennertz
Edited by Bret Marnell
Casting by Mary Hidalgo
Production Design by Noelle Triaureau
Art Direction by Dean Gordon, Marcel Vignali
Starring:
Demi Lovato as Smurfette
Rainn Wilson as Gargamel
Joe Manganiello as Hefty Smurf
Jack McBrayer as Clumsy Smurf
Danny Pudi as Brainy Smurf
Mandy Patinkin as Papa Smurf
Dee Bradley Baker as Monty
Frank Welker as Azrael
Michelle Rodriguez as SmurfStorm
Ellie Kemper as SmurfBlossom
Julia Roberts as SmurfWillow
Ariel Winter as SmurfLily
Meghan Trainor as SmurfMelody
Bret Marnell as Snappy Bug
Brandon Jeffords as Cauldron
Kelly Asbury as Nosey Smurf
Jake Johnson as Grouchy Smurf
Gabrielle Iglesias as Jokey Smurf
Tituss Burgess as Vanity Smurf
In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her best friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting and thrilling race through the Forbidden Forest filled with magical creatures to find a mysterious lost village before the evil wizard Gargamel does. Embarking on a roller coaster journey full of action and danger, the Smurfs are on a course that leads to the discovery of THE biggest secret in Smurf history!
Back in the late ’50s, Belgian cartoonist Peyo created the comic strips featuring small blue fictional characters known as the Smurfs. A big success in France, the Smurfs would receive various adaptations.
The first were in Belgium via TV animated shorts that were created in 1961-1967, a few of the shorts would be featured in the 1965 in the black-and-white animation “Les Adventures des Schtroumpfs†and then followed by a 1976 animation titled “La Flûte à six schtroumpfs†(The Smurfs and the Magic Flute) which would receive an English version that would inspire more full-length Smurf animated films.
But in America, where the Smurfs gained its popularity is through the 1981 animated TV series which was nominated many times for a Daytime Emmy Award and won the “Outstanding Children’s Entertainment Series†for 1982-1983. The animated series would broadcast on television through 1989.
In 1997, producer Jordan Kerner has been trying to get a “Smurfs†film created but it wasn’t until 2002 when Peyo’s heirs accepted Kerner’s offer and people were able to get their first look at the film via leaked footage on the Internet in 2008.
And in 2011, the first live-action/CG Smurf film of a planned trilogy was released in theaters in 2011. The film which was budgeted for $110 million received lackadaisical reviews from film critics but the film was popular among the younger viewers and earned over $559 million in the box office ensuring the film as a success for Columbia Pictures which would ensure a sequel.
In 2013, “Smurfs 2” would go on to earn over $374 million in the box office, making it another success.
But wanting to create a full 3D CG animated film, the film series was rebooted (now no longer featuring the live action portion), this film (unrelated to the previous two films) is directed by Kelly Asbury (“Shrek 2”, “Gnomeo & Juliet”) and co-written by Stacey Harman (“The Goldbergs”) and Pamela Ribon (“Moana”, “Samantha Who?”, “Bears”) and the film would go on to make $194.7 million in the box office.
And now “Smurfs: The Lost Village” will be released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD in July 2017. The version I am reviewing is the 4K Ultra HD version which comes with the Blu-ray and an UltraViolet Digital Code.
In this latest film, we are introduced to the story of Smurfette, the only girl in the Smurf Village and how she was created by the wicked wizard Gargamel from a lump of clay. Despite being created for the purpose of evil (as he in search of the Smurf village to steal all of their essences to become the most powerful wizard in the world), she was given a chance by Papa Smurf and became part of the village.
One day, Brainy Smurf is creating an invention that can determine one’s energy. As Hefty Smurf was tested, the invention showed that his energy was strength and Brainy was able to extract that into a liquid. But when tested on Smurfette, because she isn’t a true Smurf, she drew in energy and so the invention didn’t work on her.
As Smurfette, Brainy, Hefty and Clumsy Smurf go out for some playtime, while flying out with a leaf, a gust of wind carries her to the Forbidden Forest where she crashes. Smurfette sees a smurf watching her and it runs off past the wall leading to the Forbidden Forest.
But when Smurfette tells the three of what she saw, she is grabbed by Gargamel’s vulture, Monty back to his lair.
This leads Brainy, Hefty and Clumsy to go on a rescue mission to save Smurfette and when they get her out to go to the village, they want to tell Papa Smurf about her discovery. But when Papa Smurf forbids them and punishes them for going out there, the four sneak out to search if there is a “LostVillage”of Smurfs aside from theirs.
VIDEO:
“Smurfs: Lost Village†receives its first 4K Ultra HD release and this latest animation is fantastic. Presented in 2160p (1:85:1 aspect ratio), it’s a different style compared to the previous two films which tries to add skin texturing but for the most part, the animation is done very well with great hair physics and for the most part, it’s an animation style that is respectful to Peyo’s original work and also for those who remember the animated series.  Meanwhile, environments are well-rendered with amazing detail. The picture quality of this film is fantastic!
IMPORTANT TO KNOW: To watch 4K Ultra HD, you will need a 4K UHD TV with HDR and an Ultra HD Blu-ray Player + a high-speed HDMI 2.0A Cable.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
Audio quality is equally impressive. Presented in English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Compatible), English – Audio Description Track, Catalan, Cantonese, Mandarin, Danish, Dutch (Netherlands), Finnish, French, German, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Vietnamese 5.1 Dolby Digital.
Considering that this animated film has a good number of action sequences, the lossless audio utilizes the surround channels. Dialogue and music are crystal clear, while action sequences sound magnificent through the surround channels.
Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French, Arabic, Cantonese, Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian/Bahasa, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Smurfs: The Lost village†on 4K Ultra HD comes with the following special features:
- The Lost Auditions – (4:07) Voice talents auditioning for other Smurf roles.
- Demi Lovato Meets Smurfette – (:58) Smurfette interviews Demi Lovato.
- Lost Village Dance Song – (3:10) Featuring children dancing to the “Lost Village Dance Song”.
- Smurfify Your Nails – (2:18) A featurette on how to smurfify nails.
- Baker Smurf’s Mini Kitchen – (4:05) A featurette featuring Baker Smurf narrating one preparing a baked dish.
- Meghan Trainor “I’m a Lady Music Video”
- Making the Song “You Will Always find Me In Your Heart” – (3:00) Christopher Lennertz discuss making the music for a certain scene.
- The Sound of The Smurfs – (3:42) Kelly Asbury and Christopher Lennertz discuss the music for Smurfs: The Lost Village”.
- Draw Your Favorite Smurfs – (7:40) How to draw various Smurf characters.
- See More Smurfs! – (5:48) “Smurf” film trailers
EXTRAS:
“Smurfs: The Lost Village” comes with a slipcover, both the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray disc and an UltraViolet Digital HD code.
Having grown up with watching “Smurfs” on television and reading the comics, and since 2011, it was cool to watch the films alongside my young son who pretty much grew up not with the animated films but the two previous films.
And he were are now in 2017, we have an animated film which will no doubt entertain families but I feel it’s a film that is much easier for me, as an adult to watch, versus watching Smurf and human collaborations onscreen.
Part of the entertaining factor of the original series is the adventures that the Smurfs are involved in and the various characters to work with. While “Smurfs: The Lost Village” features primarily Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, Hefty Smurf and Clumsy Smurf, the film does a great job of incorporating other Smurfs but most importantly answers a question of what if there is a village of other Smurfs out there?
What if Smurfette wasn’t the only female Smurf around?
And sure enough, “Smurfs: The Lost Village” is quite fun to watch because we see another village but instead of all male, it’s all female. And similar to Papa Smurf and his village of male smurfs, we see Mama Smurf and her village of female smurfs. And needless to say, it makes for a fun, entertaining story.
As always, Gargamel is the primary antagonist. Still trying to search for Smurfs to capture their essence in order to make him a powerful wizard. Sure there is quite a bit of peril and rude humor (thanks to Gargamel) that raises the rating to PG but parents watching alongside their children need not worry at all. It’s a great animated film that the entire family can enjoy!
As for the 4K Ultra HD presentation, animation is fantastic. While much different compared to the previous two films, this time around, the animated film is much truer to Peyo’s work. Especially for those who grew up watching the animated series. Movements and hair physics to the way the characters move were well-animated and the detail of environments are full of detail. In fact, this film looks absolutely vibrant in HD.
The lossless soundtrack is just as impressive. Featuring crystal clear dialogue and music but also great use of the surround channels during the action sequences. And last, there are a good number of special features included as well.
Overall, for those who enjoy the Smurfs and videophile/audiophile parents looking for an animated film that looks great in 4K Ultra HD, who also want to entertain their children or the entire family, you can’t go wrong with “Smurfs: The Lost Village”. Recommended for the entire family!
