Kung Fu Panda
from 24 reviews
RRP £29.99
£6.67
Saving you £23.32!
Released:17/11/2008
More Details
Studio:Paramount Home Entertainment
Director:Mark Osborne
Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen
Running Time:92 minutes
Product Description
Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth RogenDirectors: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Amazon.co.uk Review
What's a panda to do when his dreams of kung-fu awesomeness awake to the cold reality of noodle-making? Clumsy, overweight Po (Jack Black) dreams of becoming a kung fu master like China's revered "furious five," but instead seems destined to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather in the restaurant business. When great leader Oogway has a vision that the imprisoned kung fu warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane) will soon escape, he declares it time to choose China's dragon warrior--one kung fu master deemed worthy of possessing the dragon's scroll and its secret to limitless power. Po and all the townspeople rush to the Jade Palace atop the highest mountain to witness the contest between Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Crane (David Cross) and Viper (Lucy Liu), but Po is locked outside the palace. After a miracle of sorts, Po lands inside the palace gates, where he is chosen as the dragon warrior and placed under the tutelage of the decidedly non-plussed master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman). An unconventional student to say the least, hilarity reigns as Shifu tries desperately to make Po into some semblance of a kung fu warrior. Can Po possibly fulfill his destiny as dragon warrior, or was Oogway's final decision a critical mistake? A film rich with hilarious moments, superior animation, and an important message about believing in oneself and the power that comes from within, Kung Fu Panda is great entertainment that will have the whole family laughing and begging for more. (Ages 3 and older) --Tami Horiuchi
Tags
Children's DVDs, Animation, Comedy, Animated
Reviews
I had heard a lot of good things about this film so went for a blind buy having missed it in the cinemas. The film more than met my expectations.
The success of Kung Fu Panda is that it is serious about the Kung Fu element and that makes the panda part even funnier. This isn't some parody with pop culture references like Dreamwork's Shrek or Madagascar. The makers seem to really love and appreciate martial arts film and, as a result, this gets the adult market despite the childish concept. The action is really visceral and exciting, especially in HiDef. The film is shown in 1:2.35 anamorphic.
The sound is in Dolby 5.1 TrueHD and your speakers will get a good workout. As for voice talent, the three leads, Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Ian McShane do sterling work. The rest of the talent, who are voicing the furious five (Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross) are good but don't really get a chance to shine.
The packaging makes it seem like the are only a few extras but there are a lot, equal to the US release (I am assuming my copy is Region B as it was bought through Amazon UK, but the packaging gives no apparent info about regions). I haven't watched these yet to comment, but I sucked at the games.
Languages: English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, plus all the following in Dolby 5.1: Dutch; French; German; Italian; Portuguese; Spanish and Turkish (there are also commentaries). Subtitles cover the same languages plus English for hard of hearing and a trivia track.
Adults and kids love this one and the Blu-Ray version has amazing high definition image (you can actually see the animals fur against the wind!) and wonderful sound.
This is simply the best Blu Ray I have ever seen! Better that Wall E in terms of the scintillating images, colour, and detail! If you have anything like a decent Hi Def set up, this is a must demo and 'show off' disc. The film is good too, and extrtemely enjoyable, funny, full of action, and engaging! You can't go wrong with this movie, especially if you have kids! These animated blockbusters really do get better all of the time, Cars, Ratatouille, Happy Feet, Wall E, Shrek etc. and this is surely the best looking one yet! Ok, I am an adult, and we have no kids, but I suspect like many of us over 25, I do have a soft spot for these films, which really do make the best of your expensive equipment. This is utterly enagaging on a aesthetic level. Forgot work and real life for a short while, and enjoy this absolutely excellent movie!!
I am a long time fan of Kung Fu films, absolutely loving the old school Jackie Chan films like Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin, Drunken Master, etc. I take the genre pretty seriously, and was hesitant when I saw the title. I thought Dreamworks would just butcher the genre with some preconceived notions of China, Kung Fu and the inherent philosophy woven throughout. What I got was a very well reasearched and thought out film with true-to-life philosophy, kung-fu action and styles. The five masters, Snake, Crane, Tiger, Mantis, Monkey are not the original five but they are indeed an integral part of the kung-fu animal styles. For a cartoon, the fighting is just awesome, and Dreamworks really stuck to the tradition of kung-fu flicks, making well choreographed, and true-to-style fight scenes. This is also one of the funniest Dreamworks films I have ever seen, it kept me laughing throughout. Jack Black is brilliant as the voice of the Panda, really bringing the moods, and attitudes to life. Dustin Hoffman also does a great job as Master Shifu. Five stars for brilliant voice-overs, great action, great story, and the inherent philosophy woven thoughout. This film delivers a strong message about believing in one's self which makes it great for kids as well.
The blu-ray
Picture:
1080P Transfer is just brilliant. Dreamworks did not skimp on this and the film is just a treat to watch on blu-ray. Reference quality here, nothing bad to say whatsoever.
Sound:
Dolby True HD- WOW. This is probably the best DT soundtrack I have ever heard. The bass is huge, the soundstage clear and awesome, the sound filling your room to put you in the middle of the action and the thumping hard bass perfectly timed with the action sequences. This is not only reference material sound, but also a film to show off your subwoofer with.
Languages:
Dolby True HD- English
DD 5.1- Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish
Subtitles:
English, English SDH, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish
Region- Not mentioned anywhere on the cover or disc...
Summary- Buy it!
Oustandingly animated and very high quality delivered from blu ray, funny film with good voice acting.If you're a fan of Jack Black then this movie delivers his usual level of performance. Item was delivered next day after placing the order via my ipod and the price was amazing, many thanks to the vendor for an excellent level of service.
