G-Force appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. From start to finish, the transfer excelled.
At all times, sharpness appeared stellar. If any signs of softness ever emerged, I didn’t see them; I thought the entire film was crisp and precise. The image lacked jagged edges or shimmering, and edge enhancement remained absent. I also failed to discern any source flaws in this clean, fresh presentation.
In terms of colors, the film went with a moderately stylized palette. The film favored chilly blues for its action scenes and went with a more golden tone for many other sequences. The hues appeared vivid and full throughout the flick. Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows came across as smooth and well-defined. This was a consistently terrific transfer.
While not quite as good, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of G-Force worked pretty well. The movie didn’t offer constant action, but it boasted more than enough good sequences to make it engaging. With many action elements throughout the tale, the movie offered plenty of opportunities for solid information. It delivered these well, as the material meshed together well and created an involving environment. In addition, music always delivered good stereo imaging, and speech featured a little localized dialogue. All of this combined to create a vivid soundscape.
In addition, audio quality was strong. Speech seemed natural and distinctive, and music offered nice range and vivacity. Effects came across as accurate and dynamic. They boasted fine punch and appeared concise and full. Although the audio didn’t always dazzle, it soared often enough to earn an “B+“.
We get a nice mix of supplements here. An interactive feature comes to us with Cine-Explore. When activated, this offers an expanded form of audio commentary. Yeatman chats through the movie, and the characters Blaster and Darwin occasionally drop in to join him. In a pleasant surprise, Tracy Morgan and Sam Rockwell do the voices for their roles in “Cine-Explore” as well. Their moments act as minor comedic fodder; none of the bits offer much amusement, but they do offer a fun diversion.
On his own, Yeatman covers cast, characters and performances, effects and animation, stunts and action, sets and locations, cinematography and lighting, elements used for the film’s 3D version, and a mix of other topics.
If nothing else, I credit Yeatman for his energy. He launches into his commentary with gusto and provides a lively discussion of his film. I think he focuses too heavily on technical areas, though. Sure, a movie that uses so many CG characters necessarily will lean toward that side of things, but I would’ve liked more balance between the creative and the technical. Still, even though the material become rather dry at times, Yeatman delivers so much enthusiasm that the track satisfies.
The format opens things up in a satisfying manner. “Cine-Explore” pairs Yeatman’s remarks with a mix of visuals like storyboards, pre-viz segments, rough visual effects, and shots from the set. These let us see the techniques used to bring the film to life while Yeatman relates the details.
In addition, “Cine-Explore” occasionally splits off for “Video Files”. These offer standard featurettes along the way, and we hear from folks other than Yeatman during the “Files”. He remains the main participant, but we also get notes from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, production designer Deborah Evans, visual effects supervisor Scott Stokdyk, digital effects supervisor Seth Maury, animation supervisor Troy Saliba, senior visual effects producer Buzz Hays, 3D visual effects supervisor Rob Engle and actors Sam Rockwell, Jon Favreau, and Tracy Morgan. They touch on some effects issues along with character/prop design, cast and performances, and the creation of the film’s 3D version.
Blaster’s Boot Camp runs four minutes, 41 seconds and offers an attempt at comedy. Morgan reprises his role as Blaster and narrates as we zip through a quick look at the world of G-Force. “Blaster” provides facts about a lot of the gadgets used in the film. Something like this may entertain the movie’s fans, but it’s not going to win over anyone else.
We get notes about the folks behind the film in the four-minute, 13-second G-Force Mastermind. We get remarks from Yeatman, Bruckheimer, and “mastermind”/director’s son Hoyt Yeatman IV. The show discusses the ways that the younger Yeatman influenced the project and how it went through development. We hear some of this info in the elder Yeatman’s commentary, but some interesting notes emerge.
During Bruckheimer Animated, we get a three-minute, 12-second clip. It includes notes from Bruckheimer and Yeatman. We get some thoughts about the Bruckheimer/Yeatman relationship and other aspects of the producer’s career. The featurette is fluffy and forgettable.
More behind the scenes material appear in the seven-minute, 52-second Access Granted: Inside the Animation Lab. It features Yeatman, Bruckheimer, Saliba, and Stokdyk. Yeatman takes us on a tour of the visual effects studio and shows us a variety of different techniques used through the film. This turns into a surprisingly meaty featurette given its length.
Goofiness appears during G-Farce: Bloopers. The reel lasts a mere one minute, 49 seconds and shows shots from the set and also from the voice recording sessions. Most of these show the usual goofs, but the piece is more interesting than usual due to some improv lines.
Six Deleted Scenes last a total of six minutes, 17 seconds. These include “March of the Cockroach” (0:55), “Mooch’s Donut Regimen” (0:28), “B-B-Bunnies” (0:35), “Undercover Pets” (1:52), “Hurley Under Attack” (1:22) and “World Domination” (1:05). The first two show more of the skills boasted by insect agents, while “Bunnies” lets us see Sparkles’ fear of rabbits. In “Pets”, Hurley tells the G-Forcers they need new names if they want to get adopted. “Attack” just extends an existing pet store sequence, and “Domination” shows more of the climactic assault by technological items. Fans will probably enjoy these, but none seem important.
Three music videos finish the disc. We find “Jump” by Flo Rida Featuring Nelly Furtado, “Ready to Rock” by Steve Rushton, and “Go G-Force”. The Rida song is the most interesting of the bunch; I wouldn’t call it good, but it’s not bad, either. Rushton is another young generic rocker wannabe, but his video’s the most creative of the bunch. “Go G-Force” is a bizarre, semi-embarrassing bit in which the animals “sing”. It’s also a bad video.
A few ads open Disc One. We get clips for Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland (2010), Blu-ray Disc and Disney Movie Rewards. These also appear under Sneak Peeks along with promos for Ponyo, Beauty and the Beast, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue and Disney Parks. No trailer for G-Force can be found here.
A second disc offers a Digital Copy of the movie. This allows you to transfer the film to a computer or portable gadget. Super-dee-duper!
Finally, a third platter provides a DVD Copy of G-Force. If you want to own G-Force but aren’t yet Blu-ray capable, it’s a good bonus.
One note about the DVD version: it includes a standard audio commentary from Yeatman. This offers essentially the same content found in “Cine-Explore”, though you’ll find greater depth of information in the commentary. Much of the time the two are identical, but “Blaster” and “Darwin” aren’t a factor during the standard commentary. This makes it a better way to learn about the film. I’d recommend that fans listen to the commentary on its own and then just skip through “Cine-Explore” for the “Video Files”; chapter search easily lets you jump from one to the next.
Apparently kids will see anything, as proven by the good box office returns earned by G-Force. Witless, silly and inane, the movie goes the “lowest common denominator” path and provides virtually no entertainment value. The Blu-ray boasts excellent picture quality as well as pretty good audio and a strong collection of supplements. As a movie, G-Force is a dud, but as a Blu-ray, this is an excellent package.
