Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Home

August 9, 2015

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Home

Home is a 3D digitally animated family film that opened in March. Nearly every year there is at least one such film that cracks $100 million and this year it was Home, which not only earned more than $100 million, it came relatively close to $200 million. Is it as good as its box office numbers? Is it at least good for a kids movie?

The Movie

We are first introduced to the Boov, an alien species, by one of their members, Oh. This species is the greatest species when it comes to running away. They are currently running away from the Gorg, and have been since their leader, Captain Smek, panicked and ran away from the peace negotiations. Fortunately, they have found the perfect planet to hide on: Earth. First they have to move all of the humans to a human sanctuary on Australia. This goes surprisingly well and (nearly) all of the humans get taken away.

There is one human left, Tip, who lives in hiding with her cat, Pig. When the Boovs start to move into her apartment, she has to take off. She's determined to find her Mom, so she drives off in her mom's car.

Oh decides to throw a housewarming party, but everyone avoids him, because he's that annoying. He sees his one friend, Kyle, working and decides to talk to him. I should probably put "friend" in quotes, because Kyle doesn't like Oh. He is a traffic cop, so unlike everyone else, Kyle can't leave when Oh shows up and Oh mistakes this for friendship. Oh invites Kyle to his housewarming party, but accidentally sends the invite to everyone... everyone in the galaxy. This includes the Gorgs. This is the final screw-up for Oh and he's to be arrested at once. Oh has to go on the run.

Meanwhile, Tip and Pig are also on the run and crash the car in the parking lot of the convenience store run by Oh. Tip hates the Boov for obvious reasons; however, Oh, like all Boov, think the Boov are great and humans and Boov are best friends. At first Tip traps Oh in a freezer, but she agrees to let him out after he offers to fix her mom's car. She then agrees to help him get away, if Oh helps her find her mother. But in order to find her mom, they have to go to Boov headquarters.

Home is a perfectly adequate family film. If that doesn't sound like a compliment, that's because it isn't. As I've said many times before, the best family films are those made for adults that kids can also enjoy. Watch the opening prologue to Up and tell me with a straight face that was made with kids in mind. This is not among the best family films. It is not even among the good family films that will entertain adults as much as it will entertain kids. It is the middle-of-the-road family film that will entertain kids, while their parents are out of the room. Its colorful, there's plenty of action, and there's humor. Granted, the humor is part of the reason I didn't like the film, but I could tell it was aimed at a younger target audience than myself. Oh was annoying. No offense to Jim Parsons, the actor who provided the voice for the character, but I really disliked the character. I know, annoying was what they were going for and I've seen enough kids shows that I'm confident kids will like the character, but it grated on my nerves. This is also true of Captain Smek and the whole Boov species and the way they talked. It didn't work for me, but I'm sure it would for the average eight to ten-year old.

On the other hand, there were some elements of the movie that I did enjoy. I liked the message in the movie, for instance. The animation , while cartoonie and not realistic, was top-notch in terms of colors, movement, etc. I was also really impressed by Rihanna's performance as Tip. I had forgotten it was her doing the voice and when I started watching the movie, I was immediately impressed. Voice work is not an easy form of acting and too often stunt casting doesn't work out, but it does here.

The Extras

The extras confirm that this movie is aimed at a younger target demographic. Extras begin with an introduction by Oh, while there is also Oh's party place. There are six extras under the banner, mostly dealing with the music, but there are also a couple more interactive extras. There are three extras under Short Boovies, starting with This is Being Boov is a short featurette about the alien species. Almost Home is a short film showing how the Boov found Earth, while Testing Lab looks at the Boov interacting with various common Earth items. Up next there is 26 minutes of deleted scenes, with introduction. Be an Artist shows you how to draw the three main characters in the movie. Finally, there's Oh's Other Extras, which has some mobile games, a very short look at the cast, and a gallery.

The film is a digitally animated movie, so it should come as no surprise that the video is immaculate. If there is even a small flaw in this video somewhere, I didn't see it. The audio isn't quite as good, but the 7.1 surround sound track is still great. The dialogue is clear, with good separation. There are plenty of effects in the surround sound speakers, including dynamic effects, while the bass has a lot of kick.

I don't have the 3D version to review, so I can't comment on how well it looks in 3D.

The 3D Blu-ray costs $25, while the DVD costs $15, which is right on par for this type of release. However, the regular Blu-ray costs $18, which is a little lower than expected.

The Verdict

Home is a fine movie and should entertain the young ones, but I think most parents will not want to see it over and over again. The extras on the DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack or 3D Combo Pack are enough that if you have kids in the right age range, you will want to buy rather than just rent.


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Filed under: Video Review, Home, Jennifer Lopez, Steve Martin, Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Matt Jones