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Summary: This is a wonderful and delightful movie
adaptation of the popular children book by Dr. Suess (Theodor Geisel).
Jim Carrey brings to life this fantasy character in a way that no other actor
can. His performance is simply brilliant. The story is so
believable, thanks to the incredible talents of the actors, stunt
performers, production artists, and special effects creators. It's brilliant. I highly recommend this DVD for your collection this
holiday season.
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The Story
Narrated by Anthony Hopkins, "Dr. Suess' How the
Grinch Stole Christmas" is a marvelous and brilliant adaptation of Dr.
Suess' book of the same name. The Grinch (Jim Carrey) is a green creature who lives in seclusion
at Mt. Crumpit above Whoville. The Whos are funny people who live
to celebrate Christmas. One year, a little girl, Cindy Lou (Taylor
Momsen), stumbles
across the path of the Grinch and realizes that he is not as mean and vengeful
as
everyone in Whoville makes him out to be. She invites the Grinch down
to celebrate Christmas in Whoville... Will the Grinch behave himself and
show the Whos that he is worthy of their friendship? Or is the
Grinch's heart two sizes too small?
Jim Carrey gave a brilliant performance. He is
incredibly articulate and expressive with his body and particularly with his face,
such that his physical acting lends a high
level of credibility that no other actor can provide.
I was so immersed in the magic of this movie, I completely
forgot about all the special visual effects and make-up effects that were
employed to make this movie as sensational as it was. My comment is
meant to be a tribute to the quality, fidelity, and seamless integration of
these special effects elements into the movie. You know it's good when
you're not even thinking "oh that must be done by computer visual
effects". In fact, it wasn't until I watched the
"Visual Effects" segment in the bonus features, that I realized
much of this movie's background was computer graphics.
This film is a brilliant adaptation of "Dr. Suess' How the Grinch
Stole Christmas"! Your entirely family is sure to have fun and
your "heart [will] grow three sizes" after watching this movie.
The Extras
This Collector's Edition comes with the following
value-added bonus
features that you won't find thrown away to the Grinch's Dumpit:
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Spotlight on Location
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Deleted Scenes
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Outtakes
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Who School: an interesting look at the research, hard work,
and training that the actors
and stuntmen underwent to become the cute Whos
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Makeup Application and Design: learn how the makeup
artists perfected their art to just over two hours in turning Jim Carrey
into the Grinch
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Suessian Set Decoration: the whole Whoville is built
with amazing architectural combination to make it pencil like Dr. Suess'
book
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Visual Effects: a must see to appreciate how computer
generated background bring the movie together
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Faith Hill "Where Are You Christmas?" Music
Video
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Wholiday Recipes
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By the Numbers is the statistics for the props and
make up appliances
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Theatrical Trailer
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The Grinch's Special Offer: theme parks and resorts
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Production Notes: interesting story behind Mrs.
Geisel's permission for the movie to be made from Dr. Suess' book.
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Cast and Filmmakers: Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor,
Christine Baranski, et al
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DVD-ROM Features
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Grinch Game Trailer
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DVS (Descriptive Video Service) literally talks the viewer
through the various DVD menu for selection without having to look at the
television
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Recommendations: "Apollo 13",
"Babe", and "Beethoven"
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Max's Playhouse
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Sing-Along Songs
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Read-Along "The Care and Feeding of a Grinch"
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Read by Max the Dog
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Read the story yourself
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First Book
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"Dress The Grinch" as you please as a doctor, fireman, tourist,
etc.
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"Rhyme Time" has 4 rhymes for children to pick the
word to fit the rhyme.
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"How Do I Find Things?" is a tutorial for children
on navigating DVD menu screens.
Video & Audio
The image quality of this anamorphic
widescreen version DVD is very good. The picture looks soft
and almost fuzzy, but that was how it looked in theaters as well, so that
effect is clearly the artistic intent of the cinematographer. The colors are accurate and
saturated, while shadow detail is very good. Both Dolby
Digital and DTS 5.1-channel soundtracks
are available and are well balanced with good use of the surround channels.
The sound design was good, but not as aggressive as I had expected for a
fantasy film. The dialog is crystal
clear and easy to hear throughout the film.
Conclusion
"Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is
a great film for the entire family, and even suitable for children as young
as four. As a Collector's Edition, the DVD is awesome, with a rich set
of quality bonus features. Serious home theater enthusiasts and
families with older children are sure to enjoy this Collector's Edition,
presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio widescreen and offering the DTS 5.1-channel
surround sound option as well as Dolby Digital 5.1. This version
carries a suggested retail price of $26.98.
For families with younger children, Universal is also simultaneously
releasing a Deluxe Collector's Edition DVD Interactive
Play Set separately, with a suggested retail price of $39.98. For
more information, see the section immediately below.
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 Deluxe
Collector's Edition DVD
Interactive Play Set
Also available separately is a Deluxe Collector's
Edition DVD Interactive Play Set. Younger children are sure to love this unique play set.
The play set comes with a full-length
DVD movie (presented in full screen format) and a 3-D pop-up play set,
featuring
three scenes from the movie. Children will enjoy discovering the hidden pop-up doors
and windows, with a moving Advent-style countdown clock to Christmas.
Check out the three pop-up scenes:
Scene 1: "The Grinch's Lair" pop-up
Scene 2: "The Whoville Post Office" pop-up
Scene 3: "Christmas Morning in Whoville Square" pop-up
Suggested retail for this 3-D play set is $39.98. You can order this
3-D interactive play set and full frame DVD movie from:
> Amazon.com
for $29.98
> Buy.com
for $31.99
Support this site: buy through our links.
Visit the official Dr.
Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas and
the Universal
Studios home video web site.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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United We Stand
