Ice Age: Collision Course Blu-ray Review

Tired and Testing

by Casimir Harlow
Movies & TV Shows Review

4

Ice Age: Collision Course Blu-ray Review
MSRP: £14.99

Film Review

Collision Course appears to be at least one Ice Age too far in this extinction-proof franchise about creatures refusing to go extinct.

In this fifth film in the Ice Age series, Scrat's demented quest for his beloved acorn goes very literally extra-terrestrial and he sets in motion a chain of events that not only creates our entire Solar System but also sends the huge asteroid hurtling towards Earth that will ultimately be the cause of the titular Ice Age that will decimate many species on the planet. Needless to say, when Manny and his pals learn of this impending disaster they don't just try to escape it, they try to figure out how to change the asteroid's course and save the whole planet.
Rather than try and do something a little different, Collision Course is determined to do exactly the same thing as before - throw Manny & Co. into a potentially apocalyptic situation, with a group of dastardly villains trying to eat them. Unfortunately it got tired long ago - with even Scrat's increasingly extreme acorn antics feeling a little exhausting this time out. Simon Pegg's returning Quicksilver-like character provides minor diversions, and the jokes and sentiments are well-meaning, but if they can't think of anything better than this, maybe it's time for the apocalypse.

Picture Quality

Ice Age: Collision Course
Easily production studio Blue Sky's hottest property, the Ice Age franchise may suffer from the law of diminishing returns on the film front, but the video presentations appear to have just gotten better and better. Fourteen years after the first Ice Age, and four years after Continental Drift, Collision Course has come on considerably in the animation front, and looks spectacular.

14 years after the first Ice Age, and 4 years after the last one, the latest looks better than ever

The feature is rendered on Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded High Definition video presentation framed in the movie's original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 widescreen, and delivers detail, textures and colours better than ever before. The animal's fur, down to almost separating out the individual hairs, as well as detail on the eyes and teeth, is more impressive than ever, oftentimes threatening to compete with some of its Disney/Pixar counterparts, although there's a question as to whether Blue Sky have ever quite been in the same league. The colours are broad and vibrant, the electro-magnetic aura of the asteroid rocks shaded in wonderfully multi-toned electric purple, and the shadow detail and black levels remain rich and deep, with no signs of any significant crush.

Sound Quality

Ice Age: Collision Course
Collision Course's accompanying DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track also delivers the goods; a boisterous affair that is more than prepared to smack objects around on your surrounds like pool balls, or just drop a planet on your head.

The audio track also delivers the goods

Dialogue is never less than clear and coherent throughout, taking precedence across the frontal array, and the somewhat generic score provides insistent backing for the action-adventure antics, lighting up the surrounds and rears and even bringing with it a hint of LFE underpinning. The effects are obviously the high point, bouncing around the array with verve and imagination - from the space-based opening sequence to the thunder and crack of strangely firework-like meteor showers that ignite the environment. I suspect that the immersive Dolby Atmos soundtrack found on the Ultra HD Blu-ray release would be astounding, especially given how impressive this track already is.

Blu-ray Extras

A selection of decent enough extras complete the package, with the compilation features - The Story So Far and Scrat's Solo Adventures - providing more of a recap than new material, although five films into the series maybe some might need that. New content comes towards the end of the quarter-hour Scrat: Spaced Out, which compiles the the space clips from across the movie, and then furthers them. Scrat's involvement in the Featurettes continues in the short spoof Featurettes, Mystery of the Scratazons and Star Signs of the Animal Kingdom, with only the DeGraasse Tyson Debunks Featurette even coming close to escaping Scrat. There's also a Figaro Sing Along segment, and the disc is rounded off by a Gallery and Trailer.

Conclusion

Ice Age: Collision Course Blu-ray Review

Ice Age: Collision Course
Collision Course is determined to do exactly the same thing as before, and that got tired long ago

The video and audio presentations are excellent, and there are a nice smattering of additional features too, rounding off a technically solid addition to the franchise, albeit an artistically weak one.

Ice Age 5: Collision Course is out on Blu-ray and DVD on the 5th of December from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

You can buy Ice Age 5: Collision Course on Blu-ray here

Scores

Movie

.
.
.
.
.
5

Picture Quality

.
9

Sound Quality

.
9

Extras

.
.
.
.
6

Overall

.
.
.
.
6
6
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

Our Review Ethos

Read about our review ethos and the meaning of our review badges.

To comment on what you've read here, click the Discussion tab and post a reply.

Related Content

Top 10 Blu-rays (UK) for November 2022
  • By Mark Costello
  • Published
Top 10 Blu-rays (UK) for October 2022
  • By Mark Costello
  • Published
Top 10 Blu-rays (UK) for August 2022
  • By Mark Costello
  • Published
Top 10 Blu-rays (UK) for June 2022
  • By Mark Costello
  • Published
The Father Blu-ray Review
  • By Casimir Harlow
  • Published

Latest Headlines

Where to watch the 2024 Oscar best picture nominees
  • By Andy Bassett
  • Published
Freely TV platform set for a Q2 UK launch
  • By Ian Collen
  • Published
AVForums 4K and Blu-ray Podcast: 29th January 2024
  • By AVForums
  • Published
Back
Top Bottom