Toy Story 3 - Double Play Edition Blu-ray Review & Comments

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Reviewed by Cas Harlow, 1st December 2010.
It is almost unprecedented to have a third movie in a series which is actually comparable to the first, not just in terms of quality, but also story, script, characterisation and heart. Toy Story 3 is indeed such a rare commodity, and another tremendous production from those amazing folks over at Pixar. Renowned for their consistent excellence, and also for their aversion to going for the easy movie through countless sequels, the Toy Story franchise remains the only one of theirs that they have expanded. And fans should not be disappointed, because when it comes to CG animated adventures which appeal to kids and adults alike, it simply doesn’t get better than this.

On Region Free UK Blu-ray we get an identical release to the US counterpart, boasting all of the same extras, as well as the reference quality video and audio. I can’t see many who would be able to fully justify not having this in their collection, it’s a great movie, a great second sequel, and a great Blu-ray package, and you won’t regret picking it up. Highly recommended.


Read the full review...
 
You managed to bag argueably the two biggest releases this year in Inception and this Cas:smashin:.

I have to say I think this is worthy of a 10 for the film itself. It is genre defining for me. There is no other animated film that compares to this in terms of being such a well written, witty film whilst still being entertaining for kids IMO. Toy Story 3 really grips you emotionally, there are highs and lows. I have never been so gripped by an animated "kids" film before including the previous Toy Story films. I think this film will be nominated for a best film Oscar and there is a strong arguement for it deserving to win.

Edit: Just to add I am far tighter with my 10/10s than most. I think a 10/10 has to be a film that is genre defining and there are very few films I would give a ten. I'd say I probably wouldn't give a ten to more than about eight or so films ever. I'm surprised I've found a film that I would score higher than you Cas;).
 
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The first film I have cried at since I was 6, nearly half a century ago, and an animated one to boot. If they try and ruin this perfect trilogy by making another one I might cry again though.
 
I have to say I think this is worthy of a 10 for the film itself. I'm surprised I've found a film that I would score higher than you Cas;).

Well it certainly was a tough call, but I still reckon I'd have to score the first one higher, and that's where the difficulty lies - how do you differentiate between two arguably 10/10 movies on a scoring system that doesn't give half marks or A -stars? Lol, well I do agree it's a great movie, and that's coming from someone who generally errs towards more crime-orientated films.

Alan's review: AVForums.com - Toy Story 3 Review

He gave it 10s across the board, including for the movie itself, so I'm sure I'm in the minority.

Cheers, Cas
 
I'd score Toy Story 3 higher than 1. They are both equally well written but the emotion that Toy Story 3 envokes is greater. If you look in the Blu-ray forums you will see a lot of people talking about how it made them cry. That wasn't the case for the first film. The scene at the dump and the one nearer the end with Andy really do tug at the heart strings.

As ever though a great review. Not being a Toy Story buff it was nice to find out about the original script. That could make a great film in it's own right.
 
I'd score Toy Story 3 higher than 1. They are both equally well written but the emotion that Toy Story 3 envokes is greater. If you look in the Blu-ray forums you will see a lot of people talking about how it made them cry. That wasn't the case for the first film. The scene at the dump and the one nearer the end with Andy really do tug at the heart strings.

As ever though a great review. Not being a Toy Story buff it was nice to find out about the original script. That could make a great film in it's own right.

Thanks, I think you're right, this one probably was more emotionally weighty, but I wonder whether people would have cried as much if they hadn't gotten to know the characters over the last 15 years...

As always, thanks so much for the comments, glad you liked the review, Cas :thumbsup:

Oh and I wonder whether they'll consider using the earlier story for a 4th instalment...
 
I actually think it was only about an 8/10 for me. Totally blown away by the first movie, the first of its kind and all that. 10/10. Second movie was spoiled by that Frasier character who they spent too much time with and was just creepy. I don't think I like going back to that one very often so +1 it has little rewatch value. 7/10. Third movie was very good, much better than the 2nd, but still not as original as the 1st. I'd give it 8/10.

Great, informative review, but I think it was overly generous to the film because of the quality of the trilogy as a whole, rather than its merits as a standalone entry. As in the comment above, the only reason this third film had such a huge impact was because the two before it had established the characters so well. And what's all this talk of a 4th one? I thought they were stopping at 3?
 
Great, informative review, but I think it was overly generous to the film because of the quality of the trilogy as a whole, rather than its merits as a standalone entry. As in the comment above, the only reason this third film had such a huge impact was because the two before it had established the characters so well. And what's all this talk of a 4th one? I thought they were stopping at 3?


The emotion in 3 is without doubt as a result of the previous two films but I don't see that as a reason to mark it down. LOTR Return Of The King won all the Ocsars because it finished off the troliogy so well building on the first two. I feel the same about Toy Story 3.

Just because we know the characters it shouldn't count against it. Trying to review the third film of a trilogy as a standalone entry is inherently flawed.
 
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The emotion in 3 is without doubt as a result of the previous two films but I don't see that as a reason to mark it down. LOTR Return Of The King won all the Ocsars because it finished off the troliogy so well building on the first two. I feel the same about Toy Story 3.

Just because we know the characters it shouldn't count against it. Trying to review the third film of a trilogy as a standalone entry is inherently flawed.

Was Toy Story ever intended to be a trilogy? I'm not sure it's comparable to LOTR...
 
Was Toy Story ever intended to be a trilogy? I'm not sure it's comparable to LOTR...

I know what you mean. From the point of view of reviewing individual films that make up a series or trilogy I think it is comparable which is what I was doing. Whether when Toy Story was written/released it was intended to be a trilogy or otherwise to me is irrelevant when you are merely evaluating each film that makes up the series.

You could argue that LOTR wasn't intended to be a trilogy aswell given it wasn't originally written in that way.
 
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I know what you mean too. It is hard to judge a film that's in a trilogy, in its own right. With LOTR I reckon it's almost impossible to watch them separately, except if you stopped after the first one. But on the other hand with the Alien films you can do just that. (Well, almost, I guess it's helpful to see what has happened before, but you could easily miss Alien and figure out Aliens on the fly.) That's what I mean with Toy STory.

For me the first movie still blew me away like nothing I had seen before (nothing comparable). It established the characters that we now love AND provided a tense and fun story, which was also quite touching. This third film capitalises on that, and does more, and much of what it does, it does better. But it still didn't blow me away like the first one. That said, we're largely arguing semantics here, I still loved them all, and so did you, I just have a soft spot for the first one, and you're happy to look at them as a great trilogy (which I can't deny), with a superior third film. Fair enough :smashin:
 
I love the fact they manage to get adult humour into these movies. After spending most of my movie helping my 3yr old to keep on her 3d specs, I'm definitely going to get this one on Blue Ray (it'll be like watching a new movie)!
 
I've always loved animated films and Toy Story 3 is the perfect ending to a great story. I can't imagine a fourth one because this is the most perfect trilogy.
 

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