- davidahallnum5
Open Season 3D Blu-ray Review
MOVIE REVIEW
Open Season is a 2006 animated kids flick about a bear named Boog who lives in the small town of Timberline with his rescuer from childhood, Beth. All seems to be going well for him until he meets a one-antlered deer named Elliot who upends his life and unintentionally gets both him and himself sent to into the middle of the woods. Now, its up to Boog to figure out how to live in the wild for the first time while trying to get back home with his only help being a deer who's just as looked down upon, if not more, by the local animals. To make matters worse, open season is just a few days away. So can they both get back home in time, or will they have to stay and deal with the hunters?
Open Season is personally what I'd like to call a guilty pleasure. Objectively, it's a not a very good film. While it does have stylized animation and a three act story that hardly deviates from what it's trying to accomplish, many of the gags don't really land like they think they do, the characters aren't that likable, and its pretty blatantly obvious at times where they're stealing story elements from other popular kids movies at the time; examples: the unlikely duo from Shrek, the sometimes raunchy humor also from Shrek, and the talking animal stars from almost every mid-2000s kids movie. And yet, despite all that, I can't help but get some degree of enjoyment out of this film every time I see it.
Of all the movies I've reviewed on this site, my guilty pleasures are the hardest ones to cover. And that's probably because I have to describe how the few elements of the film I find entertainment in end up overriding many of the not-so-great elements for me. With the aforementioned negative elements above, this should seem like another dumb kiddie movie I would only watch if someone in my family was begging for it. However, I think there are a few things that keep Open Season above water for me. And maybe the possibly the biggest one would have to be the over-the-top characters. I said earlier no one, maybe besides Beth and Gordon, is really all that likable. But there's no denying that the characters we come across have lots of personality. Gary Sinise may have been great as Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, but he was born to play Shaw, the out of control hunter who offers up some of the best comedy in the movie. Other characters, though, also has some time to shine, especially Boog and Elliot, whose back and forth I can't help but find amusing. Not because its actually downright funny, but because Elliot displays a sense of manic lunacy that feels like watching a train wreck as he ends up getting Boog into trouble. At the same time, though, Boog isn't the perfect straight man. He's a little entitled and lacking in self-control, leading to some outbursts that while not memorable, still entertain because of the insanity. Sometimes, comedies where the audience is the straight man can be just as fun as comedies where the audience is personified by the straight man.
Besides that, though, there are also a few things I appreciate about the film. It does attempt some moments of heart that, while aren't that well developed, do have a degree of sincerity about them that allows them to work well enough. The soundtrack, while certainly reminiscent of the kiddie movie pop song trope, is still a banger. And the climax with the hunters is plenty of fun. There's even a few jokes that tickled me the right way. Some of them were kinda surrounding animal abuse and toilet humor, though, so maybe something's wrong with. I don't know, but I still had some good laughs.
I guess in the end, it all comes down to Open Season's insane energy. While it doesn't make up for the story flaws or even always carry the film to the right place, it's always adding something new to the table. And more often than not, it's hard not to get caught up in the stupidity. Of course, that's just what I see. I believe whether or not you'll enjoy this movie for yourself will probably be determined on your tolerance for mid-2000s kids movie shtick. If you find that kind of thing tedious, this won't be for you. But if you, like me, find it to be a little oddly charming, I'd say it might be worth seeing at least once. Good movie? No. But a fun one? That depends on who you ask.
OVERALL FILM RATING: 3/5
3D REVIEW
When Open Season first came out, it was one of the few films to utilize the relatively new, and still pretty niche, IMAX 3D format. I get that Sony would probably want to make their first CGI animated film something special, and the 3D certainly helps. But IMAX? I don't know if this film really warrants a screen that big. None the less, this film does have an official 3D version. And being one of the first 3D Blu-ray movies Sony released to the home market, it's easily accessible to anyone curious. So with how much Sony seemed to have pushed the 3D version of this movie, is it actually worth it? Well, probably not as much as most other films released in the pre-Avatar days such as The Polar Express and Beowulf. But in its own way, it still works.
The main reason for Open Season's success would probably have to be not so much with how the 3D is utilized, but with how naturally the animated world of this film works in 3D. As with any animated movie, the bright, colorful, and unique environment always lends itself excellently to the third dimension, giving off a lot of interesting detail that in 3D, you can get closer to. And with Open Season's outdoor forest setting, there's a lot to work with. On a simple scale, you can get lost in all of Boog's fur, even going so far as to feel like something you can reach into and feel it, every blade of grass on the ground is distinct, and even the movie's stylized detail in a lot of places sticks out more in 3D. But of course, where the film really makes great use of the added depth is by turning the landscapes into something you can stare on into for miles. The mountains, trees, and cliffs all really make this film feel pretty dang huge, despite the story's pretty small intentions. In fact, there's one scene in particular where a helicopter is flying over nature that showcases this beautiful aspect of the 3D perfectly. When the 3D portrays almost limitless depth, its truly at its best.
Unlike many of the other 3D films that came out pre-Avatar, this film doesn't seem to be striving for 3D thrills. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of places in the film that are fun to watch, especially in 3D. But there's never really any moment that seems like it was specifically made with 3D in mind the same way the aforementioned Polar Express and Beowulf do. None the less, some of the shots we do get still pop in their own right. There are some moments that experiment with angles, especially on cliffs and dams. There's a high energy action sequence in which a dam bursts and water is rushing heavily through a canyon taking everyone for a wild ride. And at one point, it even involves a waterfall. There's a few shots of a small river where the surface sometimes protrudes the screen and other times, you can look through it to the bottom. And there's even a couple neat moments involving mirrors, even when one of them is in a pretty serious moment. There's also an ample amount of pop outs. The animals and their noses which stick out far from their heads, especially in the case of Boog and Elliot, are some of the best examples of this. But we still get everything hurling at us from fish to water to raindrops to Shaw to his gun to his knife to a marshmallow stick. There's one scene in particular that involves bubble gum, cereal, potato chips, money, cans, and pizza coming right out at you.
All things considered, Open Season may not be quite the 3D tour de force as something like How to Train Your Dragon or Meet the Robinsons. But it gets plenty of milage out of the addition of 3D mainly due to two factors: its animated world and its stunning amount of depth. Both compliment each other perfectly and lead to an immersive experience with an extra dimension of fun. I don't know if I'd recommend over something like Monster House or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but of which are films that were clearly filmed with 3D in mind. But from a technical perspective, Open Season's 3D delivers the goods and is well worth the purchase price.
3D RATING: GREAT
OTHER SOURCES THAT REVIEW THIS MOVIE'S 3D
High Def Digest's Review: https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/4063/openseason3d.html
FINAL THOUGHTS
Open Season was Sony's first outing into 3D-animated CGI children's films, about 11 years late to the party, but in 2006 was perfectly timed as a kiddie movie with talking animals in it. Overall, it's really nothing that special. It contains about the story you'd expect with the characters and humor you'd expect. If that's enough to turn you off, that's understandable. Personally though, I found quite a bit of fun to be had with this film's zany characters and even had a few good laughs along the way. Still, one of those laughs had to do with someone forgetting to flush, so take that for what it's worth. But even if not for the film itself, I'd say it's worth seeing just for the 3D effects which are crisp, deep, and even fun at time. The third dimension adds more to the stylized visuals and will entertain kids and adults alike, and it also stands as a landmark in Sony's history when it dipped its toes into the 3D market. If you want to buy this movie for the 3D alone, I'd totally get it. And if you happen to have a soft spot for Open Season as a film, I'd also understand. Still, I also get if not everyone finds this flick enjoyable, 3D or not. Give it a watch and see for yourself.
BUY IT HERE
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