Brave (Five-Disc Blu-ray Viva Metal Box: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy)

With "Brave", Pixar finally made their entrance into a period and fairy tale setting. After the critical and financial failure of "Cars 2" (which is a film that I personally enjoyed and didn't deserve the massive hate), "Brave" was seen as Pixar's chance of redemption. However, some Pixar fans screamed foul and thought "Brave" was a result of the Disneyfication of Pixar. However, although "Brave" wasn't seen as the definite Pixar comeback, it still was better critically and commercially received as "Cars 2".The feminist aspects were also surrounding "Brave". It was their first film with a female lead after more than a decade of films with male leads. "Brave" got also some buzz of the directorial change. It was Brenda Chapman's lovechild, but she got replaced because of creative differences. Although Chapman herself has stated that her original visions of the tale was fulfilled, the replacements are barely mentioned in the special features. She still got credited as the secondary director, although one can't help to wonder if there was a bigger conflict about this story or if this conflict was enhanced by the media.Either way, although I've always been not so fond of Pixar, they can deliver a masterpiece now and then ("Toy Story", "Finding Nemo", "Up"). "Brave" does come across a one of Pixar's strongest works, but is also hampered by some flaws. And some quite obvious flaws too. Moviegoers has grown to expect more from Pixar and many of them found the film to be conventional. The marketing device also misguided the film, depicting it as a grand adventure, when it really is an intimate, character-driven story in the second half.Where "Brave" really excel is with the animation and the music. The animation is stunningly gorgeous, as is the music, setting a haunting atmosphere and giving the movie a special quality. The wonderful score is by Patrick Doyle, the songs written by Alex Mandel and they work well."Brave" is a departure from Pixar's previous works, not only because of it's setting, but it's scope. It definitively feels more Disney than Pixar at times, but that's doesn't necessarily hurts the film. I see nothing wrong about Pixar trying to go in Disney's territory and make a Princes movie long you do it with class and subtlety (damn me as much as you want to, Pixar fanboys). However, I still wished that Pixar would make more realistic-looking characters for once and expand their horizons in term of character designs.Where "Brave" falls flat, it's in terms of it's story. It's quite conventional, as the matter of fact too conventional. The story is trite, cliched and really not particularly well structured. The film seems more of two separate stories incorporated into one. However, despite the story problems, "Brave" shall have praise for having a mother-daughter-related story in a fairy tale setting and not having a prince charming to save the day.Another noteworthy component about "Brave" is the choice of having an all Scottish cast into the movie. It's easy to give Pixar some good points about that, although the Medieval Scottish would probably be not understandable for todays audiences. However, most of the voices are fine. Billy Connolly (who previously was in "Pocahontas") brings the warmth and joviality to King Fergus. Emma Thompson (who was in "Treasure Planet") brings dignity and subtlety to Queen Ellinor. Less successful is Kelly McDonald as the protagonist Merida herself, making Merida more grating and whiny than she needs to be. Otherwise, Julie Walters makes a fine witch. Steve Purcell makes a fun crow. Kevin McKidd makes a good Lord MacGuffin/Young MacGuffin. Craig Ferguson delivers some spunk to Lord Macintosh.BONUS FEATURESThe film is filled with good bonus features. First up is a audio commentary by director Mark Andrews, co-director Steve Purcell, editor Nick Smith and story supervisor Brian Larsen. The four of them delivers an excellent commentary, covering all the topics of the story and the technical aspects, although Andrew's voice can be a little grating at times. But still another excellent commentary from Pixar.LEGEND OF MOR'DU; A short which enhances the full story about Mor'Du (according to rumors that were around the Internet, the short was supposed to be included in the actual movie). It's a fine short, giving more purpose and weight to the story of Mor'Du and it's nice to see that it's mainly hand-drawn.LA LUNA: A short and sweet Pixar film.BRAVE OLD WORLD: A featurette that talks about the crew's visit to Scotland and the Scottish influences on the film. Although is mostly praise about the land and culture, it's still interesting.MERIDA & ELINOR: A featurette that covers the characters and personalities of Merida and Elinor and their relationship. Chapman herself dominates most of the featurette. A quite engaging topic.BEARS: A short featurette that covers the designs and animation aspects of Mor'Du and Queen Elinor as a bear. Short, but still quite interesting.WONDER MOSS: A topic about how they created the moss in the movie. It's a little too technical, but still interesting.MAGIC: Magic tells us about the magical aspects of the film, like the wisps and the witch and the fairy tale aspect. Quite enjoyableCLAN PIXAR: A featurette that covers the folks at Pixar. A little more jovial and happy talk than what it needs to be.ONCE UPON A SCENE: A featurette that delivers the many deleted scenes (and also indicates "Brave's" troubled production). It's interesting that Pixar decided to have many of the deleted scenes in one featurette, instead of having the deleted scenes themselves. However, it's still interesting to watch.Disc two is also filled with many featurettes. First up is an alternative opening (a few shots that made into one of the trailers). While it's not fully animated, it's still an engaging shot.FALLING WARRIORS: A featurette about the fighting scenes in the movie and how they got choreographed. Short, but interesting.DIRTY HAIRY PEOPLE: A featurette which talks about the hair in the movie. Also short, but interestingIT'S ENGLISH... SORT OF: This featurette talks about the use of the Scottish actors, the Scottish words and phrases used in the movie. Quite funANGUS: About Merida's black horse, Angus and how to create the character.THE TAPESTRY: About the tapestry that Queen Elinor makes in the film and how the creative team managed to create it.Overall, "Brave" is hampered by some flaws and might be to conventional at times, but still makes a good movie to watch. It's easily one of the best animated movies yet on this decade.

My grandbabies loved it!!

Brave has always been a great Disney movie! It deserves more appreciation! The story is beautiful and the animation is great! I totally recommend this movie! It’s a great movie to watch as a family!

One of the best Disney movies ever thanks

From 1995 to 2004 Pixar ran up an unbelievable string of critical successes with each animated film receiving at least 92% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes and 77 out of 100 on Metacritic. Then came Cars which was financially successful but was recognized by many, myself included, as the weakest Pixar movie thus far. Pixar regained its mojo and rattled off another 4 winners before Cars 2 stunk up theaters. The following film, Brave, was the lowest rated Pixar film not featuring Cars in the title. That's not to say it was bad and it did win the 2012 Oscar for Best Animated Feature but some measure of Pixar magic seemed to be lost. It's also possible that Cars 2 was sufficiently bad that it knocked the luster off of Pixar and reviewers were primed for revenge.There are a lot of films I've seen that are greater than the sum of their parts but Brave is the rare film that seems less than the sum of its parts because I cannot point to anything in the film that's bad. The animation is spectacular and somewhat of a technological breakthrough that Pixar was crowing about prior to the film's release. The breathtaking Scottish Highlands were the first thing I noticed having such an amazing level of detail and organic feel. The only weakness I saw was that character movements are still somewhat jerky and mechanical. I didn't have any issues with the story or the music and I can't think of any individual scenes that weren't well done so why is it when the whole thing is put together it feels so Un-Pixar like?I've done a lot of thinking about this and I believe one big factor in the failure to connect is due to the darkness of the film. I don't mean the darkness of the plot because quite frankly I think that Up, The Incredibles and WALL-E were darker. It's the physical darkness of the film particularly in the second half of the film. Most of the film takes place in a Scottish castle, at night, lit only by torches on the walls. From the moment Merida leaves the castle after getting in an argument with her mom until right near then end there are almost no well-lit scenes. This is not me saying that this makes the film bad. This is me saying why I believe it didn't connect with a lot of people. On the technical side it is a magnificently crafted film but it lacks the joy of many of the other Pixar films. I would compare it to Wreck-It-Ralph which also came out in 2012 and many might say should have won the Oscar. Wreck-It-Ralph was inventive, bright and full of energy.I've actually discovered that with each additional viewing I enjoy the film more. It is a great film and Brenda Chapmen who wrote and co-directed the film should be proud. It made well over $500 million worldwide which although a bit light for a Pixar film is still a fantastic take. I'm not into the whole Disney Princess thing being an adult male and all but Merida is probably the best, most believable Princess ever to be produced by Disney/Pixar. She is tough and strong but Chapman didn't go overboard as often happens with writers overcompensating for the farer gender. I suspect it's because Chapman IS female that she didn't feel the need to make Merida tougher than any male (except in archery). Sadly Brenda Chapman left Pixar before the film was completed carrying some bitterness with her. It took me about three viewings to REALLY get into the spirit of the film but I now consider it a great addition to the Pixar filmography. I hope Brenda gets the chance to write and direct more theatrical releases.

Have loved this for years! I think mostly because it's A very involved story but also because it's the first time where the animation mimicked real life action. First time where attention to detail was on point. I don't remember ever seeing hair move like it did in this movie. A small detail I know but attention to detail makes animation more realistic. Also showed all sorts of interactions that, while complicated, worked and flowed well together.

Love love this movie and the cd works great

For a Pixar movie, this isn't one of their best. Fortunately, with a back catalogue that includes the Toy Story trilogy, Up, The Incredibles and A Bug's Life, this isn't as great a criticism as it might be.When released in the cinema, some parents were concerned about the scarier scenes involving the bears but my younger daughter was more concerned by the mother-daughter arguments.The 3D conversion works fine, though it does make the film darker and mute the vibrant colours of the computer-generated Scottish countryside, so the 2D Blu-Ray version is the one we prefer.

Amazing visuals of the Scotland highlands. Great humor a bit similar to the style of How To Train Your Dragon. The story is a simple one involving a head strong princess who wants to make up her own mind as to who to marry and wants to change her mothers traditional ideas. Without spoiling it too much her mother changes literally into some other animal and it is this that takes up the bulk of the story. Probably the best 3d animated picture the story could have been a bit more involved but fun anyway and really love it in my 3d collection.

We loved it - and that includes my daughter who can be very critical. Liked the characters. Thrilled with the plot. Laughed at the humour. Enjoyed the twists. The 3D made it all the more enjoyable. Have seen some 3D films that was a waste of money, but this one was more than worth it. Looking forward to viewing the many extras on it.

Brave [Blu-ray] [2012] [US Import] Bought for my 5 year old red head daughter for obvious reasons, I wanted to see it so said it was for her!!!!! actually went for the US import version as it has much much more on it than the UK version, so take note, get the import version, google it and see why!

Who doesn't like a good animation. This is a fab film for adults and children alike so would highly recommend for all ages, though the bear maybe a little frightening for small children. My daughter wonders around the house now speaking Scottish at me!!