THE NUT JOB 3D [2014] [3D Blu-ray + 2D Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD ULTRAVIOLET] [USA Release] No Nuts! No Glory! Enormously Laugh Out Loud Funny! This Heist Gets Nuts!
It’s time to go nuts for this action-packed 3D Blu-ray comedy featuring the all-star talents of Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, Liam Neeson, Maya Rudolph and Katherine Heigl. Surly [Will Arnett] is a mischievous squirrel with a mission: to find the tastiest nuts for winter. When he discovers a whole store filled with his favourite food, he plans a heist of nutrageous proportions. But the place turns out to be owned by ruthless bank robbers, so it’s up to Surly and his furry friends to stop the nearby bank heist and save the town. The fur is sure to fly in this hilarious 3D adventure that critics are calling “Funny and witty! For kids of all ages!” from Jeffrey Lyons, Lyons Den Radio, WCBS.
FILM FACT: Awards and Nominations: 2014 Directors Guild of Canada Awards: Nominated: Best Sound Editing for a Feature Film. 2014 Canadian Cinema Editors Awards: Won: Best Editing in Animation for Paul Hunter. 2015 Anima: The Brussels Animation Film Festival: Won: Audience Award for Best Children's Animation. 2015 French ATAA: Awarded the film Best Dubbing Adaptation for an Animated Film.
Voice Cast: Will Arnett (Surly), Brendan Fraser (Grayson), Liam Neeson (Raccoon), Katherine Heigl (Andie), Stephen Lang (King), Maya Rudolph (Precious), Jeff Dunham (Mole), Gabriel Iglesias (Jimmy), Sarah Gadon (Lana), James Rankin (Fingers), Scott Yaphe (Lucky), Joe Pingue (Johnny), Annick Obonsawin (Jamie), Julie Lemieux (Girl Scout), Rob Tinkler (Redline / Buddy), James Kee (Rat / Armoured Guard), Scott McCord (Police Officer / Misc. Animals), Katie Griffin (Pigeon) and Psy (Special Cast) (archive sound)
Director: Peter Lepeniotis
Producers: Byungho Nam, Chae Yoon, Daniel Woo, Graham Moloy, Hakbeom Kim, Hoe Jin Ha, Hojeong Kim, Hong Kim, Hongjoo Ahn, Hyungkon Kim, Mike Karz, Min Suk Yang, Robert Eckmann, Tom Yoon, William Bindley, William Woojae Hahn, Woo-Kyung Jung, Yeongshin Kang and Young Jun Kim
Screenplay: Daniel Woo (story), Lorne Cameron (screenplay), Peter Lepeniotis (screenplay/story) and Robert Reece (additional screenplay material)
Composer: Paul Intson
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
Region: All Regions
Running Time: 86 minutes
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Universal Pictures
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE NUT JOB’ [2013] is an awesome 3D animated film for all age groups. It has a lot of star power behind its animated characters with Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, Liam Neeson, and Katherine Heigl offering their voices to the awesome 3D animation film. It has been released by Universal Pictures and is a decently fun family outing that will particularly please younger children in the audience and offer up mild entertainment to anyone who is a little bit older.
The story primarily revolves around Surly [Will Arnett], who is a bit of a mischievous squirrel. Unlike the rest of the squirrels living in the park, he's gained a reputation for taking nuts solely for himself. He doesn't play that well with others and his sole friend is a rat who doesn't speak but is always by his side. Early in the film, he is confronted by Andie [Katherine Heigl], who attempts to inspire in him a need to help the community of the park and to share his nuts with other animals in need of food. Surly doesn't react to this with much thought and is keen only on keeping the nuts for himself.
After a long(ish) action sequence, it isn't long before a fire accident destroys the food that the park had saved and managed to have for the upcoming season. The finger is pointed towards Surly and the manager of the park, the formidable Raccoon [Liam Neeson] suggests that the community banish Surly from living with them.
Meanwhile, a meeting is held at the park. It is decided that someone needs to go out and look for food for the other animals because of their lack of available options following the loss of their stock. Andie leads the team along with Grayson [Brendan Fraser], who is at first a wannabe heroic leader before actually becoming one before the movie's end. The pair set out to find possible food options and they soon come to the same nut shop.
Underneath the main plot-line, there is also a somewhat generic and boring sub-plot involving gangsters attempting to rob a bank who are using the nut shop as their “front” to robbing. This storyline is far less interesting than the main one involving the squirrels, but the storyline is something that gives attention to both plots as an element of the animation film, but with much less screen time devoted to the gangsters.
The 3D animation in the film is something that one would expect to be one of the high points considering the $40 million production budget. ‘THE NUT JOB’ is something one would want to deliver as good of an animated presentation as possible within that kind of framework. It's disappointing that while the whole film has a clean and vibrant colour palette the artistry is less detailed and more generic feeling. There are some nice elements to the artwork. However, nothing in the production design comes close to the work done by major animation studios like PIXAR (the best of the best), Sony Pictures Animation or DreamWorks Animation. I thought this film was a solid decent done animation film that is charming, sweet, and totally good-natured. The plot-line almost feels like a throwback to cartoons of the 70's or 80's (which is sort of nice). ‘The Nut Job’ has big screen joyous aspiration with a first rate video presentation, with a totally solid 3D awesome experience and an equally amazing 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround Track.
THE NUT JOB MUSIC TRACK LIST
N.E.V.E.R. (Written by Alana Da Fonseca and Ali Dee) [Performed by Alana Da Fonseca]
FISH OUT OF WATER (Written by Chief WaKil), Cheapshot and Jason Rabinowitz) [Performed by Leo Soul]
WONDERFUL SOUND (Written by Harry Bluestone)
GREAT INTENTIONS (Written by Jason French Muniz, Jason Rabinowitz, Cheapshot and James Katalbas) [Performed by Damato]
WHAT’S TOMORROW’S WEATHER (Written by Harry Bluestone)
OH WELL (Written by Zack Arnett, Jason Rabinowitz, Cheapshot and James Katalbas) [Performed by Skully Boyz]
PUSH PLAY (Written by Cheapshot, Jason Rabinowitz and Sixx Johnson) [Performed by Sixx Johnson]
HEIST MAN TROPHY (Written by Eric Goldman) [Performed by The L.A. Outfit]
GANGNAM STYLE (Written by Park Jai Sang and Gun-hyung Yoo) [Performed by Psy]
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3D Blu-ray Image Quality – ‘THE NUT JOB’ is presented on 3D Blu-ray with an impressive 1080p High Definition transfer that retains the film's original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio. The animation looks as stunning as it ever will with a good clean presentation that provides the artwork with all the detail and clarity one expects from a solid digital animation transfer. But the best of this is of course the 3D Blu-ray disc, which is totally stunning, but of course the choice is totally up to you, especially having both 3D and 2D discs, but I will always watch the 3D Blu-ray disc, as it gives you so much more depth of clarity and involves you so much more with the brilliant cute animal characters.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – ‘THE NUT JOB’ is presented with an amazing 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio presentation, and more than gets the job done, sinking its teeth into the more action-oriented sequences with ease. Output is big and bold when the nut cart hurtle down the street and around the park; explosions rip through concrete, or giant-footed robbers give chase to scampering rodents, even if it isn't all that remarkable beyond Surly's antics and the central heist. And the rear speakers are spry and playful, delivering ample ambience in Raccoon's park and the busy streets of downtown. Directionality is decent and pans are smooth, without anything in the way of major problems. Voices are clean, clear and intelligible too, although never really as grounded in the soundscape as they should be. Too many lines seem a tad detached from the rest of the sound field. That said, the film's sound design is the culprit, nothing more. Will The Nut Job's lossless track sweep you up into the wild hijinks of Surly the Squirrel? No. It will not disappoint you, and will blow you away! With the Blu-ray Special Features and Extras, these are presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Storyboards [2014] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:00] Here we are presented with a few short select moments from the film as they were as storyboarded before the sequence was produced. There is no sound.
Special Feature: The Great Nut Heist [2014] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:06] This feature describes the plot of the animation film, sometimes showing the actors voicing their scenes cut next to the scene they are voicing. Everything is narrated by Will Arnett.
Special Feature: Animated Shorts: Here we get the biggest inclusion of two animated shorts, and they are as follows:
Surly Squirrel [2005] [10:55] [1.78:1] [1080p] Here we meet Surly Squirrel and his Rat friend for the very first time in the award-winning animated short that started it all. A discarded pizza slice becomes the Holy Grail to a pack of starving park animals. A rat and squirrel launch a clandestine operation to get the slice, without any of the other park animals finding out, but their greed disrupts the natural order of the park once their plan is discovered. Simultaneously, across the street from the park, a bank heist turns into a huge gunfight between bank robbers and police. These two worlds collide in an uproarious farcical romp of comic cartoon mayhem. Voice Cast: Eric Bauza, Joe Giampapa, Shona Glover, Jason Groh, Bruce Hunter and Laura Rodgers. Directed by Peter Lepeniotis. Screenplay by Peter Lepeniotis. Produced by Dan Krech, Jackie Lynette, Marissa Collyer, Pranay Patel and Rob Aitchison. Animations were created by ToonBox Entertainment as a teaser for ‘THE NUT JOB.’
Nuts & Robbers [2010] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:30] Let’s get Nuts! Robberies don't always have to be planned. In this case, they don’t even have to make sense. Follow Micky as he attempts to hold up the wrong shop at the wrong time and in the wrong neighbourhood. 'Nuts and Robbers' is a black-comedy short film from the creative minds of Marty Stalker and Aidan Gault. Voice Cast: Denis Halligan, Larry Cowan and Christopher Paul Heath. Directed by Peter Lepeniotis. Music Department: Andrew Simon McAllister. Animations were created by ToonBox Entertainment as a teaser for ‘THE NUT JOB.’ Awards: 2011 Animago Awards [Germany] Won: Best Character Design. 2012 3D Film Festival [Los Angeles]: Won: Best Animated Short.
Special Feature: Deleted Scenes [2014] [1080p] [1.78:1] [5:00] Here we are presented a few selected moments that were left on the cutting room floor. These are more like mini altered scenes more than they are deleted scenes.
Special Feature: Dance-Off End Credits Sequence [2014] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:00] Surly joins his furry friends and especially a very special guest appearance of Psy for this show-stopping “Gangnam Style” number, but sadly it is not shown in 3D.
BONUS: This has a beautiful designed 3D printed slip cover.
Finally, the story is more than a bit frantic, and there are no real break-out characters that make an animated film a classic, but ‘THE NUT JOB’ is amiable enough to entertain everyone. Whether the adults will be engaged or not depends on how much they like the look of things. And ‘THE NUT JOB’ is brilliant to look at, from its retro-inspired style to its bright colours and attention to detail and the wise cracks are totally brilliant. Especially impressive are the individual hairs on characters and rendered textures like wood and stone. The look of the film, from the styling of the buildings and backgrounds to the whole heist scenario, brings to mind classic Bugs Bunny encounters with the gangsters Rocky and Mugsy. Alas, none of the characters in ‘THE NUT JOB’ have quite the personality of ‘A Bug's Life’ [1998[, but despite this, I really loved this 3D animation film and have already watched it many times, as each time you view it you seem to see something new, as there is so much action happening. But again the 3D Blu-ray disc is totally stunning and despite a lot of negative reviews, I think they must be viewing a totally different 3D Blu-ray disc and all their negative comments are out of order and do not appreciate all the animation work that went into making The Nut Job. But one very important aspect I need to warn you about and that is that you MUST definitely watch the End Credits right to the very end, as you will see some amazing 3D animation and of course you must keep your 3D glasses on right to the bitter end, as it is a joyous exuberant amazing experience and definitely the best 3D Credits I have ever seen in a very long time and I know it will give me many hours of enjoyable entertainment and will amaze your friends and is 3D reference. Another amazing bonus for purchasing the 3D and 2D Blu-ray disc combination is the amazing slip cover, as it has an amazing stunning 3D effect, which is not pointed out from any of the other 3D Blu-ray Reviews I have read. But the most important thing is that I am more than happy to have this in my Blu-ray Collection. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
