Seeing any of the three “Ice Age” movies reminds me of a silly decision I made several years ago when the first “Ice Age” was about to be released in theaters. I had an invitation to go see a daytime press screening of the film, which are my favorites because there are so few people there… but I usually miss because of my day job (sigh…). On this day however, our office was closed due to a really, really bad ice storm (detecting the irony here?). The roads were bad, everyone was advised to stay home, but here I was, invitation in hand… what was I to do? I did what any smart person would do… I hopped in my car and proceeded to slide the 25 miles to the theatre. On the bright side, “Ice Age” was cute, funny and I enjoyed the heck out of it. It took a while to get used to the blocky look of the characters, but I laughed pretty hard several times… most notably whenever Scrat was on screen.

The bad side was the 3 hours it took me to get home as the storm only got worse. But hey… I made it, I’m still alive and reviewing… and there are now TWO sequels.

“Ice Age 2”, I felt was just okay. It was still cute, and Scrat was still pretty darn funny, but it felt forced overall. Enjoyable, but not anything close to what made the original so much fun. This new third film, “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” actually made for a nice comeback for our characters. Still not as good as the first, but it didn’t try to BE the first. Instead, it departed much further into the range of fantasy by having our intrepid pack, Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo), Diego the Sabre Tooth Tiger (Denis Leary) be thrown into a mysterious underground world where dinosaurs still ruled the land.

They further upped the zaniness by adding an insane weasel by the name of Buck (Simon Pegg) to as their guide through this unforgiving landscape. The overall feel and mood of this film is far removed from what might still be considered silliness in the first film. There is still some pulling at the heart strings due to the impending birth of Manny and Ellie’s (Queen Latifah) baby. But the overall mood of the movie is more like a loony tunes cartoon. And while it is not exceptionally funny, it is still pretty entertaining to watch. Pegg, is especially hysterical as the one-eyed Buck.

Where I had mixed feelings was the use of Scrat. Where he was the FUNNIEST part of the earlier films, here I think the writers tried to hard with the attempt to bring him a love interest. Watching his antics as he tries to capture his precious acorn was a lot funnier than him trying to wrench it from the grasp of a tricky vixen or decide which he desires more. Even my daughter commented on how mean the female “Scratte” was. There were a few laughs and some scenes of comeuppance, but it didn’t have the power of his earlier adventures.

20th Century Fox is releasing “Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” in several versions. The most desired would be the Blu-ray/DVD Combo with Digital Download, but if you’re not a hardcore collector you might shoot for the Single DVD, or the Single DVD Combo Pack that includes a second cased DVD called “Scrat’s Adventures.”

I cannot comment on the audio or video of any of the releases as I only received a caseless screener DVD. The quality of the video on those is a little under par and offer a small amount of pixilation. Fortunately I know the quality of most Fox DVDs and I know that the finished product will look much, much better.

The single disc version doesn’t offer a whole lot of features. Aside from some trailers, there is only a commentary (though a mildly entertaining one). When you get the Combo pack, “Scrat’s Adventures” includes two animated shorts (but both have already been released… neither of them are new) and a few more special features. There are featurettes on the new characters as well as how to draw Scrat. You’ll also find some behind the scenes recording footage and thee games that can be accessed on your computer.

The release for “Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”, while its not overflowing with special features, is still an entertaining enough film to warrant at least getting the single disc version. I, however… will probably end up grabbing the Bluray/DVD Combo. ($$$)

Directed by: Carlos Saldanha, Mike Thurmeier
Starring (the voices of): Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Simon Pegg
Extras (DVD Combo Pack): Audio Commentary, 2 Scrat Shorts, The Sabre Toothed Squirel, Scrat – From Head to Toe, Scrat – Breaking Story & News Report, Fox movie Channel Presents – Making of a Scene, Falling for Scratte, Buck… Easel to Weasel, Unearthing the Lost World, Walk the Dinosaur Music Video, 3 Games
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 10/27/2009
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG

We'll give Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs a B.