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… and the remakes just keep coming.
I’m amazed on pretty much a daily
basis nowadays at how many films get remade,
re-imagined, or just plain repeated. Disney
has even gotten into the mix, most recently
with the new big budget, “Race to
witch Mountain.”
If you remember waaaaayyyyyy back in the
seventies, there were two Disney films,
“Escape to Witch Mountain” and
“Return from Witch Mountain.”
Both starred the ever precocious Kim Richards
and Ike Eisenmann as Tia and Tony, two young
aliens on the run from villainous tycoons
and scientists. At the time, the special
effects were pretty amazing, at least to
younger kids… but as the recent DVD
re-releases proved, memories are definitely
subjective. Still, I enjoyed these films
for their simple spirit.
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Jump ahead several decades, and Disney is now
giving us “Race to Witch Mountain”,
a hyped up special effects extravaganza-adventure-
buddy flick starring none other than Dwaye “The
Rock” Johnson. I initially wasn’t
too thrilled with the idea of this remake, but
after watching it the other night with my family
I have to say that Disney absolutely got it right.
This new movie’s teenage aliens come in
the form of Sarah (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander
Ludwig), and instead of needing to get to get
to ‘Witch Mountain’ to simply get
back to their people, they need to get to their
ship in order to stop an impending invasion. They
fall into the lap… or rather… Taxi
of Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson) and spend most
of the film evading capture by evil government
guys (are there any other kind) and an alien assassin
sent to stop them from getting home. Fortunately
Jack used to be a ‘wheel man’ for
some shady Las Vegas types and he uses his driving
skills to aid the kids. Along the way, they add
UFO expert Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino) to
their ‘ka-tet’ as they race to…
well… to Witch Mountain.
I didn’t expect much from “Race to
Witch Mountain”, so I can say that I got
way more than I bargained for. Sure there are
some huge plot holes, but admittedly my whole
family enjoyed the heck out of the movie. There
was plenty of eye candy in the way of special
effects and it moved at a very brisk pace. Plus
I was glad to see that we could finally see a
‘family’ film devoid of poop and fart
jokes. Even the language was pretty well toned
down. It was a bit violent here and there, but
they went to great pains to show or well you no
one died. Good job Disney!
I‘m also giving kudos to Disney for bringing
the original alien kids Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann
into the film in some extended and satisfying
cameos!
“Race to Witch Mountain” is hitting
store shelves this week, and I recommend grabbing
the Bluray + DVD + Digital Copy edition. It’s
only a few dollars more than the other versions,
and you can play it in the family room on your
Bluray player as well as the DVD player in the
kid’s room. The Digital Copy is also great
to have – I personally plan on watching
it again on my Iphone during a 5 hour flight I’m
taking this weekend.
As for extra features, there are a handful of
deleted scenes, most of which are as you usually
expect from such… with the exception of
“The Tag” which allows for a very
interesting ending. A Blooper reel delivers a
few light funny screw-ups, while a slightly longer
behind the scenes feature allows director Andy
Fickman to point out some of the cameos and nods
to the original films.
I found “Race to Witch Mountain”
to be an enjoyable ride for the whole family.
Directed by: Andy Fickman
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Annasophia Robb, Carla
Gugino, Ciaran Hinds, Alexander Ludwig, Tom Everett
Scott
Extras: Deleted Scenes, Bloopers, “Which
Mountain”, Digital Copy
Specifications: Widescreen (2.40:1) 1080p High
Definition, English 5.1 DTS-HD (48kHz/24-bit)
Studio: Disney
Release Date: 8/4/2009
MPAA Rating: PG
http://www.disneybluray.com
We'll give Race to Witch Mountain (Blu-ray)
an A.
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