Plot: What’s it about?
Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is an angry, ulgy and disgusting ogre who lives in the recluse of a forest. He likes it that way. While it isn’t really said why he is angry at the world, he seems to be content taking his mud baths, frightening humans (and animals) away from his home and feasting on his newly caught critters. The lifestyle of Shrek is not uncommon to real-life human counterparts. A curious village nearby is determined to get a look at the mysterious ogre and try to chase him out of the forest, but no matter how brave they are and no matter what weapons they have, the might of Shrek is too much for them. But things tend to happen for a reason and at a local market, things are being bought and sold. An old woman is trying to sell her donkey who she claims can talk. The donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) is as stubborn as they come, and as it turns out, can talk (in most cases no one can get him to shut up). As the donkey manages to escape from the market, he follows Shrek into the forest with the hope of staying wit him and perhaps find a new friend in the process. Shrek, being the kind and gentle soul he is, allows the donkey to stay for one night (outside, mind you) and it’s then when all the action takes place.
This brings us to Lord Farquaad (voiced by John Lithgow) who is the "wanna be king" of the land, but the only trouble is that he’s not married to a princess. The Lord has bestowed all of the inhabitants on to Shrek’s property (and a lot of familiar faces are seen, up to and including Snow White and her Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, The Three Bears, The Three Blind Mice and Pinocchio just to name a few). Shrek, of course, naturally wants all of them gone and to get that, he has to do a task for the Lord. Shrek must go fetch a Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) and bring her back to be his bride. Now this is where it gets fun and interesting…Princess Fiona is kept in a castle surrounded by fire and brimstone and a fire-breathing dragon. She awaits the first kiss by her true love to remove a horrible curse that’s been placed on her. I’ll leave out the details of the curse as one could surely connect the dots, but let’s just say it’s not too pretty. So Shrek and his new sidekick, Donkey, are off to get the princess so that Shrek can again have the forest to himself. What they don’t realize, though, is that the journey to get the princess and the journey on the way back is one that will affect Shrek and the world he lives in.
I hate to sound corny, but I really loved ‘Shrek’ and found that it really does have something for everybody. While the children will most certainly love the jokes and the animation, there are plenty of jokes that only adults (or teenagers) will get. I found the opening sequences to be a bit crude in terms of content, but I think that children are so de-sensitized to things these days that it wasn’t a problem. The casting was perfect, letting Mike Myers once again do his Scottish-accent routine (he also did the character of "Fat Bastard" from Austin Powers II who had a Scottish accent). Eddie Murphy nearly steals the show as the constantly-talking Donkey. And as we learn in the supplements, the actors were filmed and a lot of their characters were based on the actions that the actors did. Evidently Dreamworks did something right, as Shrek is the highest-grossing movie of the year (as of this writing) and will most likely go on to inspire a sequel or two. In closing, Shrek is a movie that I will watch another few times, it’s just that good. The animation is top notch as is the storyline. I hate to sound redundant, but it really does have something for everyone and it’s one of the better movies that I’ve seen in some time.
Video: How does it look?
I’m an idiot and I’m about to tell you why! I opened the copy of ‘Shrek’ and took out the first disc and pushed "Play". The Dreamworks logo was presented in what looked like a 2.40:1 aspect ratio (I have a widescreen TV), so I thought "Ok…this is a 2.35:1 movie". Well, as the opening credits rolled, I found the image to take up the entire screen, thus proving my prediction moot. From time to time, as I watched the movie, there seemed to be certain odd things. Some objects looked a bit skewed and I just had a feeling that things weren’t "right". It was only after that I had finished the movie that I looked at the box and saw that I was in fact watching the full-frame version! Ok, so I’m not perfect. But I do have to say that when even the full-frame version would merit a "5.0" rating, it’s a good picture. I’ll go into more detail on anamorphic transfer, but let’s just say that when you put in your copy of ‘Shrek’, you won’t be let down visually.
While I did eventually find the 1.78:1 anamorphic version of ‘Shrek’, I have to say that it’s even more impressive than the full-frame version. That’s not exactly surprising to say, as the anamorphic version will always look better than it’s full-frame counterpart. Composed entirely in the digital domain, there’s no "film" to deal with and hence we get a flawless transfer. You’ve read where I always say "This isn’t exactly demo material, but…". Well, this is demo material. If you want to show your friends how good DVD’s can look or convince them to buy a DVD player, this is what to show them. There is a 3-D quality to each and every scene that positively radiates clarity. Black levels, or I should say "Green" levels are right on target, there’s no artifacting to speak of and the level of detail is amazing. If there were to be one thing that might hamper this transfer, it would be a slight bit of edge-enhancement, but it’s not noticeable in every scene and doesn’t take away from the excitement of every scene. Truly, this is the type of movie that DVD was designed for and I find it hard to believe that ‘Shrek’ could look any better than it does right now. Top notch.
Audio: How does it sound?
As mentioned before in my "idiot…" sentence, I was also surprised not to find a DTS track on this disc. Well, on that disc I did not find a DTS track because one didn’t exist. However, I was more than satisfied with the Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the first disc, but the second disc did feature three Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and a brilliant DTS track. While the surrounds aren’t utilized that much, when they are used it’s to great effect. Little tiny sprinkle sounds, explosions (in the form of dragon fireballs) and a few other surround effects you can imagine; these all sound great when it comes to the DTS and Dolby Digital tracks. While not quite up to the par set by the video, the audio is lacking in just a few areas. Don’t get me wrong, though, as the sound in ‘Shrek’ will give your speakers a workout.
Supplements: What are the extras?
‘Shrek’ is a 2 Disc Special Edition from Dreamworks, and by saying that, let me say that the features are abundant and you’ll more than get your money’s worth here. Disc One (stop laughing) features a Full-Frame transfer and an abundance of supplements. I might add, and I usually don’t comment on menus, that the CGI menus were created especially for the DVD and are just as clear and festive as the movie itself. The disc promises some 11 hours of bonus materials, but in terms of actual supplements, it’s only an hour or so. The first disc contains the full-frame version of the film as well as a behind the scenes featurette entitled "The Making of Shrek". Clever. It’s a standard featurette that tells about the movie and has various interviews with the cast and crew. A music video entitled "Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Party". If you liked the ending credits of the movie, then this is right up your alley. There are a majority of DVD-ROM supplements, but my computer is ill-equipped to access them. You can record your voice over any number of scenes, watch some music videos and play ‘Shrek’ pinball. Very clever as I’m sure this will be copied by other studios in the very near future. Disc Two contains the anamorphic version of the film along with a commentary by the Director’s. It’s a very technical commentary, but a good, informative one nonetheless. "The Tech of Shrek" is a featurette that focuses on just how amazingly technical the movie is. With some 10 times more special effects than it’s "predecessor", ‘Antz’, ‘Shrek’ is amazing when it comes to technicality. There are some technical goofs, such as a "fuzzy donkey", but these get old and you have to wonder if these were actually goofs or just made for the DVD? What interested me was the dubbing featurette. ‘Shrek’ was a hit in the United States/Canada with the celebrity voices, but abroad the voices belong to different actors and actresses; thus making the film a tad bit more realistic. A few deleted scenes are also included that utilize the multi-angle feature of your DVD player, yes we’re just now starting to use that after four years! All in all, Shrek is a great movie with tons of features. I shouldn’t even have to recommend it to add it to your collection, but I will anyway. Add this to your collection!
