Review by John Delia
About six years ago Disney Studios released a powerful new character from a video game and Wreck It Ralph was born into Animation forever. Wow, that sounds like an introduction to a biography of the building wrecker who became a hero to another video game star Vanellope. She’s the car racing icon of the game “Sugar Rush”. I just thought it would be a good way to begin my review on Ralph’s newest film Ralph Breaks the Internet, a fun animated movie for the whole family now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD.
Even the diehard lovers of the 1982 video arcade game Fix-It-Felix, Jr. where Ralph was a member of the cast, will love this film. In the game his job was to destroy the windows in a high-rise apartment building from the top down while Felix tries to fix them with his hammer before Ralph reaches the bottom. Kind of a wacky, but fun arcade adventure where the gamer has to try and eliminate Ralph before he reaches bottom so he can go to the next level. Whew! I do remember the game.
In the movie Wreck it Ralph however, instead of remaining the antagonist, Ralph earns himself a hero’s badge from Vanellope when he saves her from an antagonist in Episode One. In his newest movie Ralph Breaks the Internet he’s already a protagonist from the beginning and when the arcade game Sugar Rush’s steering mechanism gets broken, threatening the existence of Vanellope, the two look for a solution on the World Wide Web. So begins an adventure that leads to a whole new world including the dangers of a perilous racing game and a computer virus that could even mean the demise of Ralph.
The very funny film has a lot of surprises in store for everyone from mature youngsters to dads and moms who can remember the pastimes they had at arcade centers. Of course you do not need to know how to play the games like Qbert, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Tron, and even Pacman, as this movie plot just uses their characters to enhance the experience of being inside the Arcade. In fact you may even see some of the more recent characters from movies like Star Wars.
The film does a good job of connecting with its former Wreck It Ralph and then moving into the internet with all the computer chips and miles of wires before coming to the center of it all. The writers and animators do a terrific job of creating it and include places like eBay, Amazon, and other destinations like google that we use today to get our information and purchase items. And, even read this article on the internet. New exciting characters are bought forth by the animation team and the story behind them makes for new experience and opens possibilities for another “Ralph and Vanellope†sequel.
BONUS FEATURES GALORE:
Over and hour of special features on the Blu-ray Disc.
“Surfing for Easter Eggs†explains the various things you can find in the film that are items from many Disney films.
“The Music of Ralph Breaks the Internet†the music director talks about their use of music in the film.
“BuzzzTube Cats†a series of cat videos that the Disney artists created as early research on the film.
“How We Broke the Internet†several zany info topics on how they created the film, what happens when going on the internet and other net info including ‘Introduction’, ‘Netizens, Net Users’, ‘Nowsmore’, ‘eBaty’, ‘Older Net’, ‘Slaughter Race’, ‘BuzzzTube’, ‘Ohmydisney’, ‘Ralphzilla’, and ‘The Goodbye’
“Deleted Scenesâ€
Ralph Breaks the Internet has been rated PG by the MPAA for some action and rude humor. Now available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD. The Blu-ray/DV and Digital HD box has a code for Movies Anywhere.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good adventure for the whole family. (5 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Voice Cast Includes: John C. Reilly, Gal Gadot, Alfred Molina, Jack McBrayer, Ed O’Neill, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Sean Giambrone, Flula Borg.
Directed and written by: Phil Johnston and Rich Moore
MPAA Rating: PG for some action and rude humor
Genre: Animated, Adventure, Comedy
Running Time: 1 hr. 52 min.
Video Release Date: February 26, 2019
Original Theatrical Release Date: November 21, 2018
Language: English (changeable to English Descriptive Audio,, French, Spanish)
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray/DVD combo pack
Audio: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Number of Discs: 2 discs plus Digital Code
Distributed by: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Released in: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD, plus Combo Packs