This post contains affiliate links and our team will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the links.
Charging home on December 15th comes Walt Disney Pictures’ actionpacked comedy-adventure G-Force. Packaged as an exciting Disney “Combo Pack” (a Blu-ray™ + DVD + DisneyFile Digital Copy of the movie in a single package), families can finally look forward to enjoying this thrilling story about a covert group of feisty furball Guinea Pigs anytime, anywhere and on a compatible format of their choice –Blu-ray player, car, PC and/or portable device. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (National Treasure, Pirates of the Caribbean), G-Force takes audiences on a deliriously entertaining thrill ride with a whole new breed of hero, featuring a stellar cast including Nicolas Cage (National Treasure), Sam Rockwell (Moon), Jon Favreau (I Love You, Man), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona), Tracy Morgan (“30 Rock”), and Steve Buscemi (Charlotte’s Web), with live performances by Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End), Will Arnett (Ratatouille) and Zak Galifianakis (The Hangover). Academy Award®-winning visual effects master Hoyt H. Yeatman, Jr. (1989 winner for Best Effects; Visual Effects, The Abyss) makes his directing debut. Destined to be the family comedy hit of the season, and released just in time for the holidays, G-Force includes a fascinating line-up of behind-the-scenes features, hilarious deleted movie scenes and a collection of music videos featuring songs from the film. And exclusively for Blu-ray owners, there are three CGI effect bonus features that will satisfy their quest to join the rodent spy world.
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, parents aren’t going to get much from G-Force. Almost every joke has been told before, every moment of dramatic tension culled from another film, every slapstick pratfall telegraphed, every heartstring pluck orchestrated by the genre gods themselves. In fact, the only area in which G-Force readily excels is its action sequences, and that’s only because director Hoyt Yateman transforms each set piece into an epic, madcap spectacle brimming with squealing wheels and high-flying rodents. Otherwise, the script is fairly uninspired and the characters, though sharp-tongued and light-footed, suffer from bland voice acting and slightly cartoonish CG. I know, I know… kids aren’t going to notice or care about such shortcomings, but that doesn’t mean every children’s film should automatically get a pass.
No surprises here: G-Force is the talking-guinea-pig-super-spies flick of the year. Adults will grit their teeth and wait for it all to be over, kids will giggle with delight at everything that graces the screen. The Blu-ray edition features a striking video transfer, a solid DTS-HD Master Audio track, and a decent, family-oriented supplemental package with a number of exclusives. In short, G-Force represents yet another reliable children’s release from Disney that packs ample kid appeal.
On a positive note the digital animation is stellar. The rodents are amazingly rendered and seamlessly inserted into the film. The voice cast is solid as well and director Hoyt Yeatman did a fine job of bringing these super rodents to life.
And since this is a Disney production there are a few moral messages woven neatly into the plot of the flick. The first one is of course drives home the fact that family is extremely important. With family on your side anything is possible. The second message is that everyone, no matter how small, is special in their own way.
Bonus Materials are presented in High Definition 1080i video, using Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround for the Theatrical Trailer).
- Cine-Explore with Darwin, Blaster & Their Creator: This is a behind-the-scenes picture-in-picture that runs along side the film.
- Bruckheimer Animated: A Look Back at his CG Work: This runs 3min12sec and has Bruckheimer speak on the film’s visual effects.
- Access Granted: This runs 7min52sec and has director Yeatman give us a behind-the-scenes tour into the labs that helped create the film.
- G-Farce: This is a series of bloopers and flubs that run a total of 1min49sec.
- Deleted Scenes: Here we get a series of deleted scenes that, surprisingly, aren’t that bad.
- Music Videos: 3 Music Videos for different songs are included here. “Jump” by Flo-Rida ft. Nelly Furtado, “Ready to Rock” by Steve Rushton and “Go G-Force“.
- Blaster’s Boot Camp: This runs 4min41sec and gives a glance into what it takes to become a member of G-Force.
- G-Force Mastermind: This runs 4min13sec and shows us how the film’s original concept was developed thanks in part to Yeatman’s son.
- DVD of the Film: Here, on the 2nd disc, is a DVD copy of the film.
- Digital Copy: Found on the 3rd disc is a Digital Copy of the film that is playable on PC, iPod, etc.
