- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
- Rating: PG
- Region: A
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD+Digital Copy)
- Studio: Lionsgate
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 11, 2011
- List Price: $39.99
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase Alpha and Omega on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
If ever there was proof that just animating something in CGI and putting a star-studded cast of voice actors in the lead roles does not a good move make, then Alpha and Omega is it. The film ran in theatres in 3D, but shows up on Blu-ray in the plain ol’ 2D version and one has to wonder why? The 3D may have been the only thing worthwhile about Alpha and Omega, a perfunctory production with graphics that lapse into Saturday morning cartoon territory and a story anyone over the age of twelve has seen a million times before, done way better.
Two wolves, an alpha, Kate (Hayden Panettiere), and a bottom rung omega, Humphrey (Justin Long), have a crush on each other, but wolf social structure would never allow an alpha and omega to, umm, “howl together,” not until the two are snatched up from their home in Jasper by park rangers and taken to Idaho to breed, anyway. But their abduction has put their pack at home in jeopardy. Kate is promised to a rival pack’s alpha son and the two packs are to join, but with Kate missing, war is imminent.
Kate and Humphrey are on the adventure of their lives, meanwhile, making their way back to Jasper and learning just how much opposites really can attract, while fending off angry bears, partnering with goofy ducks and geese, and riding the rails.
The problem with Alpha and Omega is there really is no story here and no character development. It’s all strained comic relief, bad scripting, and not so great graphics that probably look even worse in flat 2D (or maybe not). The motion of the characters is jerky and so is the resolution of the storylines.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The 1080p/24 AVC/MPEG-4 encoding of Alpha and Omega, framed at 1.78:1, looks as you’d expect a CGI-animated film to look on Blu-ray: clean and richly detailed, but the overall style of the animation imparts a softness to the image that just doesn’t allow it to “pop” like the best we have seen from Pixar and DreamWorks, for example. Still, there are no detrimental compression or processing issues with the transfer.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack provided for Alpha and Omega is spacious and dynamic with clean dialogue and loads of ambience in the surround channels, but it is certainly less aggressive than the mixes for most films in this genre. Still, it is easy on the ears, with relaxed high frequencies and good low end extension.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Alpha and Omega comes with a decent mix of HD video supplements, games, and in-movie trivia for a nice value-added package from Lionsgate. Most of the video supplements will not offer much replay value, but the trivia track and log slide game should prove fun for the wee ones.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Making of Alpha and Omega (1.78:1; 1080p/24):
- Part 1 — The Alpha of Animation (0:07.23)
- Part 2 — Voicing the Wolves (0:08.02)
- Part 3 — From Alpha to Omega (0:06.26)
- Wolves in the Wild Featurette (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:13.10)
- Deleted Scene (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.06)
- Animal Fun Facts — In-movie trivia track provides some facts about wildlife featured in the film.
- Log Sliding Game — Help Kate and Humphrey feed their hungry wolf pack by selecting the path, which leads to the herd of caribou.
- Are You an Alpha or an Omega? Personality Test
- DVD
- Digital Copy
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2.5/5]
The youngest ones may find some joy in passing the time with this title, but mom and dad (or anyone over 12) need not expect a Pixar masterpiece or even a DreamWorks production from this ultimately forgettable animated tale.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B002ZG973I[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Alpha and Omega on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
