- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French Dolby 2.0 Mono, German Dolby 2.0 Mono, Italian Dolby 2.0 Mono, Portuguese Dolby 2.0 Mono, Spanish (Castilian) Dolby 2.0 Mono, Spanish (Latin American) Dolby 2.0 Stereo
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish (Latin American)
- Region: A (B? C?)
- Rating: G
- Discs: 1
- Studio: MGM
- Blu-ray Release Date: March 29, 2011
- List Price: $19.99
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Secret of NIMH on Blu-ray at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
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:4/5]
The Secret of NIMH is one of the few animated films not from the House of Mouse that I actually remember from my youth and that is saying a lot. This gloomy fantasy from the Robert C. O’Brien novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH will whisk you away into a magical fairytale world, hidden away from eyes of humans, where you can let your imagination run wild.
In order to save the life of her ill son, widowed field mouse Mrs. Brisby (voiced by Elizabeth Hartman) must turn to the help of the unnaturally intelligent rats and their wizard Nicodemus (voiced by the inimitable British actor Derek Jacobi). Risking life and limb, and with the help of her new friend, the clumsy crow Jeremy (Dom DeLuise) she must fend off a dangerous cat, fight enemy rats, and obtain a magical amulet, whilst she discovers the key to her dead husband’s deep connection to the rats’ uncanny abilities.
The Secret of NIMH is filled with magic and wonder, supported by beautiful animation that reaches the level of a Disney classic. It is fantastical fun for the entire family, although smaller children may be a bit frightened by the film’s moodiness.
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Secret of NIMH may offer some minimal improvement over the DVD, but this is certainly no spectacular hand-drawn animation release along the lines of Disney. It seems a minimum amount of effort has gone into to bringing this AVC transfer to Blu-ray, thus there is a lot of source damage still present, it is swarming in grain, there is definitely some harsh video noise apparent, flickering, and wavering color reproduction.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack offers a good stereo spread and nice dynamics. The dialogue is clear, midrange is natural, lows are deep and tight and highs are smooth.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
There aren’t many supplements offered here, but there’s a decent audio commentary with the filmmakers well worth listening to.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Audio Commentary with Filmmakers Don Bluth & Gary Goldman
- Secrets Behind the Secret Featurette (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:14.25)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1.33:1; 1080p/24)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
The Secret of NIMH is one of the animated classics. Hitting theatres at a time when powerhouse Disney was in a serious lull, United Artists stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park with this magical fantasy. Hopefully one day we’ll get the fully restored, pristine high definition release that this film deserves, until then, this Blu-ray is only a minor upgrade.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product align=”right”]B004NDJXOY[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Secret of NIMH on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
