Blu-ray Review: ‘Dolphin Tale’ - Yahoo! Movies

"Dolphin Tale" releases on a two-disc set consisting of a Blu-ray disc and a DVD. It features the HD, SD, and UV digital copies of this 2011 family movie. It is inspired by the true story of a courageous dolphin's struggle to survive and the compassionate people's actions to save her life. This touching tale begins when a kid saves a severely wounded dolphin named Winter until she unfortunately gets her tail amputated. In the midst of the hopeless thoughts of a dolphin being unable to live without a tail, a prosthetic expert is called upon to possibly give back life to the disabled animal. This film by Charles Martin Smith stars Harry Connick Jr., Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Nathan Gamble.

Visuals

As a recent release, "Dolphin Tale" boasts a technically respectable HD transfer. From its gorgeous underwater scenes to the dramatic moments in the family home, images are always well detailed and visually pleasing. Crisp images are seen anywhere from the movie's vibrant and picturesque locations to the smallest freckle on a character's face. Contrast is pretty wide and the colors are always strong and striking.

The minimal issues of the picture include the apparent softness in some shots and the mostly negligible but still noticeable crushing of some blacks. Some CG effects including the digital dolphins also tend to look quite fake in HD format. There are no significant artifacting, aliasing, banding, and ringing seen in the shots.

Audio

Although not an ambitious audio presentation, the movie sports a more than serviceable surround track. This front-heavy, dialogue-driven offering provides generally convincing sound elements. It features fine directionality and panning movements, which aptly complement the film's sound design.

A prominent score of the mainstream movie variety puts enough spirit and inspiration to the story. Speaking lines sound clear even with plenty of atmospherics effects around. Aside from the original five-channel English mix, alternative five-channel audio options in Spanish, French, and Portuguese are also available.

Supplements

This Blu-ray package contains a number of supplemental materials. These include a behind-the-scene featurette with the cast and crew in "At Home with Winter," an in-depth discussion of the film's opening sequence with director Charles Martin Smith and producer Andrew Kosove in "Spotlight on a Scene," the true story of Winter and her miraculous recovery in "Winter's Inspiration," and a short deleted scene entitled "Winter Meets Panama." The disc also includes a gag reel and the two bonus animated shorts "The Hutash Rainbow Bridge" and "Ormie and the Cookie Jar." All videos are featured in HD format. Subtitles are available in English SDH, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Final Thoughts

"Dolphin Tale" is a heartwarming family film about hope, friendship, bonding, and survival. Although it employs a by-the-number storytelling treatment, it still works for the general public's demand for an entertaining and inspirational cinematic piece. It yields more to the children audience, but it can still charm adults who have hearts for uplifting and dramatic stories. This Blu-ray release supplies an adequate collection of extra materials and the film itself is quite satisfying with only minor flaws to contend with.