Arthur Christmas

This is not only my all time favorite Christmas movie. It's my favorite all time movie. Period. Like most white American kids growing up, Christmas was key component of my childhood. It absolutely nails just what Christmas was about for me as a child, and judging by the response this movie has, it has captured the same thing for many others. This movie is also a marvel in terms of its writing. Not only is it filled with dozens of very funny one liners, but I am also amazed at how well every piece of the story fits together. Every one of the major characters are well drawn out with flaws and is one of those great stories that doesn't need a villain. You can understand where every character is coming from and everyone gets a well deserved happy ending. There is so much about Christmas that this movie gets right. It addresses the stress that people go through trying to make Christmas happen. It is clever the way it separates the actual character(s) of Santa, and the idea behind why Santa exists. The flying scenes on the sleigh are gorgeous. It perfectly showshow Santa Claus and Christmas has changed over the years. It is also a great road trip story with a clearly defined location the heroes much reach. What makes a road trip story great, is getting behind a character in their drive to reach the location, and watching everything conceivable thing get in their way. It builds to the perfect level of absurdity and desperation that makes the eventual arrival of the destination so gratifying. The ending as well is as perfect and moving as any ending can be and moved me to tears multiple times. If I had to nit pick to find flaws in the movie, it would be in two minor characters: Cheif De Silva (The leader of the U.N.) and Mrs. Claus. De Silva seems a touch out of place, and not entirely necessary to the story. However her scenes lead to several good jokes so I'm willing to let it slide. With Mrs. Santa, she is written and voiced fine, but what I think holds her back is the animation. She's the most restrained of the characters which I think lead to some difficulty portraying her through animation. Additionally animation I'll admit is not quite Pixar quality, but the characters and settings are so well designed, as far as I'm concerned, that does not matter. Basically this film, serves as both as an incredible story in its own right, and is sublime to those who know anything about Christmas.

One of the best animation movies for Christmas. Great story about the holidays and the passing of the torch to the next generation.

My kids and I absolutely love this movie. It’s hilarious, perfect for kids of all ages, and enjoyable for the entire family. I bought it so we can watch it every Christmas without having to rely on it being available to stream.

A Christmasy cartoon about the problems and strength of families coming together.

Entertaining Christmas film to watch with the family

Santa is real! You knew it in your heart. He lives at the North Pole in an underground complex, the position of Santa being passed down from father to son. In the hallway is a long line of portraits, starting with "Santa Claus the First 295-369 AD", through a line including "Santa Claus the Thirteenth 1549-1634" and so on. The last portrait is of "Santa Claus the Twentieth 1941- _". It has no end date because he still holds the position. But this may be his last year. It's traditional to retire and pass the baton after 70 years. This Santa has two sons. The younger, Arthur, is adorable, happy and enthusiastic, but too bumbling to be trusted with anything other than answering Letters to Santa. The elder brother, Steve, has totally upgraded the Christmas Eve procedure. The sleigh and reindeer have been retired in favor of a giant airship with a cloaking device (whoo hoo!) and well-trained Field Elf Battalions. It is a wonderful imagining of how Santa delivers toys to every child in the world on a single night. But this Christmas Eve, after everyone is back to Mission Control and Operation Toy is "Mission Accomplished", an elf named Briony finds that one toy was missed. There's a child in Cornwall who will not have a gift from Santa! Arthur is beside himself, but Steve is firm. It's 5:10 am, and there's no way to get the toy in place before sunrise: "Arthur. Christmas is not a time for emotion. We will get 4 double 7 85BXK a present... in the window of Christmas. We'll messenger the item - it will be there in 5 days." This isn't good enough for Arthur. With his cantakerous GrandSanta (retired) they pull the sleigh out of mothballs and make sure Christmas comes true for every last child. This is a great Christmas story with your usual feel-good vibe and ending. Steve is not an evil bad guy, he is merely focused on his military-like procedures and his 99.999999% success rate for the year. There is so much humor in this movie. Such as when GrandSanta is not impressed with Steve's smugness: "Christmas 1941, WWII, I did the whole thing with six reindeer and a drunken elf." Meanwhile, Steve is checking his messages on his HO-HO (like a phone) such as this one: "You looked great today. Siri" "Arthur Christmas" premiered in 2011, 97 minutes of animated fun. The voice acting is top of the line, with Hugh Laurie ("House") as Steve, James McAvoy as Arthur, Jim Broadbent as Santa and a cackling Bill Nighy as GrandSanta. The DVD is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 Dolby Digital. You can listen to the movie, or watch with subtitles, in three languages: English, French or Spanish. The DVD also has 3 Special Features which are fun to watch. 1. "Un-Wrapping Arthur Christmas" (13 minutes) Just about everyone involved as cast or crew has a say in this making-of featurette. Bill Nighy says, "It was one of the best scripts I've read for a long time." 2. "Progressive Reels" (15 minutes total) This is a look at five different aspects of the movie. I particularly enjoyed the animation people taking us through the initial "Invasion Sequence", where we follow a troop of elves delivering toys. "The camera style in this sequence was heavily from the Cinéma Vérité, a run and gun style of filmmaking." What is was was just like an action movie. 3. "Elf Recruitment Video" (1 minute) A cute trailer. "They are the world's most elite team. On the Single Largest Covert Mission EVER." Very recommended family Christmas movie! Happy Reader

If you want a great Christmas movie, well, here it is. When I go saw it several years ago, it became one of my favorite Christmas films. I also recommend The Christmas Chronicles with Kurt Russell.

"Operation: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"... Is beautifully directed by Sarah Smith. She spins out a whole new animated theme of the Christmas scene, headed-up at and coming out of the North Pole. What's first asked is: Just who is actually in charge up there? It would be either the current Santa Claus (Jim Broadbent), who comes down through the generations with each Claus portrait hung on the wall, or the up-and-coming, heir-apparent, eldest son, Steve (Hugh Laurie). While the current Santa (usually awaiting a nap) is more of a position-holder up-north, Steve is in complete control with a militarily disciplined style. With the elves, and everything that needs doing, he's hyped for "efficiency and productivity". The younger and kinder son, Arthur (James McAvoy), obviously operates from the heart. He's in charge of receiving all the letters to Santa and making sure the children are getting what they need; he believes that Santa is the "Greatest Man Ever". In a quaint town in England, little apple-cheeked Gwen slips her annual letter to Santa Claus into the post box with the highest of hopes. She begins an opening monologue asking a whole lot of questions about, and of, Santa Claus: "Why?"-this and "Why?"-that, including her doubts of whether or not he is even real. Her friend told her otherwise while Gwen... Still Believes! We see an entirely orchestrated Christmas Eve night enfold... Steve is at the helm and in the complete direction of all 'operations'. His father is Santa, and he's delivering the toys along with the new, high-tech elves ('1st. Field Elves Battalion'). Steve is choreographing everything behind the scenes, to the most minute of detail. Upon Santa's return to the North Pole, following so much action, the counts are tallied and everything stands as... "Mission Accomplished". This is with the one exception. We soon discover, after Santa's family finishes their Christmas meal around the table, that a child was forgotten. That child just happens to be Gwen. She didn't receive her toy and she is still fast asleep. Arthur is deeply disturbed by this, as he is the one who read her letter, and Santa's own father is also as upset with this situation. Wisecracking Grandsanta (Bill Nighy) is old-school and came before this new, ultra-controlled way of handling Christmas and handling the children. He may be a lot of things, although he genuinely cares and also for Arthur's position as the 'Number Two Son' in the family. He misses the old ways and traditions held throughout his own generation of being the Head Claus. Arthur and Grandsanta join forces and switch back to the old sleigh (endeared "Evie") and reindeer team in favor of this new, high-flying, techno-ride that Santa is using now. The two of them, along with an elf friend, take off to find the sleeping, and still believing, Gwen. The race is on... There is plenty to see in this film with the animation and picture quality vividly done. The Christmas Eve scene at the very beginning is Hyperactive; with the elves in unison performing their tasks, jumping off of suspended ropes that seemingly hang from the sky, skiing all over, and viewing through green-glowing, night vision goggles. The North Pole is so well represented by color, light and hustling and bustling everywhere. Even the dark blue night skies are blanketed in grand style, with a gorgeous mantle of shimmering stars. A truly happy Christmas movie that we enjoyed immensely! Merry Arthur Christmas...

Arthur Christmas (3D) Note: Above Rating is for Packing and Content Quality, not for Movie. My Rating for Movie : 2.8/5 (Above Average) ============================================================================================================ Disc Packing info: As Usual Contains Single Disc Disc Title: Arthur_Christmas Disc Size: 36,281,853,328 bytes (33.8 GB) Length: 1:37:32.847 Video info Codec: MPEG-4 MVC Resolution: 1080p Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (FULL SCREEN 3D) Audio info: Audio: English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2161 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Audio: Arabic / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Bulgarian / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Croatian / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Hindi / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Hungarian / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Icelandic / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Polish / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Portuguese / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Romanian / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Serbian / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Slovenian / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Audio: Turkish / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Subs info: Subtitle: English / 6.053 kbps Subtitle: Arabic / 8.834 kbps Subtitle: Bulgarian / 14.845 kbps Subtitle: Croatian / 13.795 kbps Subtitle: Hindi / 11.040 kbps Subtitle: Hungarian / 13.048 kbps Subtitle: Icelandic / 12.763 kbps Subtitle: Polish / 15.838 kbps Subtitle: Portuguese / 14.488 kbps Subtitle: Romanian / 12.827 kbps Subtitle: Serbian / 13.258 kbps Subtitle: Slovenian / 14.181 kbps Subtitle: Turkish / 13.767 kbps Region Free 3D Video Quality info... Arthur Christmas features a solid, though not spectacular, Blu-ray 3D image. The picture offers good general depth but there's not a single frame in the film that will truly leave viewers breathless with the scope of the 3D picture element. To be sure, that added depth benefits all of the big, sprawling S-1 interiors, but not to any sort of revelatory, "holy smokes" sort of eye-popping moment. Instead, the depth is merely adequate, fairly portraying the ship's mass but never truly placing the viewer in its midst. The 3D effect works best in several scenes depicting crowds of elves. In such shots, the sense of space between them -- even as they are bunched together -- is clear, and each one down the line from front to back takes on a very real, tangible shape. A few elements are also nice and shapely, such as the mailbox in which Gwen drops her letter to Santa at film's open. Otherwise, there's not much more to the 3D visuals. Elves dropping down from the S-1 on a gift-giving mission look as if they're about to burst through the screen, but such elements are rare and there's not much extra-screen material. ======================================================================================================== Regards, AVBuff' (Audio/Video Fan)

Excellent film DVD quality is excellent

Bel film di animazione per tutta la famiglia. Simpatico e coinvolgente per adulti e bambini (dai 3-4 anni può funzionare). Inutile dire che l'abbiamo visto e rivisto centinaia di volte ben oltre le feste di Natale.

Très beau dessin animé de la magie de Noël

Wer meine Rezensionen kennt, weiß, dass ich eher auf die technische Umsetzung eingehe. Mehr Infos unter mryamaha-heimkinofreak punkt de Kurz zur Story: Alle Jahre wieder werden wir mit "Weihnachtsfilmen" konfrontiert und es ist nicht immer leicht, das Thema so umzusetzen, daß es nicht wieder in die Klischee Schiene abrutscht. Die Aardman Studios haben es geschafft, mit ARTHUR WEIHNACHTSMANN einen Film und eine Story zu kreieren, was tatsächlich jung und alt gleichermassen begeistern kann. Die Story ums "vergessene" Kind wird charmant und witzig erzählt, was nicht nur am sympathischen Titelheld, sondern auch am Opa und der "Elf-Power" liegt. Die sehr stimmungsvoll animierten Bilder vermitteln sehr viel Weihnachts-Feeling, wozu auch die auf den Punkt komponierte Filmmusik Ihren Beitrag leistet. Eine herausragende Weihnachtsproduktion! 3D Bildbewertung: Sony offeriert uns auf der 3D Bluray eine absolut perfekte 3D Bildwiedergabe. Das farbintensive 3D Bild zeigt sehr viel Raum und Plastizität, wie man diese selten bei 3D in dieser Perfektion sieht. Kanten und Konturen sind knackscharf und es gibt sehr viele Szenen, in denen man das Gefühl hat, selbst zu schweben, z.Bsp. wenn der Opa den alten Schlitten zur Weltumrundung in Gang bringt. Kontrast und Helligkeit sind perfekt kalibriert und selbst dunkle Szenen zeigen genug Durchzeichnung, wenn Arthur in dunkler Nacht ein "verlorenes" Rentier durch eine Schildduplette ersetzen will. Selbst nach mehrmaliger Durchsicht des Filmes sind keinerlei Negativeffekte zu finden. Kein Clouding, kein Ghosting, keine Kompressionsartefakte. Bildtechnisch definitiv eine 3D Referenz Bluray ohne wenn und aber. Sony ist eine neue 3D Bildreferenz gelungen. Tonbewertung DTS HD 5.1. Deutsch: Auch tontechnisch gönnt uns Sony einen DTS HD Mix, der erfreulich ausgewogen daher kommt. Zunächst fällt der äusserst stimmige Musicscore auf, der weit im Raum verteilt einen sofort in seinen Bann zieht. Bei einem Weihnachtsfilm, dessen Zielgruppe auch Kinder sein dürften, würde man eigentlich weder Subwoofer-Power oder allzuviel Surround Effekte erwarten, um die Kleinen nicht zu sehr zu erschrecken. In den Szenen, in denen die S-1 über den "beschenkten" Städten schwebt, kommt kurzzeitig ordentlich Druck auf (gleich zu Anfang des Filmes) und auch die "Elfen Aktivitäten" werden mit viel Liebe zum Detail im Split Surround-Verfahren präsentiert. Egal in welcher Location sich der Film gerade befindet, es wird immer das passende Sound Design dazu geliefert. Die Toningeneure haben sich richtig Mühe gegeben hier einen hochwetigen Mix zu präsentieren, ohne aufdringlich zu wirken, der jung und alt gefallen dürfte. Die Dialoge sind im richtigen Verhältnis zum restlichen Geschehen und somit klar verständlich. Bezogen aufs Thema "Weihnachtsfilm" sicher ein sehr hochwertiger Mix, ein Referenz Soundtrack ist der Film zwar nicht, muss es auch nicht, da hatten wir dieses Jahr andere BLOCKBUSTER, die themenbedingt dann auch ganz klar mehr bieten. Trotzdem ein sehr stimmiges Ergebnis. Kompliment! Extras: Dem Himmel sei Dank, daß dieser Film von Sony vertrieben wird, weil da weiß man, daß auch das Menülayout stimmt. (im Vergleich zu Warner, die sich gar keine Mühe geben beim Bluray Menü Layout) Aus einer sich wiederholenden Menüschleife lassen sich folgende Zusatzbeiträge abrufen, die diese Bluray abrunden: - Hinter den Kulissen von Justin Biebers „Santa Claus is Coming’ to Town” Musikvideo - Das komplette Musikvideo von Justin Bieber - Santas Soldaten - Der Weihnachts-Familienstammbaum - Arthur Weihnachtsmann zum Auspacken - Elfen-Rekrutierungs-Video Wenn man bedenkt, daß diese 3D Bluray zum "fairen" Preis angeboten wird, kann sie jedem empfohlen werden, der Lust auf ein gelungenes 3D Animationsabenteuer hat. Na dann...FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!