REVIEW

DVD Review: Bee Movie (A Very Jerry 2-Disc Edition)

Written by Rebecca Wright
Published March 25, 2008
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While a romance between a woman an a bee is seriously far-fetched, Bee Movie offers quite a few laughs over its 90-minute running time. The idea that Seinfeld took a small, ill thought of insect like a bee and put him square into the human world was interesting. Do you suppose they talk? Do they have feelings? You might find yourself pondering such questions after watching Bee Movie.

The voice talent in Bee Movie is strictly A-list. Seinfeld brings a wonderful emotional range to Barry Benson. He expresses happiness, sadness, panic — the whole spectrum. Renée Zellweger brings the same kind of warm fuzziness to Vanessa she seems to bring to almost every role she plays. Matthew Broderick and John Goodman bring real oomph to their roles, but it is Patrick Warburton who steals every scene as Ken. He sounds like a steroid-addled Neanderthal man who makes his character jump off the screen. Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Rip Torn, and Barry Levinson have smaller supporting roles in the film. Sting, Larry King, and Ray Liotta parody themselves in the movie, adding another humorous angle to the proceedings.

Bee Movie is a digitally created film, so the 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer looks fabulous on DVD. The colors are pristine and there are absolutely no flaws. The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound is impressive. A French 5.1 soundtrack accompanies the English mix and Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks are provided for Spanish viewers.

Bee Movie (A Very Jerry 2-Disc Edition) provides a bunch of extras. The first disc contains "Commentary with Jerry Seinfeld and Filmmakers" in which Seinfeld and others involved in making the film discuss the process. It was interesting to hear Seinfeld and co-writer Barry Marder, co-directors Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner, co-producer Christina Steinberg and editor Nick Fletcher talk about real-life events that inspired the film and how they brought it all to the screen.

The first disc also contains "Three Lost Scenes" (5:00) titled "Barry Interview," "The Queen" and "Liotta on a Plane". Seinfeld introduces each scene and provides comments about it. These scenes were never animated, but are storyboarded. Six "Alternate Endings" (14:39) are also provided. Again these are storyboarded. "Jerry´s Flight Over Cannes" (3:02) is a short about how Jerry introduced the film at the Cannes film festival. "Inside the Hive: The Cast of Bee Movie" (14:42) is a longer a "making of" featurette.

The second disc is more techie fun stuff, rather than material directly related to the film. "Tech of Bee Movie" (7:32) is a look at the computers and animation techniques that were used to bring Seinfeld´s creation to life. It includes more interviews with Seinfeld and crew. "Meet Barry B. Benson" is an interactive feature for kids. The "We Got the Bee" music video and a DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox round out the special features on this loaded set.

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Rebecca is a freelance writer, concentrating in the areas of film, television and music criticism. Her B.A. is in the Humanities with an emphasis in film and writing.She holds an M.A. in American and British literature with an emphasis in dystopian literature and detective fiction.
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DVD Review: Bee Movie (A Very Jerry 2-Disc Edition)
Published: March 25, 2008
Type: Review
Section: Video
Filed Under: Video: Animation, Video: Comedy, Video: Family
Writer: Rebecca Wright
Rebecca Wright's BC Writer page
Rebecca Wright's personal site
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