Audio-wise, this movie must have been a challenge. While it’s not an action flick, there is a lot of movement in it. Indoors and out there are so many scenes with running and jumping dogs, crying babies, and yelling adults. Add the soundtrack and incidental music and it could have turned out to be a sloppy mess. Fortunately that isn’t the case. Even listening to it in 5.1 Dolby Surround sound, placement is clear and smooth, complementing the illusion of actually being in the middle as if everything is taking place around you.
My favorite thing about Blu-ray discs is they hold up to five times as much data as a standard disc does and in this case it is put to very good use. You get the same five deleted scenes as the DVD, plus fourteen more. Then are lots of featurettes. "Finding Marley" has the director, David Frankel, and the two on-set dog trainers, Mark Forbes and Mathilde de Cagny, talking about casting and working with the over 22 dogs used just for one character. "Breaking The Golden Rule" is about that old adage "Never work with children or animals" and how in this case it was not applicable. "On The Set With Marley, Dog Of All Trades" is cute as it gives Marley’s tips on movie-making and where he sees his career heading after this film. "Animal Adoption" is a wonderful piece about bringing home rescues and shelter animals into your home instead of going to animal mills. It also talks about being a good parent to your animal and fitting a dog to your lifestyle. The great Adopt-A-Pet website gets a good plug and I also recommend it whether you are a first time ‘owner’ or a seasoned one.
There is one other feature on the BD called the "Dog Training Trivia Track" which sounds like it’s a game, but it isn’t. You can run this during the movie where it shows up as picture-in-picture (PIP) or on its own without any distractions. It covers twelve aspects of having a dog, from "Dog Training 101" and "Getting A Puppy" to "Caring For An Older Dog" and "People + Dogs = Happiness." I’m only sorry that this and the "Animal Adoption" featurette are only available on the BD edition as I think that both have messages that are important to anyone considering adopting a pet.
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