# Life of Pi - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=11210[/img] 
*Title: Life of Pi* 

*Movie:* :4.5stars:
*Video:* :5stars:
*Audio:* :5stars: 
*Extras:* :2.5stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*93




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=11211[/img]*Summary*
Out of all the academy award winners this year, “Life of Pi” is the most unique. While most of them centered on human struggles, they were all straight forward narratives. “Life of Pi” strays from that mold, tending to be a bit more surreal and instead seems to flit between reality and a fantasy dream. Telling the tale of Pi with both traditional storytelling and Ang Lee’s phenomenal work as a visual storyteller, it draws upon both our senses of sight and sound to tell a story both simplistic, and complicated at the same time. 

Our story begins with a down and out writer visiting our protagonist Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan) hoping for a story that can bring him out of his writer’s slump. It seems that Pi was the sole survivor of a shipwreck during his youth, orphaning him, but giving him an incredible tale to tell. Acquiescing to the young writer’s request Pi agrees to tell the tale of his amazing voyage.

Pi was born and raised in Pondicherry, India where his father was a zookeeper. Growing up with a spiritual mother and an atheistic father caused Pi to go off and explore every religion he possibly could, giving him a rather unique perspective on life. Unfortunately for him, his father recognizes the end of his career in India and decides to sell the animals and move the entire family to Winnipeg where he has the ability to find work. Packing up and shipping out the family runs into a wild storm. A storm so powerful that it completely sinks the tanker leaving only Pi alive, floating in a lifeboat with a few of his father’s zoo animals. 

As fate would have it, the only animal to survive the lifeboat encounter is a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. Surviving with a wild Tiger was not exactly something Pi was expecting and as he has always done, he learns to adapt. Taming the Tiger is out of the question, but with some ingenuity and the common bond of survival, the two learn to live with each other on the 30 foot lifeboat. Pi and Richard Parker lean to adapt and survive on the ocean, due to Pi’s incredible ingenuity and the journey brings them closer together as well as allow Pi to discover the true strengths and weaknesses that he possesses when he is stretched to his absolute limits. Along the way he discovers mysterious islands, meerkats in the middle of the ocean and other strange phenomenon. 

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=11212[/img]
“Life of Pi” is a coming of age story in its truest form. We follow young Pi from a malleable young child, to his young adulthood in a matter of hours. Torn away from the standard morays of life Pi is stranded with his only friend a Bengal Tiger, left to stretch and grow under the most difficult of circumstances. There are a few eyebrow raising moments that are clichéd, but other than that Ang Lee has done an absolutely marvelous job at portraying a young man coming into his own. 

The storyline itself is sweet and heartwarming, but nothing that would automatically enthrall you with interest. In the hands of a lesser director this could have easily been bypassed during the academy awards as just another drama, but under the masterful work of Ang Lee it blossomed into so much more. Ang Lee has always been adept at telling a story through visual aids, but here he out does himself. The visual aspects of the film are simply stunning. Complementing the script like yin and yang the visuals entwine with the words being spoken to create a whole story. Without a word being spoken Ang Lee has painted a story of sadness, love, pain and victory all in the space of two hours. While I have always been a fan of Ang Lees visual style, here he has made his masterpiece. The cinematography is enthralling and the stylistic choices here defy words. 

Fans of the book should be very happy with the direction that Ang Lee took. He took a book that was rich and lush with verbal descriptions and turned it into a movie that mirrored the intents and soul of the written word. A visual masterpiece that entwines itself in with the survival story, “Life of Pi” was well deserving of its Academy award nominations for this year.


*Rating:* 

Rated PG for emotional thematic content throughout, and some scary action sequences and peril


*Video* :5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=11213[/img]
“Life of Pi” is absolutely perfect in the video department. Shot with six ALEXA digital cameras it is literally grain free, creating a smooth and shiny 1.85:1 presentation for us. To say that the film is colorful is an understatement of epic proportions. Literally SATURATED with bright colors from every facet of a rainbow “Life of Pi” literally explodes onto our home screens, filling it with bright reds, blues, greens and every pastel color known to man. Blacks are deep and inky, lacking any annoying black crush, allowing us to see even the darkest of scenes. Contrast is balanced well and fine detail is stunning (as one would expect with six high end ALEXA cameras). Every pore and hair on Pi’s face is lovingly rendered on screen. Richard Parker’s lush fur looks so real that you almost feel like you could reach out your hand and pet him. The Film is about as perfect as you can get, so as expected, there are no signs of artifacts or digital manipulations in the film. No macroblocking, color banding or signs of pesky DNR or aliasing anywhere on screen. The film was given ample room to breathe on the disc and showcases the beautiful photography with absolute precision. Well done Fox, well done.






*Audio* :5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=11215[/img]
Not to be left behind, the audio is every bit as impressive as the video score is. I’ve heard many an audio track before and have given great scores based on their ability to immerse the viewer in the movie. This is the first time that I have truly been awestruck by an audio track before though. The track is both subtle and aggressive all at once, drawing you deep into the film with nuances and little sounds that blend so perfectly with the aggressive sound of waves crashing down and the roars of a Bengal tiger. The Surround usage is constant and varied. The swishing of the waves envelopes the viewer into the ocean scenery and swirls around from all directions. I was amazed at the fantastic directionality of the track. You could literally heard a fish flop off the boat to your left and the creak of a board just to the right of you, even the softest of sounds like the fluttering of canvas in the wind could be cleanly heard. Dialogue is crisp and clean, centered in the front soundstage as it should be. LFE is extremely well balanced. Being that the first 40 minutes or so are heavily dialogue based don’t go in expecting the movie to sound like an action movie, but when the storm on the ocean starts expect you’re subs to light up with some of the cleanest, tightest and most balanced LFE tracks that I’ve heard in a long time. The thunderous pounding of the waves don’t just give off a deep boom, rather you can hear the tight thud of the ocean waves impacting with different obstacles, each one varied and distinct. One of THE best audio tracks I’ve had the pleasure to listen to. 


[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=11214[/img]*Extras:* :2.5stars:
• A Filmmaker's Epic Journey
• A Remarkable Vision
• Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright 
• Gallery
• Story Boards







*Overall:* :4.5stars:

Finally I was able to see the movie that upset “Argo” and “Les Miserables” at the academy awards this year and see what all the fuss was about. Sweet and heartwarming, entertaining to the end “Life of Pi” is a movie that will entertain and serve use as demo material at the same time. It may not be as epic as it was hoped to be, but it was a very very good movie that deserved much of the professional attention that it received. I would have to categorize the film as visual poetry more than anything else. Being that Fox gave this the gold star treatment as well, I would highly recommend watching it. 

*Additional Information:*

Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Addil Hussain
Directed by: Ang Lee
Written by: David Magee
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: ENGLISH: DTS-HD MA 7.1, Spanish, French, Czech, Hugarian, Polish, Turkish DD 5.1, German DTS 5.1
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rated: PG
Runtime: 123 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: March 12th, 2013


*Buy Life of Pi Blu-ray on Amazon*

*Recommendation: Watch It​*







More about Mike


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## jd371 (Feb 24, 2012)

Great review Mike. This was a blind buy for me. From looking at the trailers and word of mouth, this is a very visual film and look forward to watching it over the weekend.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Thanks for the review Mike! :T

I watched this last night - by myself shockingly enough (a rare treat). The visual effects of this movie are just simply stunning - and as Mike said, the surround usage is phenomenal. Definitely a buy.


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

Automatic (blind) buy for me! I really wanted to see it and missed the theatrical run.... definitely looking forward to sitting down to watch this one! Thanks for the review, Mike!


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Man.... I got too many movies now I still have to watch. Now I gotta get another one. :rolleyesno:

It is all your fault Mike.


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## sdurani (Oct 28, 2010)

Saw it twice in the theatres, both times in Dolby Atmos. The sound was absolutely stunning (not to take anything away from the eye-candy visuals). 

As soon as I finished reading your review, I ordered the Blu-ray. Am curious to hear how the object-based mix and overhead effects will translate to a 7.1 track.


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

Thanks for the review. I just recently saw it in the theaters. A very good movie for sure! Worth keeping in one's collection. Thanks.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Thanks for the review Mike. Based on your review I'll have to pick this up and give it a spin.


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## Peter Rygiel (Jan 21, 2010)

Nicely detailed and accurate review Mike. I wasn't really intending to see this movie because I despise 3D films but I wanted to see all the best picture nominees for the Oscars and luckily it was playing in regular format so I checked it out. It's definitely a special movie that's hard to categorize. The CGI for Richard Parker I found the most impressive, the audio was great, but it took me a while, actually almost until the end to like the performance given by the actor playing adult Pi.


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## sdurani (Oct 28, 2010)

BTW, did anyone notice that in this movie and in 'The Amazing Spiderman' the same actor, Irrfan Khan, talks about "Richard Parker"? Weird coincidence. Of course in the other movie, Richard Parker is the protagonist's father rather than traveling companion.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

sdurani said:


> BTW, did anyone notice that in this movie and in 'The Amazing Spiderman' the same actor, Irrfan Khan, talks about "Richard Parker"? Weird coincidence. Of course in the other movie, Richard Parker is the protagonist's father rather than traveling companion.


lol, I never noticed that. nice catch


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## brian6751 (Jul 8, 2010)

Great film. the 3D version is fantastic


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## JQueen (Jan 11, 2012)

Thanks for the review the wife and I plan on checking this one out soon.


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## ozar (Feb 12, 2012)

Thanks for the review, Mike! 

This blu-ray movie was far better than I expected it to be in pretty much every way. The story, video, and audio were all fantastic, and it looked great in both, 2D and 3D.

Highly recommended!


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## mlfig (Mar 31, 2013)

Wasn't keen on seeing this movie but bought it on Blu-ray 3-disc collector's edition now however reading some of the reviews from real people not critics might just enjoy it after all. Thank you for the reviews.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Much better than I expected. A visual treat and excellent story to boot. Once again another excellent review that forced me to buy and watch one that ordinarily I might not.


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## JQueen (Jan 11, 2012)

Watched this one with the wife and we enjoyed it very much


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Watched this last night, This movie was both a visual and an audio treat. You would think for a movie with half of it taking place on the open ocean how could it be interesting but the many camera angles color and the use of the surrounds was really well done. I loved the use of the LFE, tones of super low "make your pants move" bass with plenty of dynamics.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> Watched this last night, This movie was both a visual and an audio treat. You would think for a movie with half of it taking place on the open ocean how could it be interesting but the many camera angles color and the use of the surrounds was really well done. I loved the use of the LFE, tones of super low "make your pants move" bass with plenty of dynamics.


Great movie! I believe most of it was shot in a tank and digitally enhanced though it did look quite real.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

A must own! Amazing cinematography and sound with solid acting and storyline!


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## ewardjr69 (Feb 25, 2013)

I just watched Life of Pi and really liked it. Have to admit I rented it on iTunes and didn't watch it in 3D. Really good story and the video was breath taking at times. It is good to see something that original. The only thing that could have made it better was if Spider-Man was in it! Jk


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## kenmck15 (Jan 2, 2008)

The big 3. Great story, incredible picture quality and huge sound to match.


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