The Don Bluth-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced An American Tail, a lighthearted animated look at immigrants, comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. Spanish and French soundtracks have been recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround, respectively. Spanish and French subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a singalong section for the film's famous song "Somewhere Out There" and a handful of interactive games to entertain children. While the disc offers nothing of interest for those who want to learn about the animation process, kids will enjoy the extras on this Universal release. The DVD was released the same day as three of the film's sequels, including the theatrically released An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.
The Steven Spielberg-produced An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, the first sequel to An American Tail, comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. Spanish and French soundtracks have been recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround, respectively. Spanish and French subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a singalong section and a handful of interactive games to entertain children. While the disc offers nothing of interest for those who want to learn about the animation process, kids will enjoy the extras on this Universal release. The DVD was released the same day as An American Tail and two of the film's direct-to-video sequels.
When America's number-one NASCAR speed-demon is issued a direct challenge from a gay, French Formula One racer with a hunger for the top spot and a mean talent for tight-cornering, the race is on to become the number one-man in all of NASCAR in a full-throttle comedy starring Will Ferrell and directed by Anchorman cohort Adam McKay. Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) is a national hero with a "smokin' hot" trophy wife, pair of abusively precocious sons, and an endless line of endorsement deals filling his mansion with toys and his driveway with sports cars and Hummers. His racing partner and lifelong friend, Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), never fails to provide him with a hand on the racetrack, frequently performing their trademark "slingshot" maneuver to shoot Ricky into first place, leaving Cal in second. While the public loves these buddies (popularly known by the meaningless childhood nicknames they find so exceedingly cool: "Shake and Bake"), a wedge comes between the two, as Ricky Bobby's longstanding winning-streak is broken by flamboyant French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), robbing Ricky of everything in an instant as the trauma leaves him unable to drive. Ricky's wife takes his fortunes while Cal takes his wife, and now he's back with his mother (Jane Lynch) and long-estranged father (Gary Cole). Things look bad for Ricky, but his father was once a racecar driver himself, and now with the help of a training montage, a live cougar, and the courage to drive without his gleaming-white Wonder Bread endorsement, Ricky might be ready to face the track again. Sony Pictures' unrated, widescreen DVD release includes many scenes not originally seen in the theatrical version interspersed into the film.
David M. Evans family-oriented comedy The Sandlot comes to DVD with pair of transfers. The widescreen anamorphic transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is preferable to the standard full-frame transfer. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround, while a French soundtrack has also been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. English and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a making-of featurette, television promotional spots, and a theatrical trailer. This is a solid release from 20th Century Fox.