DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

Universal Studios Home Video

Collector's Edition Widescreen DVD, $26.98

Dr. Seuss' classic holiday tale is brought to life through the combined talents of director Ron Howard and superstar Jim Carrey.  The residents of Whoville are preparing for another Christmas celebration.  However in a cave high atop a mountain, the mean-spirited Grinch plots to ruin this celebration by stealing all the presents and decorations.  Will the Grinch succeed or will he have a change of heart before it is too late?    

The Grinch stars Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Molly Shannon and is narrated by Anthony Hopkins.  The movie was directed by Ron Howard, produced by Brian Grazer and features music composed by James Horner.  It is rated PG-13 with a running time of 105 minutes.           

This DVD is presented in an anamorphic widescreen version (1.85:1).  The overall quality of the transfer is very good.  Images are sharp and colors are rich with saturated hues.  There is solid contrast but black levels appear somewhat faded.  Picture defect mastering is perfect with no major flaws or digital compression artifacts.  (For those who prefer it, a separate full screen DVD version (4:3) is also available for this movie that includes identical language and bonus feature options.) 

Video Rating: 8 out of 10

The following spoken language options are available on this disc: English DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1, English DVS Dolby Surround, and French Dolby Digital 5.1 channel surround.  The following subtitle tracks are available on this disc: English closed captions.  The English DTS 5.1 track is the basis for this review.  Dialogue is natural sounding and clear.  The surround channels are used moderately and mostly for ambient effect.  While there are a handful of split rear effects, the majority of the discrete effects occur across the forward channels.  The LFE channel is active and provides some holiday rumble to several scenes throughout the movie.

Audio Rating: 7 out of 10

The tactile sound effects for this film are above average and present in the majority of this DVD's chapters.  The types of impacts that can be experienced range from subtle to moderate.  The best examples of tactile information comes with the two explosions in chapter 11, the firing of the sleigh's engines in chapter 14, and with the beating of the Grinch's heart in chapter 17.

Tactile Sound Effects Rating: 7 out of 10

Bonus features include 5 featurettes (Spotlight on Location, Who School, Makeup Application and Design, Seussian Set Decoration and Visual Effects); Faith Hill Where Are You Christmas? music video; deleted scenes; outtakes; Max's Playhouse; cast & crew filmographies; Wholiday recipes; By The Numbers segment; production notes; theatrical trailer; E.T. trailer; scene access and DVD-ROM content.

Bonus Features Rating: 8 out of 10