A Bug's Life (DVD 2002)

A Bug's Life, Pixar's second animated feature film, is sometimes overshadowed by the two Toy Story movies and overlooked. This is a tragedy, for it is a great movie. This version is the 2002 Region 2 Special Edition 2-Disc version, which at the time of this review (October 2006), is not available in shops. It has many extra features that the only version of A Bug's Life currently available lack.

Film - 5 out of 5.

The film is the first film to be commited to DVD directly from Pixar's computers, without any analogue process involved. This shows in the film, for its quality is exceptional. No digital restoration is required when the whole process is digital in the first place.

A Bug's Life is a touching yet funny tale of believing in yourself and standing up for what's right. With voice talents such as Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Harris, Roddy McDowall, Bonnie Hunt, John Ratzenberger and Joe Ranft, you quickly become attached to the characters they portray as the story progresses.

The soundtrack for the movie was composed by Randy Newman, the composer of Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. and Pixar's latest film Cars. Like all his scores, it perfectly portrays the emotion of any given scene.

Overall, the film combined cutting-edge technology, a wonderful story and, most important of all, spirit. A Bug's Life, unlike many animated features, has a soul, which you can feel as you empathise with the characters.

As a bonus, during the end credits, there is a reel of bloopers which is hilarious to watch.

Bonus Features - 4.5 out of 5

While not as full as the DVDs for Monsters Inc. or The Incredibles in terms of quantity of extra features, A Bug's Life more than makes up for it with quality. There are early animation tests, a documentary into the making of the film, additional bloopers not seen in the actual movie, two entertaining deleted scenes and much more.

Conclusion

If you are a fan of this movie, or indeed Pixar films in general, I implore you to be patient and wait for this two-disc version to become available. It will be worth it.