The story of Sleeping Beauty now has a back story that most children’s books haven’t told. It’s about the wicked fairy Maleficent and what brought her to despise the King so much she would put a spell on his newly born daughter. But, let’s not get too far ahead of the story of revenge and retribution that spread across the land in days of old. Now on Blu-ray and DVD in a combo pack.
The story opens with Maleficent a young fairy falling in love with Stefan, a human peasant boy that has aspirations to be king of the land. Her part of the world called the Moors borders on the edge of King Henry’s kingdom. But greed has overtaken King Henry and he wants all the lands around him, especially the Moors. Maleficent defeats the Kings invasion to take the Moors and Henry openly states that whomever kills her will be his successor. Stefan overhears the king and sets out to kill Maleficent. So begins the story of a powerful fairy, the rise of Stefan to the throne of the kingdom and Maleficent’s (Angelina Jolie) revenge on his first child.
The film goes on to tell the story of Aurora (Elle Fanning) who gets sent to the country to grow up with the good fairies until she passes the age of 18 to defeat the spell. Director Robert Stromberg does a very good job of keeping the story moving at an entertaining pace. He introduces the beginning back story of Maleficent with a voice over that brings the character of Maleficent up to date prior to her arrival at the great hall to cast the spell on King Stefan’s child (aka Sleeping Beauty). During the court scene we get acquainted with the three good fairies and other characters that will take the story to its exciting ending.
I like the way Stromberg handles the actors bringing out Jolie’s dark side as the wicked fairy that gets tricked by the one she loves for his own ill-gotten gain. Jolie keeps Maleficent vengeance filled throughout the film on a quest to destroy the man who tricked her and finally get revenge. She’s magnificent in her black robed costume, white make-up, red lips and a crown adorned with black horns. Scary at times she’s determined to get her prize even if it kills her.
As Aurora the grown daughter of King Stephan, Elle Fanning works her character into a beautiful flower that’s lovable and charming. She falls for Prince Philip much like Maleficent had given her heart to Stefan. Fanning show’s Aurora’s receptiveness to Maleficent’s charms and motherly instincts, something she never had living with the fairies. She’s a very good actress and shows it under the direction of Stromberg.
BONUS FEATURES:
The extras are many on the Blu-ray disc, some good other just okay.
“From Fairy Tale to Feature Film” shows how the film was written for the screen.
“Building an Epic Battle” talks about how the production company created the battle scene between Maleficent and King Henry.
“Classic Couture” is a feature about Maleficent’s costumes and jewelry.
“Maleficent Revealed” goes into the special effects within the story.
“Aurora: Becoming A Beauty” features Elle Fanning telling about her wanting the role in a Disney film since she was a child.
“Deleted Scenes” includes: Stefan in King’s Chamber, Pixie Idiots, Diaval asks about the Curse, and Suitor
The transfer from screen to home video is very good. Besides the obvious screen size difference, I did find the letterbox display a little annoying. It’s only temporary however, as you don’t notice it after the first 20 minutes. If it were to be sized to fit the 16×9 television screen though, the transformation would have film scene loss on each side of the frames.
The sound quality is very good and it comes across clean and clear during every scene. I found no distortion even with the sound ramped up with special speakers.
Maleficent has been rated PG by the MPAA for scenes of fantasy action and violence, including frightening images. It would be best to watch the film the first time through with your children in case they may get scared during the war and Maleficent’s curse scene. Make sure you are close as they may need a hug or two.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good action adventure with some romance thrown in for good measure. (A)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning,
Director: Robert Stromberg
MPAA Rating: PG for scenes of fantasy action and violence, including frightening images
Genre: Action, Adventure, Family
Running Time: 1 hr 37 min
Video Release Date: November 4, 2014
Original Film Release Date: May 30, 2014
Language: English (also a choice of English Descriptive Audio, Spanish or French)
Format: Blu-ray/DVD
Audio: Blu-ray-DTS-HD Master Audio, DVD- Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Aspect Ratio of 2.40:1, Blu-ray- 1080p High Definition, DVD- Widescreen enhanced for 16×9 Televisions
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Number of Discs: Blu-ray Combo Pack, Digital HD/SD & Disney Movies Anywhere
Distributed by: Buena Vista Home Entertainment