‘Big Eyes’ Blu-ray Review

The Movie Itself portion of this review was borrowed from our Big Eyes Theatrical Review published by Brandon Yotter.

Movie Itself

As evident from the trailer, Big Eyes definitely isn’t the typical Tim Burton fare. The movie centers around a shy artist named Margaret Keane and her husband Walter who has the personality for sales. With their powers combined they create an empire built on lies and deceit.

I am a huge Tim Burton fan. I’ve loved him since I was a kid and grew up watching the likes of Pee-Wee’s Big AdventureBatman, and A Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton certainly has a style and the biggest compliment I can give Big Eyes is that you can’t really tell Burton directed it.

This isn’t to take anything away from Burton. I think he’s an immensely talented director, and given the right material he can make a magical movie. However, that isn’t what this movie needed. This needed to be a smaller, more personal movie like Ed Wood or Big Fish. A character study instead of an adventure film.

This is exactly what Burton delivers. While the color palate is very Burtonian, there are no over-the-top scenes of adventure. No devilish character designs. It’s very real. The set design is very reminiscent of the town in Edward Scissorhands, but the castle and the creation are never introduced.

Burton gives the audience an examination of life in the 60s and the contemporary art scene through two unlikely characters. An artist that most critics despise and a real estate agent with the charisma of a used car salesman.

Big Eyes Review 1

It was also refreshing to see two new faces to Burton’s world. The director is known for using the same people in all of his movies, even going back to his early work. You would have a better chance of naming an actor who he’s worked with multiple times than one who’s only been in one of his films.

To that end, it was great to see Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz join the fray. Hopefully he will use them again in the future. Adams does a great job as Margaret, but much like the character she is overshadowed by Waltz.

Waltz has created another fantastic character in this movie. Waltz plays great villains, but this is a different take for him. Walter isn’t a traditional villain, and he is extremely playful. He’s just misguided and a little out of his mind. I could see him getting another Oscar nomination for this role.

Big Eyes isn’t my favorite Burton movie, but I am very pleased with the result. These days he makes two types of movies. One is for fun and money like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the other is more personal and low budget like Big Fish.

The story of Big Eyes is essentially that of The Crane Wife or parts of Rumpelstiltskin. This movie could have easily been an over-the-top telling of the story, but it is better suited as it is. As much as I’m looking forward to Beetlejuice 2, I’m probably more excited to see his next Big Fish.

Big Eyes Review 2

The Presentation

Big Eyes comes to Blu-ray with lofty expectations. Tim Burton always delivers in the visual department, even on pieces like these. I can say, he delivers again because Big Eyes has a 108op Mpeg-4 video presentation that looks fantastic.

The Blu-ray release is filled with color, detail, and life throughout the entirety of the movie. It has a very three-dimensional feel with not a single scene coming off flat. Shadows hold without issues, black levels never lose detail, and bright areas are just as vibrant and as detailed as any other spot on the print. Burton directs a piece that relies heavy on color. Scenes are filled with emotion driving color, from conflicted bar scenes with red backlight to depressing sequences with vibrant blue walls. The colors shine true, especially the primaries, and give an added dimension to an already deep picture.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is good too, but didn’t feel as though it was at its best. The audio is very front heavy, which is part of the Big Eyes movie. The film is very dialogue driven, giving the center channel the majority of the workload. But when music and sound effects do take on the rear speakers, sounds are quiet and don’t really fill the room. Balance is nice though, and there is never a moment where you don’t hear what you are supposed to, so it’s hard to say this is a bad track. Basically, Big Eyes has strong audio, but it’s not reference by any means.

Big Eyes Review 3

Extra Features

There are not many extra features available on this release of Big Eyes. You get an extensive Making of Big Eyes featurette that follows Burton and the team fairly closely. Other than that there is the, I’ll say it, rather boring Q&A Highlights. If you’re big on the UltraViolet Digital Copies it has that going for it, but nothing else.

Final Thoughts

Presenting a second opinion, I feel Brandon’s thoughts on Big Eyes, given in our theatrical review (used in the Movie Itself portion), are in line with my feelings and the feelings of the majority of those who had an interest in it this past winter. The Blu-ray release is definitely something worthy of consideration . Even though this release is nearly barebones due to the minimal extra features, the video and audio are good enough to warrant a purchase if you enjoyed the movie. Big Eyes is something movie fans should highly consider checking out, at the very least through renting.

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