Cars 3 Blu-ray review

Nov 06, 2017- Permalink

Get ready to hit the road again with Lightning McQueen as Disney/Pixar releases a Blu-ray version of the animated racing franchise’s Cars 3 on November 7th, 2017. This time around the track, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) finds his top dog status in the racing world is being challenged by a younger car, Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer). When an on-track incident sends Lightning off to rehab, he needs to see where he fits in this world of newer cars.

The AVC-encoded 1080p transfer comes in the theatrical release’s original 2.39:1 aspect ratio. As with most Disney/Pixar home entertainment releases, the transfer to disc is excellent. The palette of paint jobs for the cars crosses the full spectrum and the various automotive surfaces really show off the colour depth and clarity. Surfaces from the track to the beach display amazing textural details. Black levels are great. There’s the odd bit of artifact noise but it nothing to distract or write home about.

On the audio side of things we get English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, DTS-HD HR 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks as well as French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French and Spanish. The racing scenes really put your surround speakers to the test, immersing you in the action as cars move from speaker to speaker. The roar of the engines and the general atmosphere of the track are beautifully presented here. Music has good clarity and dialogue is crystal clear in the front centre speakers.

Besides getting a DVD copy and a digital download code, the extras are enough to require a second Blu-ray disc to hold them. The first disc contains audio commentary, the short film Lou, and a look into some of the other characters. The second disc has a five part behind the scenes feature, a look at the film’s digital environment, deleted scenes and other goodies.

The presentation of this disc is great. Fans of the Cars franchise will want to park Cars 3 in their home entertainment library.