Blu-ray Review: Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland
Director: Brad Bird
Cast: George Clooney. Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy and Hugh Laurie
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Date: October 13, 2015
Retail: $39.99
ASIN: B00WAJ8OLG
Running Time: 130 minutes
Rating: PG
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD and Blu-ray this Tuesday from Walt Disney Home Entertainment is the fantasy-adventure Tomorrowland. Directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles), the film stars George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy and Hugh Laurie. Bonus Features on the Blu-ray includes Remembering The Future: A Personal Journey Through Tomorrowland With Brad Bird, Animated Short: The Origins Of Plus Ultra, Casting Tomorrowland, A Great Big Beautiful Scoring Session, The World Of Tomorrow Science Hour - Hosted by Futurologist David Nix, Deleted Scenes, Brad Bird Production Diaries, Blast from the Past Commercial and 4 Easter Eggs.

Loosely inspired by the Disney theme parks' Tomorrowland attraction, the film centers on a Florida teenager, Casey Newton (played by Britt Robertson), who has a niche for technology and science. She also has a wild streak that gets her into trouble with the law, which doesn't sit well with her father (played by Tim McGraw), a NASA engineer.

After being bailed out of jail, a police officer hands over Casey's belongings. She quickly notices that one thing isn't hers - a strange-looking pin that is embossed with a "T" symbol. When she touches the pin, she sees a glimpse of a futuristic world!

With a quick internet search, Casey finds no information on the pin, except that a Houston memorabilia store has been looking for it. She is determined to find out what the pin is and travels to Texas, but upon arriving she is attacked by robots. Luckily for her, she has a new-found friend - an Audio-Animatronic robot named Athena (played by Raffey Cassidy).

Now with more evil robots hot on the trail, Casey and Athena must seek out the inventor Frank Walker (played by George Clooney) to help them travel to Tomorrowland save it from extinction.

Tomorrowland was predicted to be one of the summer's big blockbusters, but thanks to mixed-to-negative reviews from mainstream critics, the film flopped with moviegoer and barely breaking even with it's $190 million budget. The problem as I see it, is that the film was marketed as a family fantasy-adventure, but in reality it's a science-fiction flick with themes that younger viewers might not quite understand.

I didn't know what to expect from the film when I watched the Blu-ray yesterday morning, but I was instantly drawn into the film from the very beginning, which is set in the 1960s. Britt Robertson does a wonderful job as the heroine in this picture as well as the young Raffey Cassidy as the caring robot. And of course George Clooney gives a good performance. Yes, there's a left-wing political hidden message about global warning, which was probably what turned off most audiences. However, the issue didn't bug me too much. Overall, Tomorrowland is an intriguing science-fiction adventure with dazzling special effects.