Up: Una aventura de altura

Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) as a young quiet kid idolized explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer) and his discovery of Paradise Falls. Ellie is much more animated and also a great fan of Muntz. Together they would marry and live their lives together until the day she dies. Now Carl is hounded by a property developer and forced to go to a retirement home. Instead he ties a sea of helium balloons to his home and float away to Paradise Falls. Wilderness Explorer scout Russell who's trying to get an Assisting the Elderly badge gets dragged along on the adventure.

The first part of this movie is a real tear jerker. When Carl and Ellie's lives flash through the years, all the heart breaks and all the love just jump off the screen. Then there is comedy as the journey to Paradise Falls starts. The movie gets very surreal with dog translators, and a very colorful bird. The villain is a bit too villainy. The story gets too serious at times. But it ends almost as emotionally as it starts. It is one of the best of Pixar.

This is another film in which it really helps to know in advance what it is, or more specifically, what it isn't. Then, you go from there. I enjoyed the animated film very much but, some of that was due to the fact a friend clued me in first, saying "this isn't really a comedy or a film for little kids. Don't expect a ton of laughs." So, instead of seeking laughs (although I still got them here and there), I just enjoyed the adventure story and marveled at the amazing artwork.

Seen on Blu-Ray, this is yet another example in which you shake your head and wonder, "How does the artwork get any better than this?" Then, about six months from now, another will come along and I'll say the same thing. Overall movies may not be better today than "in the old days," but there is no dispute there are two areas in which films keep getting better and better: special-effects and animation. This is another example of that.

The colors and the detail in here are almost beyond description. The artwork ranges from bold to subdued, but always stunning. I lost track how many times I wanted to just pause and admire the picture for a few minutes. From super-sharp closeups of the old man's face to lush jungle scenery, this high-definition disc is worth every penny/

Back to the story, I found it a combination adventure-fantasy-comedy-suspense-sentimental story, about in that order, too. Generally-speaking, I would think adults would like this more than kids, but I may be wrong. Everyone - regardless of age - will have their jaw drop more than once viewing the incredible-looking scenes. It's really a feast for the eyes. Finally, if you like extras, there are tons of them in the four-disc DVD set.

I love Pixar and feel they have been pretty consistent. True I do prefer Toy Story over Cars and Finding Nemo over Ratatouille, but I find their films amazingly animated and thrilling. I thought that after the first two Toy Story films, that Pixar wouldn't be able to make a film to top them. WALL-E, yes I loved it, came pretty close, but in my opinion Up is Pixar's masterwork. And why do I say that? Because it is widely imaginative and astonishing in its emotional range.

First of all, the animation is stupendous, beautiful backgrounds, beautifully drawn characters and stunning colours. The scenery and sights are just fantastic, down to the colour and visual detail that went into the film. Michael Giacchino's music is stunning as well, simple yet melodious and sublime. And I do have to concur with the majority about the opening montage; Finding Nemo had some beautiful moments and WALL-E's haunting isolation moved me close to tears but this opening montage was so poignant and utterly heart-breaking. It is quite simply one of the most beautiful and effective beginnings ever to an animated film.

I have heard complaints that the story meanders when the talking dogs are introduced and that they were irritating. Can I respectfully disagree? What I loved about Up was how widely imaginative it was, in short why shouldn't a dog talk? It's an animated film, why does it have to COMPLETELY realistic? Elephants don't fly, look at what Disney did with Dumbo.The story, back on target was well written, thrilling and startling with a sense of adventure with enough action and high-flying escapism for kids and adults. The script had some truly hilarious and surreal moments, while Toy Story had wonderful sophisticated dialogue, the dialogue in Up made me laugh and it made me cry.

And finally the characters, I loved them all, grumpy old widower Carl, stowaway Russell, eccentric adventurer Charles Muntz, the big bird and the hilarious Doug. Russell may be a tad annoying at first, but he grows on you. The voice acting is exceptional- Carl is voiced with real demeanour and depth by Ed Asner and Christopher Plummer, the wonderful underrated actor he is, is superb as Charles Muntz. But I do have to give mention to Bob Peterson, he is simply brilliant as Doug, he is really funny when he needs to be and never overdoes it.

Overall, this is a wonderful film. There may be controversy over how Beauty and the Beast is no longer the only animated film to be nominated for best picture. Beauty and the Beast has been and always will be my favourite animated film and one of my favourite films of all time (The Lion King is a very close second), but Up is a great film and does deserve an award of some kind. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This film is possibly one of the best animated films of all time as it tells an emotional moving story while being funny. As I said the emotion in this film is full of heart and even though I didn't cry it will make most people cry. The characters in this are perfect even if it is a small character like Ellie or big character like Carl everybody gets so much development even Charles Muntz the villain of the film is also given development, even more than some superhero films nowadays. Also this film has comedy some Pixar films now just want to make you cry but in the 2000s they had mix of sad and funny moments. So overall this film is as close to perfect as an animated film can get, it is has a mix of emotions it is funny and sad when it needs to be it has so much heart and the characters are perfect. This film in my opinion is the best Pixar film.

If there's a list of great computer animation movies of all time, Pixar would dominate most of the top positions. Great story, great voice talent, great timing, great for all ages. It'd be hard to pick just one above another and perhaps another viewing of Up may be in order to figure out where I'd place it among so much stellar work.

Up is by far the most emotional human drama of any Pixar movies thus far, very heavy, so much so if you're looking for pure fun with some jaw-dropping chase and/or thematic scenes and no downer moments, Up may not be for you. I saw it in a packed theatre of about a 65% adult, 35% adult split audience and it's the only time I can remember being in ANY animated movie where there was sniffles and watery eyes, and that was within the first 10 minutes of the movie. There's an undercurrent of life after losing a loved one in this movie, which I don't feel gives anything away. It's pretty heavy subject matter, Pixar handles it, like they do everything they touch, incredibly well, but it doesn't make it any less sad to have the material threaded throughout much of the movie you're reminded of it, but I suppose it's up to one's own interpretation of loss and how to place it in your life that perhaps will have an emotional effect on you.

Story is what makes a great movie great. Without story, you don't really have anything, maybe some effects, some action, maybe some cute or clever sight gags, maybe some laughs, hopefully some emotion, where Pixar shines above all others in animation and over a good 99% of the movies out there is they can intertwine it all and do it seemingly effortless, which is an incredible feat. To do this in a few movies is one thing, but Pixar has pretty much nailed this now for their entire career of making movies, that's just simply unprecedented.

I should note I saw the 3D version which, to be honest, didn't really take the movie to the next level. One of the more well known syndicated reviewers had said you're better off seeing the non-3D version on screen, and I actually agree. The 3D glasses added little to nothing to the movie except for an eye-strain headache later in the night. It didn't take away from Up mind you, it just didn't add to it either.

Up is a great movie either way you slice it and it should be noted, the theatre I saw it in gave it a fairly loud round of applause at the end. It's pretty rare these days that an audience applauds after a movie, perhaps we as a society has become too jaded, or too just expecting of the goods or feeling we're entitled to the entertainment. It's nice when a movie hits on all cylinders and elicits such a range and emotional reaction people who don't know each other in a packed room all gasp, laugh, cry, and applaud together. Great movies however can do that and Up is truly a great movie.