Who Framed Roger Rabbit [25th Anniversary Edition] [2 Discs] [Blu-ray/DVD] [1988]

I recently took a look at one of my all-time favorite films, recently released on Blu-ray, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I must say that it is held up extremely well after nearly a quarter of a century, and remains, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made. The plot is a classic whodunit made in the style of 1940s noir, like The Maltese Falcon, a style that it captures quite well. The plot does keep you guessing (assuming you’ve never seen it before), with clues and red herrings aplenty. The protagonist Eddie Valiant, played by Bob Hoskins in a superb performance, has the perfect accent and outlook to pull off the closed off hard-boiled detective type. Christopher Lloyd as the villain Judge Doom is another perfect casting, as a threatening and formidable threat to the safety of Toontown. What propels this film to its legendary status is the unbelievable and unparalleled cinematography. The audience’s suspension of disbelief is complete and all encompassing, as you truly do believe that these cartoon characters are interacting with the real world. The shadows match, the perspective matches, essentially everything about these cartoons is made to look real part from the celluloid. Roger Rabbit and the fellow citizens of Toontown, who range from all of the different animation houses of the era from Disney to Warner Bros. and beyond, are believable in their presence and personalities, which all stay true to the original incarnations. The effects are so great that the cartoons can even interact with real-world objects, and the objects move believably. Helped by all of this are the actors’ performances, who all behave as those cartoons are really in the room. Behind the scenes, the voice actors really were in the room, lending to the realism of the dialogue. All in all, this film is as close to perfect, I believe, as a film can get. The extras for the Blu-ray release a great too. It includes all of the documentaries from earlier DVD releases, so nothing is lost in the upgrade. Also included are the original Roger rabbit shorts that appeared in front of Disney films in the early 1990s, which are all great and stay true to the tone of the film. This really is a great film and a great release, worth every penny of the purchase price. I give it my highest recommendation for any film lover, animation lover, or just anybody who likes cartoons from when they were a kid.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit looks about as good as it's ever going to -- which is still pretty great considering the traditional techniques that were used. This movie was made near the end of the optical printing era of visual effects and I believe holds the record for the greatest number of VFX shots before digital scanning and compositing became the norm, even eclipsing Return of the Jedi five years before. Fortunately, the filmmakers shot most of the visual effects plates with 8-perf VistaVision cameras, giving them a large format film negative to work with (optical printing is an analog process that degrades the picture quality with every step in the chain). The DTS-HD Master Audio is great too, I'm assuming derived from the original 70mm 6-Track audio stems. Got this for $12 before tax during release week and don't regret it for a second. Highly recommended.

I always loved this film growing up but it wasn't later on that I realized Who Framed Roger Rabbit is really a great film noir! I love watching this one back to back with L.A. Confidential and Chinatown. Sure those films aren't for the kids, but for the adults they can make perfect double and triple features! Image is about on par with how the film should look. No It isn't Pixar and the effects and film processes used to mix live action and animation aren't pristine, the film at least keeps it's natural look in my opinion. Audio is mostly front heavy which is typical, and Alan Silvestri's score is used well on the surround sound speakers. The Blu Ray set doesn't feature many new extras but you do get the Roger Rabbit shorts in 1080P HD and standard DD 5.1 Sound.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the classic mix of live action and animation, was a trend-setter when first released, and it still holds up 25 years later (am I really that old . . . ?) A clever mix of circa 1940's detective flick and wacky cartoon characters, the movie should be no surprise to most of us. What IS a surprise is how wonderful it looks on bluray. It just goes to show that a carefully crafted, big-budget production from the 80's can still look new and fresh with today's technology. The special features are virtually identical to the previous special edition dvd, so if you already own it, you won't lose anything by trading up. That having been said, there isn't any new material here either. Still, a highly recommended release to add to you catalogue.

Though live action and animation have been combined before, i.e. Marry Poppins, this movie is an advancement. True that is true of each succeeding combo movie, this for the time showed a high creative level with the actors doing an excellent playing off sticks, puppets and costumed actors. The movie also showed in a humorous way the problems of bigotry and prejudice in a more suttle than in your face manner. This makes the subject manner easier to watch. The movie is enjoyable to watch and, I feel aged very well for the 25 years it has been out. I recommend this for adults and children even with Jessica Rabbit's artwork.

At 25 years old, there is still nothing out there quite like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Robert Zemeckis created a one-of-a-kind experience by shooting the entire film in live action (With live Action Stunts and props) and blended Richard Williams' animation onto the film ("Space Jam" did this as well, but without the same level of detail, class, and charm). The Picture looks great considering the blend of effects, and the audio is just as good. The special features are a little lacking, but the overall package is well worth the price.

I had been waiting for this to be released again, it had not been since 2003 since released last time on DVD for the 15th anniversary. I still love the film. Great characters, memorable lines and scenes I can replay. "Oh Honey Bunny". "Oh Love Cup". The singing sword. Donald & Daffy. Now, there are a bunch of extras BUT NO NEW EXTRAS. Disappointing. 25th anniversary release & NOTHING NEW. Cheap discs with NO art work on them.

all i can say is who framed roger rabbit is one of the best family movies that disney has made i just wish they did a fallow up to it bc it would cool to see where they can take it to so if you have not seen it check it out and if you have it is well worth an up grade to blu-ray from dvd bc i own the dvd back in the day and the blu-ray is alot better in sound and it looks great on blu-ray so well worth the price