CARS 3 – UHD Blu-ray Movie Review

Blindsided by a new generation of racers, Lightning McQueen is pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he’ll need the help of young race technician Cruz Ramirez. Will McQueen be able to adapt to a sport that is changing from old to new technology or will he fall behind and be forced into retirement.

This is what Cars 2 should have been. The story covers a few important topics, such as, growing old, adapting to change, reaching your potential, pursuing your dreams and nothing comes easy but hard work can make it so. The story moves at a fast clip (hey, it’s about racing after all) and the whole film is basically eye-candy with engines revving every few minutes. Though it has some funny moments, it was a bit more serious than Cars 1. Even Mater only had a few goofy lines in this film.

Though some critics thought the theme of this film was about how technology makes you feel old and obsolete, I liked the idea of adapting to an ever-changing world and keeping up the new through hard work and perseverance. Lightning McQueen’s character grows. Symbolically, in the end, he even changes his paint color from bright red to brilliant blue. Hard to believe that Cars 1 was released over 11 years ago! Will there be a Cars 4? Not likely. We all know Disney eschews sequels. Be sure to look for the new Jackson Storm car on toy shelves this Christmas. Move over Mater!

I mentioned that this film is a lot of eye-candy and I meant it. Colors are bold and dynamic. I was impressed with the details like metallic paint on McQueen, subtle differences in rust on Mater both in color and texture, road debris, photo-realistic vegetation, clouds and mountain scenery.

It is just gorgeous! The sound is aggressive and the surrounds are full of crowd noises and outdoor birds and bugs. Every piece of gravel that skitters across the screen can be clearly heard. The car engine rumbles will make your subwoofer pay attention, too.

HDR10 really makes the whites dazzle and the specular glint of sunlight on highly polished cars is very life-like. It is all of the subtle color shades of the cars that make the BD version seem flat and dull. This film has a 2K DI, but animation always upscales well and this movie is a good example of that. I ding the PQ because I saw some moiré effect in a radiator grill on one of the cars.

Gentlemen start your engines! There are a few “shorts”, Let’s Get Crazy, Legendary, Ready for the Race, World’s Fastest Billboard, The Yellow Car that Could, Generations, My First Car, 5 deleted scenes, Cars to Die9cast) For, a commentary by the director and more. Plus a BD copy of the movie.