Race To Witch Mountain DVD Review

Race To Witch Mountain - A Walt Disney Pictures Release

On DVD: August 4th, 2009

Rated PG - not recommended for young children, violence.

Running time: 99 minutes

Andy Fickman (dir.)

Alexander Key (book)

Matt Lopez (scren story & screenplay)

Mark Bomback (screenplay)

Trevor Rabin (music)

Dwayne Johnson as Jack Bruno

AnnaSophia Robb as Sara

Alexander Ludwig as Seth

Carla Gugino as Dr. Alex Friedman

Ciarán Hinds as Henry Burke

(L-R) CARLA GUGINO, ANNASOPHIA ROBB, ALEXANDER LUDWIG, DWAYNE JOHNSON in RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN “© Disney. All Rights Reserved.”

Our reviews below:

_____________________________________________

Race To Witch Mountain DVD Review By John C.

***

When two alien kids appear seemingly out of nowhere in the back of Jack Bruno’s taxi, he ends up on a race against time trying to get them to Witch Mountain. Which is where their spaceship is being held by the government.

Race To Witch Mountain is a fun and fairly entertaining family action movie. While it won’t necessarily hold the interest of adults looking for sophisticated entertainment, I’m sure it will be enjoyed immensely by it’s target audience.

The DVD includes a bunch of deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and a trailer gallery. The two-disc set includes a digital copy of the film. It is also available in 3-disc format which includes the film on DVD and Blu-Ray as well as a digital copy.

_____________________________________________

Race To Witch Mountain DVD Review By Erin V.

*** (out of 4)

In Race To Witch Mountain, Las Vegas taxi driver Jack Bruno - after being preoccupied for a moment - discovers that two teenagers have gotten into his taxi without him noticing. The boy and girl, brother and sister, have a huge wad of cash with them, and tell him that they need to head in (pointing) “that direction”. Assuming they are running away, he is unsure of what to do at first, but seeing the cash starts to drive. Pretty soon, there are a bunch of government officials trying to drive his car off the road, and his passengers react rather strangely to this. Turns out, they are aliens. They convince Jack Bruno to help them get to their destination, and he gets further caught up in their mess when an alien assassin shows up to try to stop them from getting what they came for. After a narrow escape, they still have the (maybe not so daunting considering the government security in these kinds of movies) task of recovering their spaceship which is being held in the government facility “Witch Mountain”. And so starts the race to get to Witch Mountain.

Race To Witch Mountain is a fun movie, although undoubtedly to be enjoyed more by kids from 8-14 than adults. Some of the scenes don’t really feel as suspenseful as they should with the score almost trying to power the scenes further than the action will allow. It feels kind of standard, and I felt it just kind of ended. On the disc, there are deleted scenes and a blooper reel. One of the deleted scenes, which has an extended ending, where the government officials kind of show that they are still around and keeping tabs on the situation, would have made the film feel more complete to me. A lot of the other ones which were cut would have just made the movie drag.

Being a movie that had special effects and such in it, it would have been cool to see a little bit more of the ‘making of’ on the DVD. Although one thing I noticed, is that unlike in the recent G-Force, the CGI with the live action wasn’t quite blended properly in a few scenes. I found this particularly evident near the end where there are CGI bullets - I think the lighting wasn’t quite matched which made them not seem like they were in the same room as everything else... Not that it really matters though. The audience that will enjoy this movie will just take it in stride and have fun. I’d say it’s at least worth a rental if you have kids, or are just curious.

_____________________________________________

Race To Witch Mountain DVD Review By Nicole

*** (out of 4)

Race To Witch Mountain is a fun, action film. Inspired by two older films, this updated story is exciting, and will engage children 8 and up. When taxi driver Jack Bruno stumbles across two mysterious teenagers, a brother and sister, he presumes they are running away. But mysterious things start happening, and the siblings reveal that they are aliens. They must get back to their spaceship, which is hidden at Witch Mountain, a government outpost, before it is too late. Jack Bruno to a UFO convention, where they meet up with UFO expert, Dr. Alex Friedman. Together they head back to Witch mountain, in order to save the world.

Race To Witch Mountain is fun. The scenes at the UFO convention, with all the geeks, is funny. There is a lot of action and suspense, where the kids must escape from both government agents and an alien assassin. These scenes may be too intense for younger children. The only extras on this DVD include a blooper reel and selected scenes. I would have liked to see a making of feature, as well as commentary. Over all, Race To Witch Mountain is a fun adventure film that children and adults can enjoy.

_____________________________________________

Race To Witch Mountain DVD Review By Maureen

*** (out of 4)

Race To Witch Mountain is full of action and adventure for the whole family. Despite it’s title there are no witches in this story. There are however aliens. Two in particular who look like a normal human teenage brother and sister pair. The pair recruit Las Vegas cabdriver Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson) to help them recover their lost spaceship that government agents have hidden at a location named Witch Mountain. The aliens are in a race against time to get back to their home planet and save it and possibly Earth from certain destruction.

There’s a nice mix of suspense, spectacular car chases and light comedy in Race to Witch Mountain. The special effects are well-done and the acting believable all around. There is an energetic score that keeps the fast pace of action and adventure going.

Overall, this is a fun movie. Older kids and teens will enjoy all the action and the special effects. Younger viewers will find it too real and scary.

Race To Witch Mountain would make a good choice for viewing in the van or at the cottage. It’s a good length at 99 minutes. Buy it or rent it, this is a fun action/adventure film for the whole family.

_____________________________________________

Race To Witch Mountain DVD Review By Tony

**1/2 (out of 4)

Race to Witch Mountain is a remake of an earlier Disney film. It stars Dwayne (formerly known as “The Rock”) Johnson as a Las Vegas cab driver trying to avoid the mob he used to work for. He finds in his cab a pair of young aliens Sara (Anna Sophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig) that need to go to Witch Mountain to fetch something that will save their planet and take it back on the flying saucer that is buried there. With the help of an extraterrestrial expert (Carla Gugino) who conveniently is lecturing at a local geek convention, they must evade both the American armed forces and a shape-shifting alien assassin sent to thwart their mission.

As an action movie for kids Race to Witch Mountain is good, despite the conventional plot. Given their stilted Buzz Lightyear speech, super intelligence and special psychokinetic and clairvoyant powers, not to mention their avatar-like appearance (like the kids in Polar Express) the two aliens always managed to act like normal siblings. Dwayne Johnson plays off well against them, Carla Gugino plays her stereotypical role as well as can be expected, and Ciarán Hinds chews up the scenery as the military brass. Look for Garry Marshall in a cameo as the celebrated hacker.

_____________________________________________

Consensus: Race To Witch Mountain is a fun, family-action film, that is sure to be enjoyed greatly by it's target audience. *** (Out of 4)