Alice Through the Looking Glass appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. This became an excellent presentation.
Overall sharpness worked well. Virtually no softness materialized, so the movie appeared accurate and concise.
I noticed no signs of jaggies or edge enhancement, and shimmering was absent. The film lacked print flaws and seemed clean.
The colors of Glass tended toward a mix of amber and teal, with occasional brighter hues such as the purple of Alice’s Chinese garb. Within stylistic choices, the tones seemed well-rendered..
Blacks seemed dark and right, and shadows demonstrated good clarity. Across the board, this became a terrific image.
Via the fantasy elements, the film’s DTS-HD MA 7.1 mix displayed lively elements. Action-ish moments fared best, as those showed movement and range.
Good stereo music and general ambience added to the package as well. This meant we got a nice sense of place with nice impact from the more dynamic sequences.
Audio quality satisfied. Music was full and rich, while effects showed nice clarity and accuracy, with strong low-end during those “action” moments.
Speech appeared concise and crisp. All of this created an engaging mix that suited the film.
Despite the movie’s financial failure, the Blu-ray comes with a good mix of extras, and this start with an audio commentary from director James Bobin. He presents a running, screen-specific look at the source and its adaptation, story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, costumes, effects, music and related domains.
Although I can’t find much to fault in Bobin’s commentary, I can’t discover a lot to excite me either. While the director touches on appropriate subjects and does so in a perfectly pleasant manner, he never elevates the track to become anything special. This is a good discussion that lacks the spark it needs to turn into something memorable.
Featurettes follow, and Behind the Looking Glass goes for eight minutes, 39 seconds. It includes notes from Bobin, screenwriter Linda Woolverton, executive producer John G. Scotti, producers Suzanne Todd and Tim Burton, production designer Dan Hennah, and actors Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Johnny Depp, and Mia Wasikowska.
“Behind” examines the Alice stories and their adaptation, plot and characters, cast and performances, sets and production design. “Behind” offers a glossy but moderately informative reel.
With A Stitch in Time, we find a four-minute, 24-second piece with costume designer Colleen Atwood. She tells us about her choices for the wardrobe in this useful clip.
Characters of Underland fills four minutes, 47 seconds with info from Bobin and Woolverton as they discuss the film’s CG-animated roles. A few minor nuggets emerge but this remains a thin chat.
Next comes Time On…, a one-minute, 46-second segment that gives us an interview with “Time”. This means Sacha Baron Cohen in character, and it’s a pretty amusing snippet.
Under A Scene Peeler, we get clips for two segments: “Alice Goes Through the Looking Glass” (2:27) and “Alice Goes Through Time’s Castle” (1:33). After intros from Bobin, we see raw footage and then the final clips with added effects. These bring us a decent view of the way effects changed the photography.
A music video for Pink’s “Just Like Fire” ensues. The video sends Pink to Underland and casts her as multiple characters along with a couple cameos from movie actors. It’s less entertaining than it sounds, but I appreciate its ambition.
We also find a featurette that goes Behind the Music Video. It runs three minutes, two seconds and offers notes from Pink and director Dave Meyers. They don’t tell us much of interest, but the shots from the production add value.
Five Deleted Scenes fill a total of eight minutes, 56 seconds. These tend toward fairly minor character beats and don’t seem especially interesting.
We can watch the clips with or without commentary from Bobin. He gives us basics about the segments as well as why he cut them. Bobin brings decent thoughts.
The disc opens with ads for Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Finding Dory. Sneak Peeks adds previews for Rogue One, Once Upon a Time and Shadow Hunters. No trailer for Glass shows up here.
A financial flop, Alice Through the Looking Glass killed a potential franchise dead. Audiences made the right choice to shun this dull, uninspired sequel. The Blu-ray boasts strong picture and audio along with a reasonable array of bonus features. Glass never gets off the ground.