Isle of Dogs appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with a terrific visual presentation.
From start to finish, sharpness looked great. At no time did any softness interfere, so I found a tight, precise image.
The movie lacked jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent as well. No print flaws appeared.
Unlike most modern films, Isle came with no persistent palette, so it embraced a mix of hues dependent on locations and circumstances. While parts of the movie felt desaturated, a lot of it opted for rich, vivid colors and the Blu-ray made these dynamic and full.
Blacks appeared dark and dense, while shadows seemed smooth and concise. Everything about the image looked great.
While not quite as satisfying, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack still managed to fare nicely, with a soundscape that featured music as a lively participant. The score filled out the five channels in a broad, engaging way that used the music well.
Effects didn’t have as much to do, but they still added range to the package. When necessary, the various elements fleshed out the spectrum to give us material that seemed well-placed and that blended smoothly.
Audio quality excelled, with speech that appeared natural and concise. Effects showed nice accuracy and range.
Again, music worked best of all, with clear tones that boasted excellent low-end. Bass response satisfied across the board, as the mix used the LFE channel to nice effect. I liked this track quite a lot.
In terms of extras, the main focus comes from six Promotional Featurettes. All together, these fill 20 minutes, 57 seconds as we find “Animators” (3:42), “Cast Interviews” (5:09), “Puppets” (4:03), “An Ode to Dogs” (2:00), “Megasaki City and Trash Island” (2:59) and “Weather and Elements” (3:04).
Across these, we hear from writer/director Wes Anderson, producer Jeremy Dawson, animation director Mark Waring, lead animator Jason Stalman, key animator Chuck Duke, Head of Puppets Department Andy Gent, Head of Sculpting Christy Matta, Head of Moulding Cormac McKee, lead armiture maker Josie Corben, Head of Silcone Magda Bieszczak, Head of Painting Department Angela Kiely, Head of Hair Department Alex Williams, Head of Fur Department Aine Woods, Head of Costume Maggie Haden, director of photography Tristan Oliver, lead graphic designer Erica Dorn, production designer Paul Harrod, lead set dresser Barry Jones, senior visual effects supervisor Tim Ledbury, and actors Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, F. Murray Abraham, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Bob Balaban, Greta Gerwig, and Tilda Swinton.
The featurettes look at animation and puppets, cast and characters and set design. While these exist to promote the movie, they offer enough useful footage from the production to add to our understanding of the shoot.
In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a gallery. It shows 15 promotional images, with an emphasis on shots of the actors with their relevant puppets. It’s a short but engaging compilation.
A second disc presents a DVD copy of Isle. It includes none of the Blu-ray’s extras.
In his return to animation, Wes Anderson creates a decent fable via Isle of Dogs. I think it lacks the necessary heart to become enchanting, but it looks great and comes with such a strong cast that it generally satisfies. The Blu-ray boasts excellent picture along with very good audio but it skimps on supplements. This turns into a moderately engaging animated effort.