Luca appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a great presentation.
At all times, sharpness looked crisp and detailed. If any softness materialized, I didn’t see it, as I thought the image remained tight and well-defined at all times.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and the movie lacked edge haloes or artifacts. Of course, no print flaws popped up along the way.
In terms of colors, Luca went with a broad palette. The mix of Riviera and underwater elements allowed for a wide variety of hues, and the image brought them out in a vivid and dynamic manner.
Blacks were dark and deep, and shadows seemed smooth and clear. This was a consistently fine image.
Though not as impressive, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack also pleased. The film didn’t deliver a ton of opportunities for auditory theatrics, but we got enough to bring the mix to life with reasonable frequency. These blended together well and created a nice package of sound components from all around the room.
Audio quality was solid. Music sounded dynamic and full, while speech was distinctive and natural; no signs of edginess occurred.
Effects appeared accurate and showed nice range, with solid low-end when appropriate. Though the mix never really threatened to reach “A”-level, it became a definite “B+” track.
Three featurettes appear here, and Our Italian Inspiration runs 14 minutes, 21 seconds. It provides comments from director Enrico Casarosa, production designer Daniela Strijleva, director of photography lighting Kim White, sets art director Don Shank, color and shading director Chia-Han Jennifer Chang, director of photography layout David Juan Bianchi, character art director Deanna Marsiglirse, and effects supervisor Jon Reisch.
As expected, “Inspiration” looks at how aspects of Italy and the creators’ lives influenced Luca. With ample footage from research visits, this becomes an informative program.
Secretly a Sea Monster fills 12 minutes, 23 seconds with notes from Casarosa, Strijleva, Marsigliese, Chang, Reisch, Bianchi, character supervisor Beth Albright, producer Andrea Warren, character modeling and articulation artist Seth Freeman, character supervisor Sajan Skaria, character shading and groom artist Jacob Kuenzel, animation supervisor Michael Venturini, directing animator Claudio De Oliveira, story supervisor John Hoffman, story artist Yon Hui Lee, co-writer Jesse Andrews, and story lead McKenna Harris.
“Secretly” discusses story elements as well as character design and animation. It delivers another useful reel.
Lastly, Best Friends goes for seven minutes, 15 seconds and involves Warren, Casarosa, Harris, Andrews, Bianchi, Marsigliese, Venturini, Skaria, Albright, Kuenzel, Hoffman, Strijleva, and actors Jacob Tremblay, Emma Berman, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Maya Rudolph.
The show covers the friendships of the movie as well as their inspirations. Though it comes with some good notes, it tends toward fluff at times.
Including introductions from Casarosa, six Deleted Scenes occupy a total of 30 minutes, 30 seconds. These include two unused openings as well as a mix of other alternate character/story elements.
Most of these feel like good cuts – especially those dropped introductions, as they seem slow and not especially engaging. Still, I like the chance to get a look at the “work in progress” aspects of the movie.
We finish with three trailers: one US, one Italian, one Japanese. Note that the Italian trailer suffers from an audio error, so sound only comes out of the left front channel for it.
A gentle coming of age tale, Luca offers a mostly likable tale. However, it falls short of the better Pixar efforts, as it seems too derivative to become better than average. The Blu-ray boasts excellent visuals as well as solid audio, but it skimps somewhat in terms of bonus materials. Pixar fans will want to give Luca a look, but they shouldn’t expect greatness from it.