ICE AGE

Starring the vocal talents of: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary and Goran Visnjic
Directors: Chris Wedge & Carlos Saldanha
Running Time: 80 mins
Certificate: U

Available to buy on DVD 21st October

At the start of the big migration south, Manfred (Romano), a woolly mammoth decides to shun the herd and head north. On his way he reluctantly rescues Sid (Leguizamo), the troublesome sloth, who through no fault of his own gets on the wrong side of a couple of Rhinos. Grateful for his rescue, Sid joins Manfred on his journey, much to the mammoth's annoyance. Their trip takes an unexpected turn when they find a lost Human child and after a lot of persuading by Sid, Manfred agree to help him find the child's family. The only problem is that the child has also caught the attention of a pack of Sabre-toothed cats.

Taking a lot of cues from recent computer generated animations, the miss-fit reluctant heroes (Shrek) and the returning of the child to it's home (Monsters, Inc), this is an extremely fun movie that wins through it's lack of originality with some fantastic characterisations.

John Leguizamo's Sid is an absolute joy to watch and he will have you chuckling away for the entire film. The sabre-toothed squirrel and his determination to bury his acorn is a brilliant running gag that will have you longing for more every time you witness his latest mishap. The human child is extremely cute and the interaction between him and the rest of the creatures is both funny and heart-warming.

The animation is first rate and as with every other computer-generated movie, it raises the bar up that little higher when it comes to weather and character development. The more cartoon-like look of the film is very fresh and makes it very distinctive from Pixar (Monsters, Inc & Toy Story) and PDI (Shrek & Ants) movies.

The mixture of laugh out loud humour and thrill-ride set pieces make the basic plot inconsequential. This is a feel-good movie that has just enough entertainment for adults as it does for the kids the film was aimed at. If computer-animated movies keep been released as good as they are, 2D animation could have had its day.

Audio Commentary from the Director Chris Wedge
6 Deleted Scenes - Paying Toll With Aardvarks; Sylvia And Sid Intro; Sabre Stake Out; No More Fruit For You; Sid And The Ladies; Sid And Sylvia
HBO 'Behind the Scenes Special' (20 mins approx.)
Six Featurettes looking at Blue Sky, the award winning animation studio behind the movie: Making A Character; The Art Of Rigging; Animators Acting; The Art Of Effects; Lighting And Materials; Using 2d In A 3d World
Plus a further ‘making-of’ half hour documentary
‘Scrat’s New Adventure,’ an exclusive all-new animation based on the movies lynch pin character