Ice Age - The Meltdown (Full Screen Edition)
by Carlos Saldanha
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DVD details
Actor: Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Josh Peck, Ray Romano, Seann William ScottDirector: Carlos Saldanha
Brand: Fox
Producer: Chris Wedge
Producer: Bob Gordon
Producer: Christopher Meledandri
Producer: Lori Forte
Writer: Gerry Swallow
Writer: Jim Hecht
Writer: Peter Gaulke
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-11-21
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Ice Age - The Meltdown (Full Screen Edition)
DVD Review: Not the Best Sequel You Ever Thaw
Summary: 4 Stars
"Ice Age: The Meltdown" is one of those sequels you knew would happen; the first film was such a hit at the box office that a continuation was virtually guaranteed. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that. Everything about the original "Ice Age" was well established, especially the fun, quirky characters of Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo), Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano), and Diego the Saber Tooth Tiger (Denis Leary). And let's not forget Scrat, the squirrel on a demonically obsessive mission for an acorn (which, if the comedy is to ensue properly, he can never obtain). For the sake of consistency (a plus for children), they all return for this second installment. While it is an inferior film, it's still quite enjoyable, with plenty of good moments that the whole family will get a kick out of.
In an attempt to show some sense of geographical and meteorological history, the story of this computer animated adventure revolves around the end of the last ice age, when global warming causes a majority of the continent-covering glaciers to melt. This is a major problem for the massive herd of animals living in a valley between two especially large glaciers, one of them acting as a dam, holding back enough water to fill the valley in a matter of minutes. This herd is led by Sid, who runs the area as a sort of getaway resort, with scores of guests using the melting ice to their advantage (they use the slopes as water slides). Initially, no one sees the looming danger, not even when the slick-talking armadillo con man Fast Tony (Jay Leno) tries to get everyone to buy underwater breathing devices (which are nothing more than hollow reeds).
Their opinions on the end of the world change when a vulture (Will Arnet) appears and tells them that a boat on the other side of the valley awaits them all. (Does anyone see the Biblical implications here?) His offer is tempting, but there's something a little off about his personality; he makes it a point to tell them that if they all decide to stay, he's in for a veritable buffet of carcasses. (Of course, the animals have yet to realize that danger also waits for them underwater; eventually, Manny and the gang will have to deal with a duo of aquatic carnivores that have voracious appetites.)
Despite the ominous circumstances of the vulture's visit, the animals decide that they have to leave if they want to survive. Thus begins the journey across the valley, the oddball team of Sid, Manny, and Diego being the most featured characters (obviously). Just as it was in the first movie, Manny is bitter and short tempered, only this time it's for a different reason: other animals have been telling him that he's the last of his kind, and he begins to fear they might be right. How can anyone be happy knowing that after they die, there will never be another one like them in existence? His thoughts are heavy and downtrodden until he meets Ellie (Queen Latifah), a mammoth who, because of her upbringing, thinks she's a possum. Initially, Manny is turned off by her identity crisis. Sid, being the ever annoying but well-intentioned friend that he is, continually tries to hook them up. I think he says it best in the one line prominently featured in the ads: "She's tons of fun; you're no fun at all. She completes you."
At Ellie's side are her "brothers" Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck), two mischievous but loveable thrill seeking possums. The trio make the journey for everyone much more interesting, especially for Manny; if there's to be any hope of saving their species (and we all know what that entails), he has to convince her that she's a mammoth.
Because this is a family oriented film, the simple, straightforward plot is laced with positive messages and life lessons that kids generally need to hear. Many of the characters have their own personal demons: Manny can't get over the death of his family; Diego, despite being a fierce predator, has an intense fear of water; Sid is generally considered annoying and isn't given any respect (although he does have a very interesting encounter with a group of worshipful sloths); and Ellie is confused and has no sense of self. They may be portrayed in toned down, comical ways, but the fact that these are realistic issues may very well be worth admission to this movie.
On the other hand, some of the circumstances are a little too comically portrayed, a quality that isn't helped by an overabundance of exaggerated action sequences. How many times do we need to see the characters hanging on for dear life off the edge of a cliff? Why were there so many sequences of Scrat on his perilous acorn excursions? I didn't really think these moments harmed the movie, but they certainly did distract me from the direction it was going in. It might have been better if the intensity had been toned down and more time been spent on character development and story. This criticism includes a musical sequence in which a multitude of vultures sing a reworked version of "Food, Glorious Food"; it just didn't fit, and it went on too long.
Still, I have to give the film credit for being fun and appropriate for the whole family, hence the four star rating. This is despite some suggestively dark overtones, like Scrat's near death experience (the details of which I'll spare you to preserve the scene's impact). It's generally well written and well voiced, and even though some of the dialogue is over simplified, the lines effectively convey the story to both children and adults alike. That's what makes family films so much more enjoyable than children's films: there's a little bit of something for everyone (which is more than I can say for films like "Doogal"). Maybe if more animated films were written like the "Ice Age" films were, then it wouldn't be so much of a burden to sit in a theater with dozens of children. Believe me when I say that that should be the top priority for filmmakers.
Description of Ice Age - The Meltdown (Full Screen Edition)
Your favorite sub-zero heroes are back for another incredible adventure in the super-cool animated comedy Ice Age the Meltdown! The action heats up?and so does the temperature?for Manny, Sid, Diego and Scrat. Trying to escape the valley to avoid a flood of trouble, the comical creatures embark on a hilarious journey across the thawing landscape and meet Ellie, a female woolly mammoth who melts Manny's heart. With its dazzling animation, unforgettable characters and an all-new Scrat short, Ice Age: The Meltdown is laugh-out-loud fun for the whole family!
The love life of a woolly mammoth--handled with G-rated delicacy--drives this sequel to the first computer-animated romp in the age of prehistoric mammals. While the first Ice Age took a delightful premise and suffocated it with a formulaic plot--in which a mammoth named Manfred (voiced by Ray Romano, Everyone Loves Raymond), a sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo, Moulin Rouge!), and a sabre-tooth tiger named Diego (Denis Leary, Rescue Me) helped an abandoned human infant return to its tribe (basically, Three Mammals and a Baby)--the sequel takes the now-familiar setting, gives it a shapeless, episodic storyline, and yet somehow becomes pretty darn entertaining. Faced with the threat of a flood from melting ice, our heroic trio are on the run to escape from their blossoming valley. On the way, they meet a female mammoth (Queen Latifah, Bringing Down the House) who thinks she's an opossum and get menaced by some freshly defrosted carnivo! rous fish. Add into the mix a herd of lava-worshipping mini-sloths, some Busby Berkeley-style vultures, and more ingenious slapstick featuring the acorn-crazed Scrat, and Ice Age: The Meltdown will amuse even jaded adults. -- Bret Fetzer
Beyond Ice Age: The Meltdown
 Ice Age - Super Cool Edition |  Ice Age & Ice Age 2: The Meltdown - (DVD 2-Pack) |  Funtastic Adventures Collection Box Set (Ice Age / Robots / Fern Gully / Once Upon a Rainforest) |
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