It’s safe to say that in the past decade or so, Disney animated films have taken a turn towards Craptown. For every one really good Disney animated feature, there are two to three pretty terrible ones. One such film came out last year in the form of PLANES (click the link to read the review). In this writer’s opinion, PLANES was pretty much a rip off from the Pixar film CARS, but so much worse. However, unsurprisingly, PLANES made enough money to guarantee a sequel, which came out this year. PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE hit theaters this past July and though it wasn’t great, it soared (sorry, I just had to) high above its predecessor.
PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE picks back up with Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane Cook), who in the previous film went from crop duster to racing sensation after overcoming his fear of heights. When Dusty is back home he starts having some engine trouble which ends his racing career and in his denial he pushes himself too hard, crashes and starts a fire. Even though the fire is put out, it’s determined that the local fire department isn’t up to code which will put the kibosh on the upcoming festival which the town depends on for revenue. Feeling responsible and pretty crummy for not being able to race anymore, Dusty volunteers to get certified as a firefighter with a forest fire and rescue unit.
PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE is the film Disney should have put out last year instead of making audiences sit through PLANES. This film has an original story, new characters and is somewhat interesting enough for parents who will undoubtedly have to sit through this film multiple times if they have kids who are slightly interested in vehicles. The film also has a good message for those youngsters who want to be firefighters when they are older. Fighting fires looks glamorous and cool, but it’s an extremely dangerous and selfless job that quite frankly doesn’t get enough respect. PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE does a pretty good job of showing that to the audience in a way that shouldn’t freak younger kids out too much.
The problem with PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE, as with a lot of animated films these days, is that they are fairly unforgettable for adults and don’t really have what it takes to become classics like SNOW WHITE, THE LION KING, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST or ALADDIN. Every once in awhile a film like FROZEN breaks through the cracks and shines, but for the most part it seems Disney has become too greedy and is willing to put out subpar films and sequels to those films that are obviously just a scam to get money. I say this as a longtime Disney fan who was born and raised on the classic films, and am quite sad that my kids won’t get to see a quality animated film each year (preferably with musical numbers).
So should you pick up PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE for your tots? If you can avoid it, then I wouldn’t bother adding this one to your library. However, if you have young boys who are into planes and firefighters then this would be worth adding to your collection.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: As with all Disney films, this one looks beautiful on the screen.
Audio: The audio sounded great.
Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular (5:58): An exclusive short with the Blu-ray starring Dusty and Chug.
Additional Animated Shorts (4:01): Two animated shorts called “Dipper” and “Smoke Jumpers”, these are pretty short and nothing too fantastic.
Air Attack: Firefighters from the Sky (4:58): A glance at the real vehicles and locations that inspired the film.
Deleted Scenes (4:02): Three deleted scenes that are barely worth the time.
Welcome to Piston Peak! (2:58): A promotional video for Piston Peak.
CHoPs TV Promo (:58): A TV commercial for the television show from the film.
Music Video (2:02): “Still I Fly” by Spencer Lee
