4.6 Stars (out of 5) - Rated PG

Synopsis

Having ended their African adventures, Alex and his friends set their sights for New York City -- this time, hitching a ride with a traveling circus. But as they make their way through Europe, they run into their fair share of roadblocks.

Starring:

Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Tom McGrath, Frances McDormand, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short

Director:

Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon

Blu-ray Release Date:

October 16, 2012

Subtitles:

English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Rating

Overall rating weighted as follows:

Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%, Movie - its just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio 4.8 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

Subwoofer - 4.5 Stars

Dialog - 5.0 Stars

Surround Effects - 4.5 Stars

Dynamic Range - 5.0 Stars

English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1

This Dolby TrueHD mix is full silly noises and some awesome ones too. Rear speakers come alive with sounds of African insects, helicopter blades, speeding automobiles, laughing clowns, a circus train, and cheering crowds. No lines of dialog are lost to the action of the circus. The low end is tight and deep, it won't rattle your couch but it's still satisfying. The subwoofer stays active with sounds of exploding fireworks, a roaring bear in a tutu, and rumbles from a nuclear powered car engine.

Video 5.0 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison

Color Accuracy - 5.0 Stars

Shadow Detail - 5.0 Stars

Clarity - 5.0 Stars

Skin tones - 5.0 Stars

Compression - 5.0 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1, Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

It's hard for a multi-million dollar computer animated movie not to look good, but this looks ridiculously gorgeous. The colors of the circus are vivid and deep, and bring life to the crazy outfits, unnatural colors of the animals, orange stripes on the tiger, blue skies with fluffy white clouds, and of course the rainbow colored afro. Dark scenes are handled well, and lose very little detail in dark scenes. Clarity is stunning and show all the fine details of individual animal fur / hairs, blades of grass, reflections on water, spots on the cheetah, and all these details don't show any signs of compression problems. This is easily one of the best looking movies on Blu-ray.

Bonus Features 3.5 Stars (out of 5)

Blu-ray Exclusives:

The Animators' Corner (1080p): An informative picture-in-picture supplement in where Directors Tom McGrath, Eric Darnell, and Conrad Vernon guide viewers through a behind the scenes look at the movie.

Get Them to the Train (1080p): An amusing little game.

Trivia Track: A standard pop-up trivia track that shares a number of facts and figures from the world of Madagascar.

Special Features:

Big Top Cast (1080p, 13:38): Cast and crew discuss character vocalizations and the positives the voice actors bring to the film.

Deleted Scenes (1080p, 6:18): Melman Picks a Circus Act (test), Next Performance: New York City (test), and Lion Meet Venom (test). With Director introductions.

Mad Music Mash-Up (1080p, 1:00): A short musical montage.

Ringmasters (1080p, 15:27): A standard behind the scenes look at the film.

Madagascar 3 Roundtable (1080p, 3:48): Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith share their memories of the series.

Filmmakers' Commentary:With directors Eric Darnell, Conrad Vernon, and Tom McGrath.

Sneak Peek (1080p, 20:23): A detailed look at the live action How to Train your Dragon stage production.

Previews (1080p).

Movie - 2.3 Stars (out of 5)

Review

I had fun watching this movie with my kids, but you won't ever catch me watching it alone. It's an entertaining silly movie, but it falls flat when it comes to bringing any kind of emotional heft to the story. I also seems like they sacrificed storyline just to have a few more silly laughs. The pace of the story is so fast it's downright uncomfortable. There are plot holes big enough that kids will notice them, and things happen so haphazardly it barley makes any sense. Watching a film like this makes you really appreciate earlier Pixar movies for the care they put into creating a good story. The movie is funny and silly time filled with one liners and crazy action, but don't expect getting any type of emotional content out of it.