The Boss Baby (DVD) : Review

Film

So, Tim (Miles Bakshi) gets a new baby brother. A suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying Baby (Alec Baldwin – Paris Can Wait, Concussion). The two pair up to stop the dastardly plot of the CEO, Francis Francis (Steve Buscemi – Transformers: The Last Knight, Hotel Transylvania 2), of Puppy Co. the company where his parents Ted (Jimmy Kimmel) and Janice (Lisa Kudrow – The Girl on the Train) work.

This film brings so much delight, and scenes are so busy, packed full of detail, funny moments, and hidden gems, that it would take several subsequent viewings to catch them all. Thankfully this is a story worth seeing several times. Not to mention, that in the comfort of one’s own home, there are sure not to be the technical mishaps as befel the film in cinema, causing issues on the original viewing by SAMDB. Read the full SAMDB review of The Boss Baby here for all the details.

Disc

Overall, the disc is of a decent technical quality, with a thoroughly enjoyable film as main feature. It does feel as if the disc takes slightly longer than others on initial start, but this isn’t too bad.

The Boss Baby is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.

Video

Video for the main feature is encoded at a high average bitrate. While the body of the image has no visible artefacts, there is a very thin line at the top and bottom of the image, but this does not affect viewing, and is barely noticeable.

Colours are vibrant, with no visible colour bleed in most areas. There are areas where there is a very small amount of bleed visible. Again, this does not affect viewing, and is barely noticeable.

A fair amount of detail is maintained in darker scenes too.

Viewers with larger, or higher resolution screens, could scale up to a larger, or higher resolution, should they wish.

Video for the menu system, and bonus features, is a bit more compressed than the main feature. Video for the menus does have artefacts, and is clearly less detailed, however rather save space here, and have more room for less compression on the main feature.

Audio

Audio for the main feature is encoded at a high average bitrate, and presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Dialogue is clear via the centre channels, with the front and surround channels carrying the rest of the soundtrack, and great use made of the surround channels to expand the on-screen action, and further draw the viewer into that world.

There is no stereo 2.0 downmix on the disc, so the viewer would have to rely on their DVD hardware or software, or amplifier, for this.

Navigation

Navigation is simple, and easy to follow. The main menu has a still background image, with accompanying music, and text links to play the main feature, setup, scenes, and extras.

The setup sub-menu provides text links to select the desired audio language, and subtitles.

The scenes sub-menus comprise of four large, colour, still thumbnails each, with a total of twenty four chapters in total. While these are numbered, they are not labelled, so a bit of guesswork is needed when navigating to a particular spot in the main film.

The extras sub-menu comprises of text links to each of the several bonus features on the disc.

Bonus Features

BabyCorp And You – A short video that plays as an introduction to you, as a new employee, of BabyCorp. Using scenes from the main feature, and narration.

While this does use scenes from the main feature, it lacks the humour of the film, and so is likely not to have the same rewatch value. Still, these are entertaining, even to a lesser degree, so are bound to have at least a few views.

The Forever Puppy Infomercial – An infomercial, presented by Francis Francis, about the new Forever Puppy. As with the BabyCorp video, this does lack the humour of the main film, but should at least provide a few views.

This short video uses a mixture of clips from the film, and some additional material.

The Boss Baby And Tim’s Treasure Hunt Through Time – A brief look at the mind of Tim, and all the fantastic worlds and characters he imagines when playing.

We’re taken along on a short ride through typical playtime, to some of these many worlds.

This short video is markedly more engrossing than the BabyCorp or Forever Puppy ones.

Cookies Are For Closers: Inside BabyCorp – A look at the world that is BabyCorp, with input from both cast and crew, we get a little insight into the on-screen world, as well as how the team came up with the concept, look, and life we see.

This video is likely to be of more interest to older views, as the short video deals more with filmmaking than some of the other bonus features.

The Great Sibling Competition – A brief look at how the filmmakers, cast and crew, set out to portray sibling relationships, in the film. We are given insight into some of their research, and goals, for showing siblings and those connections.

Again, this short video is likely to be of more interest to older viewers, due to its content being more about how the film was made, rather than just additional story and entertainment.

Happy Accidents: The Deleted Scenes Of The Boss Baby – Deleted scenes from the film, with an introduction by director Tom McGrath. While the explains why the scenes were removed, they are entertaining to watch, and should appeal to both young and older viewers.

Gallery – A gallery of stills, with concept art, and sketches. Something interesting to look at, and see how ideas developed. This might only interest younger viewers for a short while, but some fun nonetheless.

One can view these with manual advancing, as described by the detailed instructions on-screen, or allow the images to auto-advance.

Theatrical Trailer – The trailer for The Boss Baby

The World Of Dreamworks Animation – A selection of seven music videos, from various Dreamworks films, including I’m A Believer (Shrek), I Like To Move It (Madagascar), Fly High (How To Train Your Dragon), Kung Fu Fighting (Kung Fu Panda), Shine Your Way (The Croods), The Snail Is Fast (Turbo), and Feel The Light (Home).

Sneak Peek – Access to reply the three trailers that autoplay at the beginning of the disc, and an additional trailer not played there.

There are trailers for Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, and Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You. These autoplay at the beginning of the disc, and can be fast-forward or skipped, individually. These can be accessed again via the extras menu, along with the trailer for Despicable Me 3.

By Andrew Germishuys

Founder of SAMDB | Actor | Armourer | Tech Enthusiast With over two decades in the film industry, I'm a seasoned actor and skilled armourer. I hold numerous certifications in acting and filmmaking, complemented by degrees and diplomas in IT and technology, giving me a unique blend of creative and technical expertise. When I'm not on set or in the workshop, you'll find me immersed in the world of gaming and VR, fuelling my passion for cutting-edge technology. Connect with me: X / Twitter Facebook Instagram Mastodon Threads Explore my work on SAMDB IMDb

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