Bring home ‘Luca’
Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's
The latest Disney/Pixar film Luca is a fun story of friendship and family. Taking place on the Italian Riviera, the film incorporates plenty of the Italian lifestyle and architecture.
Luca is a sea monster. He and his family, along with the other sea monsters, live under the water and avoid the land people. But Luca is inquisitive and is intrigued by the human items that have found their way to the bottom of the sea. In this way he is very much like Ariel from The Little Mermaid.
When he meets Alberto, a sea monster roughly his own age, the two begin a friendship that will endure through their entire lives. Alberto has a secret he shares with Luca. When they are on land, they turn into humans, but when they get wet they return to being sea monsters. Alberto enjoys spending time on an island as a human. He has a photo of a Vespa and dreams of building his own, or meeting Mr. Vespa to build one for him.
The new friends undertake an adventure in the town, away from the island and the safety of the sea. They meet Guilia, a feisty young girl who is visiting her father in the town for the summer. The trio decides to enter the annual race to win the prize. This triathlon involves swimming, which neither Alberto nor Luca can do without revealing that they are sea monsters. Sea monsters are being hunted by the humans who think they are evil.
The friendship between the three grows during the summer. Luca’s parents decide to risk everything to come to the land people’s town to look for their runaway son. Confusion abounds as the parents do not know what Luca looks like as a human boy.
This film is fun and whimsical and is a great summer adventure. It shows that everyone can get along with a little understanding and a lot of love.
The bonus features on the Blu-ray include a look at how the Italian Riviera figured prominently in the making of the film. The writer/director, Enrico Casarosa) is from this area and wanted to portray it realistically for the viewers. From Vespas to architecture to gelato, the flavor (no pun intended) of Northern Italy comes to the screen.
Another bonus looks at how the characters transform from sea monsters to humans and back. This was a little tricky but a fun and necessary part of the story.
Being a story of friendship, the cast and crew discuss their childhood friends in yet another additional feature. It might bring back memories for some viewers. Deleted scenes round out the bonus features.
Luca is rated PG for rude humor, language, some thematic elements, and brief language. It is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K versions.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club and the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA. Follow her on Twitter.