Free Aviation Guy Newsletter Want to receive the latest on aviation delivered to you? Get all the latest and greatest aviation insights for FREE! Join your fellow Av Geeks who subscribe to Aviation Guy for FREE!!

Disney’s Planes Fire and Rescue Now Available on Blu-Ray/DVD

Get your copy now and watch it over and over with your kids like I did.

Get your copy now and watch it over and over with your kids like I did.

“Did you just fall out of a B-17?  Cause your da bomb!”

That has got to be one of my favorite lines from just about any movie I have ever seen, and it just happens to come from one of my favorite kids movies ever.  That movie is Disney’s Planes Fire and Rescue which just so happened to come out on Blu-Ray this week.

I won’t bore you with a review of the movie again since I did that when it came out in theaters, but I will reassert how much I absolutely love it.  The sights and sounds of this movie are even better than the original.  It is also an even more touching story than the original because it is based on people who literally risk their lives to keep others safe.  Suffice it to say that I watched it three times this weekend (Don’t judge me, I am just an avgeek) and it touches me more every time I watch it.

While there aren’t a ton of bonus features, the ones they did add are quite nice.  They include an amusing short film about Dusty and Chug performing at an air show in Propwash Junction, a couple of short intro videos of the characters, and my personal favorite, a short feature on the actual firefighters from Chino California that much of the movie was based on.

These Cal Fire aircraft inspired much of the movie.

These Cal Fire aircraft inspired much of the movie.

The members of Cal Fire risk their lives every year to fight wildfires across the region to protect the lives and property of countless people.  The movie mirrored their control tower off the actual tower in Chino as well as basing the Blade character off one of the Cal Fire helicopters.

They really did a fantastic job with the technical aspects of the movie, which they also talk about during the special features.  There is a little bit of artistic freedom, but the vast majority of the flying is spot on and really makes an avgeek like me anxious to get out and fly.

The Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital edition are available on Amazon and will be at your house in two days or less if you have Amazon Prime.  If you need a little eye candy to push you over the edge to buy it, just take a look at the trailer below.  After you do come back and leave a comment, I would love to hear about how much you and your kids love it.

November 9, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Disney’s Planes Fire and Rescue: A Sequel That is Just as Good as the Original

The star of the show is once again Dusty, but he has more great company in this movie.

The star of the show is once again Dusty, but he has more great company in this movie.

With all of the negative press in aviation right now, it was really refreshing to take a step back and just enjoy a beautifully made movie about planes.  Planes Fire and Rescue is the much-anticipated (at least for avgeeks) sequel to the Planes movie that was released last year during Osh13.

I was so excited to see it that I couldn’t wait to get back home to go with my kids, so I just went by myself.  After I got past the creepy looks people were giving me as they walked in with their kids, I was able to sit back and just enjoy the show.

I’m not one to just recap a movie because you can get that on IMDb or a dozen other movie sites.  I prefer to focus on the sights and sounds of the planes which is what we all love anyway.

One of the first things that really caught my attention in this movie was the excellent use of music to add to the story.  The first occurrence was the playing of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck as the fire crews are preparing to fight a fire.  It really added to the momentum that was building in the movie.

There were also a couple of great songs by Brad Paisley that I really enjoyed.  One in particular is called All-in that is a great tribute to all firefighters, but particularly to those who fight wildfires.  This song will never have the following of Let it Go from Frozen, but it deserves even more attention because of the message it shares.

To go a long with the great music, there was of course the great sound of airborne engines.

Cabbie is probably my favorite character, but I am biased.

Cabbie is probably my favorite character, but I am biased.

My personal favorite of course was the old cargo plane “Cabbie”.  They never say exactly what type of plane he is, but my best guess is that he is Fairchild C-119 better known as the Flying Boxcar.  Sure I’m a little biased since my current squadron flew them back in the day, but it is a great plane that sounds even better.

I even enjoyed the helicopters that are an essential part of the firefighting effort.

There was also a lot of great little one liners from the various characters in the movie that even make grown-ups laugh.  I actually enjoyed these characters a lot more than the supporting characters in the first movie.  They did a much better job of translating real people into these characters, much the way that the Cars movies did.

The story had its typical unrealistic and cheesy parts just like any Disney movie, but I really enjoyed the overall message, and the real emphasis that was placed on the team in this movie.  I can only hope that it will strike at the heart of more young people and get them excited about flying.

At the end of the day it was a highly entertaining movie with stunningly beautiful animation.  It is the perfect movie to sit down and enjoy with your kids, or even by yourself.

July 20, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Disney’s “Planes: Fire and Rescue” Teaser Trailer Released

I had no idea just how out of the loop I was until I saw that this trailer was released a month ago.  Then again, I also missed the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the original this week, but only by a couple of days.

It does seem kind of strange to me that the sequel to Planes is following so closely on the tail of the original, but I guess that is just the way things are moving.

Either way, I am incredibly excited about this movie, just like I was for the first one.  Planes: Fire and Rescue is the continued story of Dusty Crophopper, once again voiced by Dane Cook.  Upon learning he can never race again due to a bad engine, he shifts his efforts to aerial firefighting, and some real heroes.

It remains to be seen what path the story will actually follow, but based on the original, and the teaser trailer above, I have high hopes that this movie will also be a beautiful mixture of aircraft sights and sounds.

There is much criticism out there of Disney’s lack of creativity that I just don’t understand.  People didn’t complain when they made 10 princess movies in a row that all follow essentially the same storyline, so why all the heartache that they are making movies about cars and planes?  Pretty much every kid’s movie has a similar story, but I guess most of those people forget that these movies are geared towards children and not adults.

That being said, I know a lot of adults that will be there when this movie opens.  If there is any doubt of that, consider the 15,000 that showed up for the premier of the original at EAA Airventure this last summer.

That is one of the awesome things about aviation; it truly bridges all age, race, and gender gaps.  No one cares who you are or where you come from as long as you love planes.  In fact, we find it more exciting to hear about those unusual planes, pilots, and circumstances that inevitably pop up in aviation.

I really hope that these movies continue to spark a love of aviation in children that will inspire them to chase their dreams and pursue careers in aviation.  Aircraft will never go away, but if we don’t do our best to foster a true passion for aviation, the wonder of it may start to wane.

 

November 23, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Disney’s Planes Released on DVD

I don’t know how I could have missed this release, oh wait…I’m on the other side of the world.  Either way, the blessed day has arrived and you can finally bring Disney’s Planes home on DVD/Blu-ray.  For all of us Avgeeks this is one of the best movies that Disney has ever made.

I am well aware that it took a lot of criticism from critics who expect a children’s movie to be educational and thought-provoking and obviously something other than entertaining.  The reality is that the story of Dusty Crophopper was incredibly well done.  The animation was clean and crisp and beautiful.  The aircraft are varied and original.  The sounds are so real I felt like I was at the airport a few times.

Overall it was a great little story about the underdog winning, and who really gets tired of that?  You can read my full review of the movie from when I saw it at the theater, or you can just buy it yourself and enjoy the wonder that is Disney’s Planes.

I also just found a teaser trailer for the second installment that was just recently released, and it looks just as awesome.

I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.