Disney’s live-action The Jungle Book was one of the more pleasant surprises from this past summer. Having fond memories of the original cartoon, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about CGI animals taking the place of goofy Baloo or terrifying Shere Khan. But once the lights went down and the first few scenes went by, seamlessly weaving impossibly realistic computer graphics with satisfying writing and spot-on performances (Walken’s awkward “I Want To Be Like You” aside), I was hooked (well, until King Louie Hulked out…that was a very odd diversion). If you need a quick refresher on how incredible The Jungle Book was – here’s a quick refresher:
Released this week on Amazon, iTunes, and anywhere else you get your streaming video, you can now revisit Mowgli and his pals a full week before the DVD hits the shelves. Disney was kind enough to send over a copy of the Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital HD combo pack. Inside, is a code to redeem your digital copy and download it to the Disney Movies Anywhere app. If you’re a fan of any Disney properties and haven’t started using the app yet, you’re missing out. It aggregates all of your Disney purchases from iTunes, Amazon, Google…pretty much anywhere you’d buy digital movies. Every Disney property is included, so you can get Star Wars and Marvel movies in addition to Disney and Pixar animation and live action flicks.
Once I entered my code, I fired up the movie on my iPhone 6s Plus, just to see how it would run. What I didn’t expect was to be sucked in on the smallest of small screens in my house. To the point where I put down the dishes I was loading into the dishwasher and just gaped at the forest as Mowgli tried to outrun Bagheera. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, considering the massive amount of CGI that went into the creation of the film; but the picture clarity and sound quality are astounding on the digital copy. That held up as I transferred the movie over to my TV mid stream (gotta love the Chromecast support).
If you just want the digital movie, you can get it today for only $19.99. The full Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital HD combo is available for pre-order for just $3 more and comes with DVD you need to shove into the player in the car for those long Labor Day road trips coming up. If you haven’t seen The Jungle Book yet, I highly recommend it. If you have seen it, then you know it’s one movie you’ll want to add to your collection right away.
