Movie Info:
Writers: Matt Lopez, Mark Bomback
Director: Andy Fickman
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, Carla Gugino, Ciarán Hinds, Tom Everett Scott, Chris Marquette, Billy Brown, Garry Marshall, Kim Richards, Ike Eisenmann
Rating: PG
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: March 13, 2009
DVD Release Date: August 4, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $25.99
Growing up, I loved the Witch Mountain movies. As cheesy as the effects were, the acting was great and the story was never boring. Disney went all out with these two movies, offering jobs to the likes of Christopher Lee, Bette Davis and even Donald Pleasence. I was born in the 80s, so I only saw these films in reruns on the Disney Channel or another, family friendly station. I had no idea how popular the movies were. As a kid, I thought I’d found this unknown treasure of film, the first time I saw Escape to Witch Mountain. Little did I know, the series would continue with a remake in the 90s and even a new interpretation.
I like Dwayne Johnson. He’s probably the best wrestler turned actor there is. He’s actually made a career for himself, and that is because he has realized the area where he shines the most is his comedic timing. That’s why Disney has a fondness for him. He’s a big, strong, muscled, funny man. You don’t expect guys like him to be funny. You expect them to be doofy, but this guy is actually really smart and creative.
When I heard Dwayne Johnson would be in the latest Witch Mountain film, I worried the movie wouldn’t do the other films justice. Luckily, this wasn’t a remake. There was already a dreadful, made for TV remake of Escape to Witch Mountain that aired in the 90s and starred Mad Men‘s Peggy Olson. Despite giving the kids other names, this followed the original story almost perfectly, except it’s hard to replicate the chemistry between Ike and Kim, especially when it’s Peggy Olson with the kid who went on to star in a surfer show called Brink. Either way, I hoped Race to Witch Mountain would not suffer the same fate.
I was pleased with the fact that this story is original, delves into it’s own unique storyline, and reinterprets the entire idea of people coming from another planet. I also like how much work director, Andy Fickman, put into honoring and paying homage to the original films. From the Deranian reference to the obvious throwback to the original film’s Winnebago, he did a nice job of making fans of the old series comfortable in their knowledge of how much he respected these old Disney classics.
The area where Race to Witch Mountain shines the most is in its action sequences. This movie is a rockin’ action flick. The special effects are very cool, and the Blu-Ray quality was made for this kind of movie. The story is also very strong. The writing is good, dialogue seems natural. Dwayne Johnson’s comedic timing is classic. He makes this movie fun. The acting is great, on the whole, though occasionally, you can see an actor straining to show the emotions they wish to portray. As someone involved in acting and theatre, I’m easily able to pick this out, but I doubt the average movie goer would notice it. Carla Gugino (as you might expect) was the best actor in the bunch. In most cases, the actors seem genuine and comfortable in their roles. For the most part, I was able to sit back and enjoy the ride!
The Race to Witch Mountain Plot
When what appears to be a spacecraft crashes in a remote area, it doesn’t take long for a secret government organization that deals with these sensitive matters, to come across the scene. Disguising the location as the ‘worst chlorine spill to ever happen,’ reporters are kept out to avoid speculation about what this object could be.
The ship has been abandoned, but the man in charge, Henry Burke (Ciarán Hinds) is certain they can catch these aliens. When it becomes clear there is more than one, they are bipeds, almost humanoid in appearance, they begin searching the area, via cameras to find out where the aliens have gone. They are shocked to discover that the aliens look like human teenagers and have headed to Las Vegas.
Around the same time, a UFO convention is happening in Sin City. Cabbie and ex-con, Jack Bruno (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), picks up Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino), an Astrophysicist who is obsessed with UFOs and is presenting a lecture at the UFO convention. Jack is a non-believer in all this mumbo jumbo, but he still takes her to her hotel before picking up two Star Wars Stormtroopers, who he is rude to on the way to the convention they’re attending.
Along the way, it is discovered that Jack used to be the wheelman for a dangerous mafioso called Mr. Wolfe. Jack has gone straight, but with a price. He lives in a motel, and has to work as a cabbie, having thrown away dreams of racing cars when he went to work for Wolfe. The goons of Wolfe, Frank and Marty (John Duff and Bob Koherr) try to bully Jack back into working for Wolfe, but that is unsuccessful.
In the meantime, two mysterious teenagers, Seth and Sara (Alexander Ludwig and AnnaSophia Robb) show up in the back of Jack’s cab. They talk in very stilted speech and have a lot of cash, though they do not understand its value. They instruct Jack Bruno to drive, and he does, though at first he worries that they are runaways. It doesn’t take long for Burke and his cronies to catch up with Jack and the kids, who have very interesting abilities due to the fact that they utilize more of their brains than humans do.
When it becomes clear Seth and Sara are not from this planet, Jack battles between wanting to help them and his fear of going back to prison, because he must break the law to do so. Of course, there isn’t much time to dwell on these matters. Burke and Wolfe aren’t the only ones after Jack and the kids. The Siphon, an android like soldier created on Seth and Sara’s planet with only one mission, kill its target, is chasing them. The Siphon’s mission is to destroy Seth and Sara. In the end, the non-believer, Jack has no choice but to believe. Running out of options he must turn to Dr. Alex and her adversary, Dr. Donald Harlan (Garry Marshall) to help him understand the unexplainable and keep these extraterrestrial children safe.
Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann (Tia and Tony from Escape to Witch Mountain and Return to Witch Mountain) have cameos as Tina the waitress (who helps Seth and Sara) and Sheriff Antony who runs the town of Stony Creek.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
Visually, Race to Witch Mountain is absolutely stunning. Only one scene was disappointing, because the special effects had to have been very hard to make realistic (the scene where they hold back all the bullets). It’s the only moment in the film where I thought, man this looks really CGIed. That withstanding, everything else was so perfect you can’t even count this brief moment of movie magic revealed as a bloop in tarnishing the excellence that Blu-Ray presents for this movie.
The 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is displayed at a 1080p screen resolution. The Blu-Ray transfer is nice. Special effects (most of which are exceptionally well done) explode off the screen. It appears as if you are actually in the world with the characters. Saturation levels are excellent, colors are vibrant, skintones are realistic, black levels are sharp. There isn’t any softness, murkiness, grain, compression or other visual errors that sneak out and scream hello. This is the kind of movie Blu-Ray was designed to play.
Just like the visual quality, the master audio track is stellar. This is an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Track. The speakers are amped up enough to allow for a fully immersible experience. The lossless sound fills the speakers to the brim, with robust, full sound effects, swelling crescendos from the soundtrack and crisp, easy to hear, easy to understand dialogue. No volume toggling was needed. The whole experience visually and auditory speaking was awesome!
There are additional audio tracks. These include Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in Spanish, French, Thai, Portuguese, and one other Asian language I am unable to identify (could be Chinese, Korean or Japanese?). Since I don’t know any Asian languages, I cannot speculate on what language this is any more than I already have (it is written in characters on the menu). Subtitles are also included in English for the Hearing Impaired, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Bahasa, and Malay.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
This is a three disc, Blu-Ray, DVD Combo pack. It features a third disc with Digital Copy on it. This Blu-Ray is also D-Box enabled. There are a few features and a whole lot of promos/trailers/previews for other Disney titles. Here is information for everything that can be considered a bonus to the main movie, in this set.
Before the movie plays, there are promos. These promos include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Blu-Ray & DVD, The Princess and the Frog, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Disney in Hi-Def Blu-Ray, and Disney Movie Magic Movie Rewards.
“Deleted Scenes”: There are a selection of nine deleted scenes. The total time is 23 minutes worth of bonus material. You can choose to play them all at once or individually. All of the deleted scenes feature introductions with director Andy Fickman. The deleted scenes include Intro, Extended Opening Ray’s, Extended Ray’s Telekinesis, Jack Beats up Zacha, Tina Meets Siphon, Sara Foils Security Fence, Alex Foils Guard, Extended Goodbye Scene, and Original Tag. These feature some really great scenes, some of which never should have been cut. My favorites include Extended Ray’s Telekinesis, Tina Meets Siphon, and Extended Goodbye Scene. It’s clear why most of these scenes were cut, but a few of these scenes could have still fit within the story and been a good addition.
“Bloopers”: Clocking in at 3:17, the bloopers are self explanatory. These are funny and quirky moments that occurred during the filming. While not necessary to enjoy the movie, there are some really cool moments that show how much fun the actors had while making this movie.
“Backstage Disney”: This is a backstage look at the movie with director Andy Fickman. It explores the connections made to the original Witch Mountain movies. There were many hidden throwbacks to both the original movies and other old Disney movies (Natalie Gann the reporter, for example). They also used executives from Disney, to make cameos in the movie (i.e. the Train Conductor). Both the Siphon and Garry Marshall’s characters have links to Donald Pleasence’s character in Escape to Witch Mountain.
This also discusses other aspects of production. For example, they made a realistic UFO convention because Andy Fickman has a great appreciation of UFOs having been born in Roswell, New Mexico. These are just some of the tidbits presented in this feature. I don’t want to give them all away. This feature is fun, interesting and it’s funny how much went into the making of this movie and the connection the director wanted to make to honor the Witch Mountain series.
“Disney Blu-Ray Learn How to Take Your Favorite Movies on the Go”: This is a pretty useless feature, which explains about how you can download a digital copy onto your iPod or Mp3 and take the movie wherever you go.
On the menu, there is a Sneak Peeks section. In this there are trailers/promos for Ponyo, Earth, Up, Santa Buddies, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, Disney Parks, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Blu-Ray & DVD, The Princess and the Frog, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Disney in Hi-Def Blu-Ray, and the Disney Movie Magic Movie Rewards Promo.
While there are only a few features, they actually have some meat to them. They aren’t just thrown in for nothing. Both adults and children will enjoy what’s offered.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
Disney does it again with another awesome movie in Race to Witch Mountain. Dwayne Johnson’s comedic timing, the fast paced action and the overall, intriguing storyline make this movie a hit. This is one the whole family will enjoy. Dad is in it for the action, mom is in it to ogle Dwayne Johnson and speculate about the potential romance that is there but not shown, and the kids will love the fact that the teens/kids have special abilities and the story is about aliens. In any case, everyone wins.
If you plan to pick this up, go Blu-Ray. You get the Blu-Ray and DVD (great for long car rides) together, but when you want the best quality, for Race to Witch Mountain, Blu-Ray reigns supreme. This Blu-Ray release comes highly recommended.
Overall Rating: 
Technorati Tags: Race to Witch Mountain, Disney, Witch Mountain, Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, Blu-Ray, DVD Combo, Digital Copy, Movie Review, Blu-Ray Review, Carla Gugino, AnnaSophia Robb
Written by Dominick Evans – Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.
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