20th Century Fox Movie   ••½ Picture   •••• Sound   •••• Extras   ••••

The quality of animation for this weak sequel featuring the Ice Age cast is all over the map & and all the good and bad elements are equally apparent in this sharp, clear, and colorful transfer. Some of the animal fur is quite detailed, but the rushing water is laughably lame, characters are inconsistent in appearance, and backgrounds are flat and boring. The well-balanced sound mix, though, is robust and clean, favoring the front channels.

Extras are generally excellent, the best one being No Time for Nuts, a hilarious new short starring Scrat, the acorn-loving saber-toothed squirrel. There are two informative and involving commentaries (one by director Carlos Saldanha, the other by crew members), multi-angle storyboard/animation comparisons, and six amusing faux-vintage black-and-white shorts starring The Meltdown's main characters. The tongue-in-cheek satire is infectious. Too bad the movie didn't catch it. [PG] English, Dolby Digital 5.1; French and Spanish, Dolby Surround; letterboxed (1.78:1) and anamorphic widescreen; dual layer.

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