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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For it's price and the fact it's an educational/interactive Playmobil DVD makes this one release that is worth it!, October 13, 2009
The toy line known as Playmobil produced by Germany-based company Brandstatter Group has been a popular toyline in the United States and other countries since 1975. The toys have been one of the most innovative toylines for children as kids can buy toys based on modern jobs or athletes to pirates, knights, princesses and more.
An example of the popular playmobil toyline toys in the market
And to celebrate the popularity of the toyline, the first major DVD release titled "The Secret of Pirate Island" based on the toyline will be released under the playmobil interactive name.
In this DVD, the film revolves around a family which includes seven-year-old Jack and his older sister as they visit their grandparents. Of course, the area where their grandparents live leads to a portal where the children can experience adventures. In this latest release, the playmobil theme revolves around the pirate characters.
But in this case, using your remote control, the viewer can select which adventure to participate in. The decision can lead to an early ending to the film or a further continuation to the story. Of course, since this is a children's DVD, even if a child choose a short ending, the child will get another chance to select the other ending or if they choose not to choose anything at all, the film will automatically select the longer, continuing version. But what's so fun about this release is that there is 27 story combinations. So, for the most part, children will enjoy the chance to choose their storyline and possibly see the toy characters that they may be familiar with.
For parents, there are two versions that you can select on the menu. The interactive version of "The Secret of Pirate Island" which is more or less 90 minutes long depending on the combinations selected or "Captain Gruff's Favorite Movie" minus the interactive combinations and the movie is about 50 minutes long.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"The Secret of Pirate Island" is a 3D CG film featuring vibrant colors and captures the toyline in CG format quite well. The kids looks like the toys and the hands are like the toys but they are animated to show expression and also designed to show the characters like it's plastic counterparts. Granted, this is not a high-budget CG film, so don't expect hyper-detailed backgrounds or environments but for the most part, the animation for this title is well-done. Video is featured via anamorphic widescreen at 1:78:1.
As for audio, the film is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital and French Dolby Surround. For those with home theaters, the film is front and center channel driven as the movie is dialogue and music-driven.
Subtitles are in English, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"playmobile interactive - The Secret of Pirate Island" comes with only two special features:
* Pirate Sing-a-Long - (1:53) One of the songs used on the film featuring the band (on the pirate ship) performing a song with the lyrics ala karaoke sing along at the bottom.
* Previews - Previews for Sony Wonder releases
JUDGMENT CALL:
As a guy who grew up with playmobil toys and my son having quite a bit of a collection for himself, I found this DVD release to be quite wonderful.
The world of playmobil and the characters and the look of the characters is animated quite well and for parents looking for an interactive film, "The Secret of Pirate Island" was absolutely fantastic as there are many scenes that require the children to make a decision (there are 27 story combinations) and thus, works quite well for the child or for parents watching along with their children.
For families wondering if the film can be scary, not at all. The theme is adventure-based and there is a scene with an octopus, a mummy and skeletons but for the most part, it's never scary at all. They are animated in a way to be not offending whatsoever. So, parents shouldn't worry at all. It's a family friendly film. My 6-year-old, wasn't scared at any of the scenes and for the most part, he was really getting involved with the interactive segments.
If there is anything that I do recommend is that if you have a DVD player that has a remote that needs to be closely focused towards their player, have your child positioned in a way where the signal is clear, so he/she doesn't complain about the remote not working correctly. The interactive version of the film does give adequate time to make a decision but it's important that a child holds the remote correctly and that the remote has a clear signal.
For the playmobil collectors or parents wondering if the film is only pirate-themed, there are combinations that takes both Jack and Amelia to a medieval time or playing in their grandparents yard but those scenes are very short. The film is definitely pirate-themed and since I typically see the pirated-themed toys at the stores, I'm guessing it's a big seller for playmobil but I do hope there are more playmobil interactive releases that reflect their other toylines, which would definitely be wonderful.
There's really nothing bad I can say about this DVD, for parents who are looking for a children's interactive film on DVD, this is one of the better ones that I have seen thus far. I wish there were interactive games included on the special features but overall, for its low price and what is included on this DVD, "playmobil interactive - The Secret of Pirate Island" is highly recommended!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great new fun, November 2, 2009
Saw this in a Red box and noticed that it said "Interactive" so I got it for my son 3.5 yrs old. He was really excited to see it and had fun with the pirate theme. Even though the theme was pirates there was nothing too scary in there to make him nervous and the colors and animation were simple but not cheap.
It took him a bit to understand that when he watches it again it can change but once there he really got into it and was excited to try choosing which way to go. We do wish there was even more of the branching stories in the middle. My wife and I even got pulled into the branching story trying to figure out how many diverse paths were put on the DVD. We found ourselves trying to convince our boy to do a certain choice so WE could make sure we saw everything there. For him he just got really excited everytime a choice came up. He would scramble up off the couch standing in front of the TV and he didn't care if he chose the same one again.
Good family fun. Hope there are more to come for all sorts of age levels.
Good work!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gentle introduction to the world of pirates for preschoolers, November 30, 2009
My son is nearly four years old and is obsessed with all things pirates. Although he has watched Pirates of the Caribbean and really enjoyed it (to my surprise as I thought it would scare him), I was looking for something a little more age appropriate to help support his interest in pirates. This DVD is perfect - the feature movie is about 50 minutes long, is full of catchy songs and its graphics include gentler looking pirates and skeletons to not frighten young ones. Another great feature is the interactive version of the movie, which reminds me of the "pick your path" story books of my childhood. But no worries for busy parents, the DVD will automatically default to one of the two choices at any of the plot "intersections" in about 20 seconds. And of course, all of the characters do look like the actual Playmobil toys, which is a nice tie in to the product line which I believe helps to encourage imaginative play and story telling.
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