I have waited a very long time to see the movie Brave. I have been wanting to see it ever since I saw the first teaser clip of it many, many months ago.
We missed the film when it was in theaters. I finally did have the opportunity to see the movie on a flight from New York to Los Angeles but unfortunately I fell asleep (I was tired, not because of the film). I only saw about a 1/2 hour of the film, but from what I saw of it I enjoyed. Of course not knowing the story that lead up to the part of the film I saw I had no clue what was going on.
Brave is now available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download. Finally! I was able to see the movie from beginning to end.
Brave is the story of a young princess name Merida. She is far from a typical princess. She is very much a “tomboy”. She has unruly hair and is not “prim and proper” like a typical princess. She rather be shooting her arrow than attending royal functions.
Merida has a love/hate relationship with her mother, Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). Of course she loves her mother very much (and vice versa) but at the same time she hates how her mother tries to control every aspect of her life including telling her what the wear and how to do her hair. I would consider this a typical relationship between a teenage girl and her mother.
The “straw that breaks the camel’s back”, so to speak, in their relationship is when Queen Elinor insists that Merida find a suitor and get married to join their clan with a rival clan and to make peace in the kingdom.
Rather than get engaged to someone she does not love or have any interest in, Merida runs away from home. While out in the country side she meets a odd old witch who offers to grant Merida a wish, if she agrees to purchase one of her wood carvings. Merida agrees to buy all of the witches carvings (oddly enough they are bear carvings) in exchange for the witch granting her a wish. The witch agrees and tells Merida to return to the castle.
Merida had the spell put inside a dessert cake that she served to her mother. The cake make her mother very ill, causing Merida to regret what she did, but she was still hopeful that the spell would make her mother see things from her point of view and stop trying to push her to do things she doesn’t want to do.
The spell did work – but not in the way that Merida had anticipated.
Now it’s up to Merida to work with her mother, not against her, to find a way to break the spell before it’s too late.
What happened to Merida’s mother? What did the spell do to her? What will happen if the spell is not broken in time? Will Merida and her mother ever see eye-to-eye? To find out you need to pick up a copy of Brave, which is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Download and on Demand.
We loved the movie. Including my son (I was worried he’d think it was too “girly”). He thought Merida’s triplet brothers were funny and he liked the action scenes with the bears.
The movie was visually stunning. It looked so realistic! There is a bonus feature on the Blu-ray called called “Wonder Moss” that shows how the animators used MATH to create the realistic scenery. Yes, actual math! I was very surprised. I don’t understand how they did it but whatever they did worked. The background scenery was amazingly realistic.
This movie had it all – humor, a great story line, likable characters, action and a heart felt message.
In the end Merida and her mother learned a valuable lesson. For Merida she learned that life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect it to. For her mother, the Queen, she learned that she needs to learn how to compromise and to let Merida make her own life decisions. She can guide her daughter but ultimately the decision is her own.
I also think the movie shows you how your family is always there for you, through the good and the bad.
This is a great film and I am so happy that I finally had the opportunity to see it. I have always heard great things about the movie. I now see what everyone was talking about and I couldn’t agree more.
There are A LOT of bonus features with this Blu-ray combo back including short clips like The Legend of Mordu (I wasn’t overly keen about that one) and La Luna (cute short film, adorable main character).
There are so many bonus features to write about. I would recommend watching Clan Pixar (this was a FUN movie to work on!) and the extended scenes. The alternate opening was nice to see and I liked the bonus feature “It’s English…Sort of“.
In the bonus features you will learn a lot about what went on behind the making of this film, from how they came up with Merida’s look to the queen’s clothing and what was involved in making the perfect bear (to name a few).
Look for Brave where ever movies are sold. This will also make a great holiday gift or stocking stuffer. There are A LOT of great Brave related toys available. You could even make up a gift basket filled with Brave toys and of course a copy of the movie.
Here are some Brave printables for you and your family to enjoy. Simply click on the graphic to download.
I also have several clips from the film to share with you. I have A LOT of clips available. These are a few of my most favorite clips.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.