OVERVIEW: From the director of “Chicago” and the producer of “Wicked” comes a modern twist on the beloved fairy tales you thought you knew. Academy Award®-Winning actress Meryl Streep (Best Actress, The Iron Lady), leads an all-star cast in this enchanted adventure about daring to venture Into The Woods.

SYNOPSIS: Iconic characters, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, find their fates intertwined with a humble baker and his wife, whose longing to have a child sends them on a quest to reverse a witch’s (Streep) curse. With an all-star cast, this spellbinding adventure is everything you could ever wish for!

REVIEW: Be careful what you wish for. That would be my warning to the characters in this film, had I been able to warn them. A baker and his wife, childless and yearning, a young boy wishing for a friend, Cinderella wishing for a chance to go to the ball and on and on. Everyone wishing for something and prepared to go to any lengths to get it. Into the Woods pulls together several of the Grimm Brothers classic stories to bring to the big screen a musical production with not only incredible actors but surprisingly, great singers. Director Rob Marshall gathered actors such as Emily Blunt as the bakers wife, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Johnnie Depp as the wolf (and oh what a wolf), Tracy Ullman as Jacks mom, Chris Pine Prince Charming, Christine Baranski as the stepmother, and oh my goodness, Meryl Streep as the witch! Also, such a great batch of new and relatively new comers Lila Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood, Daniel Huttlestone as Jack, Mackenzie Mauzy as Rapunzul to name a few. 

The cast is ridiculously good, the music and singing incredible (although Cine Marc said that to him all the songs sounded the same, I must disagree), the costumes beautiful and each story pretty good on its own, but once you put it all together……… it falls flat. Mind you the sets were pretty darn good although good in a theater stage kind of good, not movie good. I was telling my mother in law that Meryl Streep was incredible! Her acting, well, come on, her acting is outstanding, but did you know she could sing?!? Wow, what a voice and so hauntingly beautiful in a particular song, Stay With me (made me cry)! Emily Blunt, beautiful and so perfect as the dutiful yet sad wife of the baker so hungry for a child and once again, what a voice! Chris Pine hams it up in the part of Prince Charming (Cine Marc says he reminded him of John Travoltas Vinnie Barbarino), and once again, totally surprised us with his singing ability (this is a musical, you know). Lila Crawford, in her big screen debut as Little Red 

Riding Hood clearly shows off her theater chops and her voice reminds us that her last big part was Annie on stage. As the witch promises to remove an old curse and to grant a wish as long as certain, very particular items are brought to her at a very particular time and so each one of their lives intersect in surprising and sometimes sad ways. Mind you, the finished product is corny, but fairy tale corny and isnt that with this is all about.

Now, all that said when you put it all together…. It just doesnt meld! I wanted it to, but sadly, it didnt. Does that mean that you shouldnt see this film? No, not at all, because all of the pieces separately are good, very good and worth being seen, but as a whole, dont expect a great classic to come of it.

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 2.39:1 aspect ration preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good, a 7.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement to the picture. It also includes  English, French  and Spanish subtitles.

VIDEO:
Widescreen (2.39:1) 16x9

AUDIO:
English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible), Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles - English SDH, Spanish and French

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.

DIGITAL HD with UltraViolet™ lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can instantly stream or download.

Never-Before-Seen Sondheim Original Song: “She’ll Be Back”
Meryl Streep performs a compelling new song that sheds a little more light on the Witch’s relationship with Rapunzel. This never-before- seen composition was penned especially for this movie by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, and is seen here exclusively on Blu-ray and EHV. With introduction by Director Rob Marshall.

There’s Something About The Woods Journey into this mysterious forest to discover how this compelling, new musical was made. Meet Director Rob Marshall and his award-winning team of artists and craftspeople, see how the woods were brought to life…and what they represent to the story...and to all of us.

The Cast As Good As Gold Emily Blunt. Anna Kendrick. Chris Pine. James Corden. Johnny Depp. Meryl Streep. Meet the remarkable cast of this musical movie, and hear of their affinity for this Broadway classic.

Deeper Into The Woods Journey even further into the development of the film in these 4 segments

From Stage To Screen
Magic of the Woods
Designing the Woods
The Costumes of the Woods

Filmmaker Commentary Film commentary with Director Rob Marshall and Producer John DeLuca.

Music & Lyrics Get direct access to the musical song segments from the film, with optional sing-along lyrics.

5 Golden Eggs (Easter Eggs)