Trolls Band Together - Turbine Collector Series 3D Blu-ray

As a reviewer, I’m often confronted with material that I know, going in, very likely isn’t for me. I know I’m not the target audience. I know that I probably won’t be invested in the story. But, with this gig, I gotta jump into the water and see what happens. I’ve been surprised in the past by films that I thought would be completely rotten or indifferent but turned out to be pretty damn good. Other films, well, they go about as expected. While something like Wild Robot made me weep multiple times (glad I watched it alone, no one should see a 40-year-old man blubber like that), Trolls Band Together barely held my interest. 

As I said, I knew this wasn’t for me. I hadn’t really enjoyed the Trolls franchise up to this point, they were fine, but I wanted to give this new one an even shot. I was pleasantly surprised by how well I enjoyed the Sing films (especially Turbine’s earlier 3D Blu-ray release), so I was hoping this one might turn the tide. I found the basic plot of Justin Timberlake’s Branch and Anna Kendrick’s Poppy off to save Branch’s older brother, Floyd (Troye Sivan), from a pair of wanna be pop-stars (Amy Schumer and Andrew Rannells) who are squeezing his essence to make their voices better to be somewhat clever, but the rest of it just didn’t move the needle for me. I guess it’s a true case of a film playing for a specific audience, and I just wasn’t it. 

I found the gags to be humorless for the adults in the room. My five-year-old Son got some enjoyment out of those bits. I’ll give the film credit that it has some energy, and it’s beautifully animated (especially in 3D, more on that in a second). But I think the biggest issue for me is that I’m just not really into jukebox musicals. Anna Kendrick’s Pitch Perfect movies were fun, but I have to be honest when I say I felt the remixed classics found in Trolls Band Together were mostly cloying.  In the cases of “it’s not for me,” especially animated films like this, I tend to weigh success by my son’s level of interest. He was into it for a bit, having gone through the previous films with ease, but after about forty minutes or so, he just kinda stopped watching and went back to his Hot Wheels cars. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 
Trolls Band Together struts its colorful stuff on 3D Blu-ray as the 19th entry in the (hopefully) growing Turbine Collector Series catalog. The film is pressed on a Region Free BD50 disc and, like all past Turbine Collector Series discs, has reversible English insert artwork. The disc automatically enables 3D at startup with an animated main menu. 

We initially received this disc with the previous batch of 3D Blu-rays from Turbine with Fast X, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, but once the international shipping snafu engaged on our side, Germany halted parcel shipments to the U.S. until the customs/tariff issues were addressed. Now that it has been and Turbine is again able to ship to the U.S., we’re wrapping up this coverage as we look forward to their future slate of releases.

Making its global 3D Blu-ray debut, Trolls Band Together scores a dimensionalized win on Blu-ray 3D. Maintaining the static 2.39:1 aspect ratio, the 3D effect is the sort of “window into a world” style. I didn’t spot any framebreaks, and popouts were relatively few. If that’s how you might gauge a quality 3D transfer, then you might feel left out here, but I will say that sense of depth is impressive. With all of the different appearances of our titular heroes and the worlds they visit, you can experience an impressive range of foreground, middle ground, and deep background object depth. While also from Universal, I wouldn’t rank this as effective as an Illumination animation release, but it comes pretty darn close to registering that sense of scale. Details are sharp - I never saw this on any other disc or theatrically, so I don’t have a comparison note there. Colors are bright, bold, and stylish. Overall, a very good transfer.

Keeping up with tradition, Turbine delivers an excellent Atmos mix for this little beast of a disc. At 91 minutes, the film moves fast leaving very little room for downtime or quiet. The swift action of the trolls, their vehicles, and the numerous concert scenes means the soundscape feels quite large and expansive - but most importantly - immersive. As I watched through, I felt there was very little downtime for the side/rear channels. Again, there is a lot of singing, there are a lot of concert sequences, and there is a lot of wizbang activity throughout this feature, so the overheads enjoy plenty of activity. LFE was right on point, given all the bass tones from various songs; strong LFE wasn’t a shocker. All around a good Atmos mix that works well for the film at hand.

As with past Turbine Collector Series 3D releases, getting the film on 3D Blu-ray is the draw - so no extra features are included. 

I feel like a broken record sometimes when it comes to reviewing Kids’ films like Trolls Band Together. I know I’m not the target audience, but I give them a fair shake because I’m a dad, and who knows what my son might be into next. This could have been his new favorite movie! It’s wasn't - but that’s more of a statement on him than the film itself. He’s a car kid, not a colorful singing troll kid. As for me, I thought this one was just okay. There were pieces that were fun, and a few gags landed, but I’m not a musical fan on a good day, and I'm even less of a fan of jukebox musicals. If I want to hear my favorite songs, I’ll just listen to the album. I don't need the Kidz Bop version. Occasionally, a remix or cover is fun, but when it’s in the tone of a squeaky kids' cartoon character, that tests my limits. But, I know there are fans out there who really enjoyed this one, and I bet a few of those fans will be happy to have it in 3D! The 3D transfer is pretty damned impressive, and the Atmos mix also delivers for an all-around great A/V presentation. So for those folks it’s an easy recommend, for the curious and 3D enthusiasts out there, I’d say it’s Worth A Look - certainly if you love animated films in 3D and the Trolls franchise.

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