SYNOPSIS: Fasten your seat belts for the thrill ride of your life in Disney's fun family action-adventure - Race to Witch Mountain.  Jack Bruno, a Las Vegas cabdriver struggling to stay on the right path, gets an out-of-this-world incentive when two aliens, disguised as teenagers, suddenly appear in his taxi.  In a race against government agents, an alien hunter and time itself, Jack must help the children recover their lost spaceship so they can return home and their their planet, and ours.  Breathtaking chases, chose calls and special effects make this an action-adventure the whole family will enjoy.

EDITORIAL REVIEW:  Loosely based on Alexander Key's novel Escape to Witch Mountain, Race to Witch Mountain is not so much a remake of the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain as an entirely new film based on some key plot points from the former film. When two innocent-looking teens appear in Jack Bruno's (Dwayne Johnson) cab and tell him that "we must travel in that direction," Jack thinks it's a bit strange, but shrugs it off and starts driving. Soon they're being followed and chased off the road, but is it Jack's past catching up with him or something much larger? Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig) reluctantly confess that they are aliens from another planet, but Jack refuses to accept their statement until Sara starts moving things with her mind and Seth slips through the body of the car and deflects the SUV that's pursuing them. Sara and Seth tell Jack that they must recover their crashed spaceship in order to save earth from being taken over by aliens, so Jack takes them to see Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino); a scientist who he met by chance and who believes in the possible existence of extra-terrestrials. While the four are initially wary of one another, Dr. Friedman provides some valuable contacts and they begin trusting one another out of sheer necessity. Soon they're battling secret government agencies, heavily armed personnel, and even a cybernetic Siphon (that looks a lot like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica) in a desperate attempt to gain access to the heavily fortified Witch Mountain and the crashed spacecraft. Action-packed car chases dominate the film (a bit excessively, in this reviewer's opinion), but the acting and chemistry between actors is good as is the suspense and intrigue.

There's kind of a neat, and yet totally out of place, bonus feature on this DVD.  It features Cole and Dylan Sprouse (all grown up) pitching Disney's Blu-ray discs.  This rather long "infomercial" really has nothing to do with the movie itself, and everything to do with Disney's Blu-ray monopoly (but it doesn't even promote the Blu-ray of Race to Witch Mountain - which is awesome by the way).  This infomercial is kind of poorly produced and looks like it was thrown together in a day.  The Sprouse twins have grown into better actors since their early days of the Suite Life, but it's obvious they're reading lines from a que-card placed just off camera.  It appears as if Disney is (still) capitalizing on the "Sprouse (money) Freight Train" and their even more massive following now that they are inching closer to the "magic number" to be called sex symbols without a creepy undertone. (with files from Tami Horiuchi)

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* This DVD will play in North America only.  This DVD should play in most players outside of North America as well, but it's not guaranteed. This DVD will play in any computer DVD-Rom.  This is NOT a DVD-R.

STARRING: Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, Carla Gugino.
DIRECTOR: Andy Fickman.
AVAILABILITY: In stock! Ships within one business day.
LENGTH: 99 minutes.
LANGUAGE: English, with OPTIONAL ENGLISH (SDH) / FRENCH / SPANISH SUBTITLES.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 2.35:1 (16:9 Widescreen); Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 audio; Cole & Dylan Sprouse bonus feature; 1 disc; Uncut.
VIEWER DISCRETION: Sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, thematic elements.
PICTURE QUALITY: Excellent picture quality. (what's this mean?)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA (2009).
ALSO KNOWN AS:
DATE ADDED TO OUR LIBRARY:  July 31, 2009.

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