San Andreas Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Lynn Barker on Oct 09, 2015

Rating:

Kidzworld reviewed the new Blu-ray for San Andreas, the Dwayne Johnson mega-earthquake disaster movie. Is it worth keeping or gifting this holiday season?

By: Lynn Barker

Wow, helicopter rescue pilot Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) has already lost one daughter. This has broken up his marriage. Can he save his second daughter and mend his family when humungous earthquakes strike California? Hey, it’s “The Rock”. What do you think?

Ray (Dwayne Johnson) spots his wife on a wrecked roof.Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Ray’s Call to Action

Ray Gaines is a skillful helicopter pilot handling risky rescues for the Los Angeles Fire Department. One rescue he couldn’t pull off in the past led to a break up with his wife Emma (Carla Gugino) who is about to move in with rich guy architect boyfriend Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd). Only daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario of the Percy Jackson movies) is headed for San Francisco with Emma and Daniel while Ray is called in when a huge quake hits Nevada destroying the big Hoover Dam.

Blake (Alexandra Daddario) hopes dad comes to the rescue soon.Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Cal Tech Predicts the Big One

Meanwhile, Cal Tech earthquake expert Lawrence (Paul Giamatti) is trying to develop an earthquake prediction system and it works…. a little too late. He predicts that a big one will hit L.A. and it does. It takes Ray, who was in the air in his chopper, to rescue ex-wife Emma from the roof of a collapsing L.A. high-rise.

Cal Tech scientist and reporter hope to survive a quakeCourtesy of Warner Bros.

San Francisco Shaker

The ex-couple heads for San Francisco to find their daughter Blake when the huge statewide quake along the San Andreas Fault, hits there. In San Fran, Blake has met cute guy Ben (Hugo Johnstone-Burt) and his sweet little bro (Art Parkinson) and she gets off a call to dad on a land line. Can the group meet up in San Francisco before more quakes destroy everything? Can the family be reunited?

Ray (Dwayne) with Emma (Carla Gugino)Courtesy of Warner Bros.

San Andreas Trailer

Special Blu-ray Extras

San Andreas: The Real Fault Line – After briefly discussing the real San Andreas fault line, this extra skips to the actors talking about creating various earthquakes for the movie. You hear from the Producer and Director on how well the actors did their stunts etc. Good but not really what the title indicates.

Is dad too late to save his daughter?Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Dwayne Johnson to the Rescue- focuses on our lead actor who did many of his own stunts. A helicopter rescue is featured and Carla Gugino and Alexandra Daddario talk about doing stunts with Dwayne. Everyone admits they’d like to be rescued by him in real life when danger looms. Fun.
Scoring the Quake – explores the music used in the film and features some very special sounds that come from some unexpected sources. More interesting that most features about a film score.

Hanging on as San Francisco floods.Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Deleted Scenes – All sort and obviously cut for time.
Gag Reel – Actors cutting up on set. Nothing really hilarious here.
Stunt Reel – features the big stunt crew needed for the film showing them creating some of the more spectacular stunts. Pretty cool.
Audio Commentary by Director Brad Peyton is fine, some tech and actor behind-the-scenes stuff mentioned.

The family reunitedCourtesy of Warner Bros.

Wrapping Up

Some of San Andreas is corny and predictable but the performances of all the actors are really good. You really do root for them and boo the villain (the guy Dwayne’s character’s ex is about to marry). Paul Giamatti is great as the Cal Tech scientist who wants so badly to save people with early warning. Dwayne Johnson is really good as the dad who faced a family tragedy that broke up his marriage and now has another one in front of him. Women in the film are all strong (yay!) and the Visual Effects are huge and quite believable. Well worth adding to your collecting or gifting this coming holiday season. We go 4 stars.