HD DVD Review: Old School

THE MOVIE: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

Old School stars Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn as three buddies who set out to re-live the glories of their college days in an effort to avoid the realities of real life, especially married life. They return to Harrison College and set up their own fraternity, and predictably, run afoul of the college administration who wants to close them down. While Old School is filled with low brow humor, it is of a higher brand and a lot wittier than that in Anchorman reviewed previously. This is a humorous film and well worth a weekend rental.

THE VIDEO: 4 2/5 stars out of 5

The video on this release is also a step up from that of Anchorman. Encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1, the picture quality is very good although a clear step down from the best high def transfers out there. The film boasts true but slightly subdued colors with accurate flesh tones and good blacks. While I rated the black level as being good it was far from outstanding although good enough to give a very nice sense of depth to the image. The image is also fairly sharp with good detail although does suffer from a hint of softness which brings the overall score down a bit. This encode looks much better than that of Anchorman reviewed earlier and is a huge upgrade over the previously released DVD. All in all, a solid effort from the folks at Dreamworks.

THE AUDIO: 4 2/5 stars out of 5

Presented in Dolby Digital Plus, the audio on this disc offers a significant upgrade over that offered on Anchorman. The dialogue track is crisp and clear and well presented in the mix. The overall sound of the film was smooth and open with good dynamics and solid bass response. Surrounds were used more often than one would expect with a comedy and when used were used well delivering a smooth and immersive sound field which was especially evident during the frat party scenes. All in all, a solid effort in the audio department as well.

IN CONCLUSION

As noted, I found this presentation of Old School on HD-DVD to be a solid effort from Dreamworks both in terms of video and audio quality. While it is not on par with the better looking releases out there, I am sure that it will more than please fans of the film and is well worth a look, although as a rental for those who are not die-hard fans of the film.

For more high-def news and reviews, please click: TVPredictions.com.