Blu-ray Review: August Rush

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

Directed by Kirsten Sheridan and starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers,Terrence Howard and Robin Williams, August Rush tells the tale of an orphaned boy who hears music in the sounds of everyday life and is drawn by that music to New York City believing that he will be able to find his parents by communicating through his music. While in New York he comes under the care of a homeless drifter and eventually is accepted by the Juilliard School of Music where he makes a great impression with his composition skills culminating with a free concert in Central Park.

While August Rush is a feel good uplifting film, it is also very formulaic and predictable. There is little in this film that takes you by surprise or even makes your scratch your head in wonder. The ending is totally predictable from the start. There is no doubt that this is an uplifting film but is one that appeals only to the heart and not the head. If you are looking for that type of film, you will enjoy August Rush. For the rest of us, I can recommend this release as a rental only.

THE VIDEO: 4 5/8 stars out of 5

Encoded with VC-1 and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:40:1, this is an excellent looking encode. The transfer boasts beautiful colors although they were ever so slightly skewed to the blue side of the color spectrum. Flesh tones were excellent as is skin detail, especially on close ups. Detail is excellent throughout as you are clearly able to make out fine details in the textures of clothes, walls, floors and buildings. Overall clarity is wonderful as well. The only drawback that I could find with this transfer involves black level which are not as deep as I would like. There are scenes at night where blacks have a slight white tint that is distracting. The lack of deep blacks also detracts from the three dimensional look of the film. Don’t get me wrong, this transfer has a very nice three dimensional look. It just lacks the depth present in the best looking transfers. With better blacks, this would be a reference transfer as the rest of the qualities you look for in a reference transfer are here in spades.

THE AUDIO: 4 1/2 stars out of 5

The high rez audio track in August Rush is Dolby True HD and sounds excellent as well. The overall sound of the film is smooth and open with good if not great bass without even the hint of brightness. Dialogue is crisp and clear and well presented in the mix. Appropriate use is made of the surrounds in capturing the street sounds of New York City. The real star of the encode however, is the music, which sounds excellent. From the Oscar nominated Best Original Song- Raise it Up, to the sound of the church organ and the concert at Central Park, the film boasts excellent audio fidelity. My only complaint with the audio is what I would describe as constrained dynamics. The audio is missing just a tad at the low and upper ends and that punch which marks the very best audio encodes. However, this is a rather minor complaint given the overall quality of the audio on this release.

IN CONCLUSION

While I found the film to be formulaic and predictable, the audio and video quality on this release is excellent and will not disappoint fans of the film. Recommended as a rental only.

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