Blu-ray Review: First Sunday

THE MOVIE: 1 1/2 stars out of 5
First Sunday stars Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan as two thieves who can’t seem to keep out of trouble. Despite many second chances from a very forgiving court system, these two guys just can’t seem to get it right. Sentenced to 5,000 hours of community service, they scheme to rob a church to pay off their various debts. Billed as a comedy, First Sunday in this reviewers opinion, violates the first rule of comedy, namely it isn’t funny. I didn’t find it funny or even amusing, not even a little bit. If I were you, I would skip this one.

THE VIDEO: 4 3/4 stars out of 5
While I didn’t like this film at all, it looks wonderful on this Blu-Ray release. Encode with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1, First Sunday has excellent color reproduction with a vibrant, clear and very detailed image. Black level is excellent as well, giving the film an nice three dimensional image. Frankly, this film looks way better than it deserves given the quality of the script and acting.

THE AUDIO: 4 1/4 stars out of 5
Encoded with Dolby True HD, the audio here is rather lackluster . On the plus side, the dialogue track is well recorded, clear and distinct and well placed in the mix. This is a double edged sword however. On the positive side, you can hear the dialogue very clearly. On the negative side, you can hear the dialogue very clearly. I guess by now you can tell I didn’t like this film! For the most part, the audio presentation here is generated by the front three channels with spare use of the surrounds. While the overall sound of the film is smooth and open, the bass is not what I would have imagined given the nature of the film and its musical score. The bass simply lacked the weight and heft and thump that I would have expected given the musical score. In fact, I had to check the setting on my processor and sub to see if my kids had been messing with them. Imagine a hip hop track without enough bass. Quite an oversight.

IN CONCLUSION
I am sure that First Sunday will find its audience. However, it was not my cup of tea. It would be my recommendation that you skip this one as there are many more worthy films being released on Blu-Ray for you to spend your hard earned money on.

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