Blu-ray Review: National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets is the sequel to National Treasure starring a similar cast of characters with the addition of Ed Harris in the role of Mitch Wilkinson and Helen Mirren as Ben Gates’ mother.

The film picks up a year or so after the first, with Ben Gates and his father (Jon Voight) at a conference explaining how their great grandfather, Thomas Gates, was shot and killed the night of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, when he refused to decipher a cipher that was presented to him at a tavern near Ford’s Theater by John Wilkes Booth and another member of the Knights of Golden Circle. The cipher contained a clue to the location of the Lost City of Gold, which Thomas Gates realized, if found by the remnants of the old confederacy, could be used to finance and rekindle the civil war. The Gates’ presentation is interrupted by Mitch Wilkinson who presents them with a missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth which he claims proves that Thomas Gates was a co-conspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln. Ben Gates then starts out to prove that wasn’t the case and clearing his family name, which requires him to actually find the City of Gold.

While this film was fun, it lacked the ingenuity of the first film and tried too hard to top the first. Try as I might, I was not able to suspend my feeling of disbelief as I was with the first, which is what made the first film so good. Here I kept thinking, “Sure, oh yeah, right” through the entire film rather than sitting back and simply enjoying the action as was the case with the first film. If you are a real fan of the first film, pick up the sequel. For the rest of you, I would buy the first and rent the second.

THE VIDEO: 41/2 stars out of 5

Encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:40:1, National Treasure 2 boasts a very good looking transfer, albeit just a tad below the quality of National Treasure. As one would expect with a new film, the print here is in pristine condition. National Treasure 2 is a more stylized film with a less natural looking color palette than the one that graced the original. I found the color palette here skewed a bit to gold probably due to the fact that they were in search of the City of Gold. This was most noticeable in the skin tones which all had a golden tones to them. As a matter of aesthetics, I really prefer a more natural color palette than what was presented in this film. On the plus side, the colors are fairly vibrant and well saturated. Black levels were good but not quite up to the level of those in National Treasure. Detail is outstanding, showing the textures of skin and clothing. Shadow detail was not quite up to the level of the original either with some black crush present. With a more natural color palette and better black level, this would have been a tremendous transfer. As it is, it is very good but not at the level of the best transfers or even the level of the original.

THE AUDIO: 4 3/4 stars out of 5

Unlike National Treasure, National Treasure 2 is presented with Dolby True HD rather than uncompressed PCM and as such, is a bit of a departure for Disney. To get a handle of the sound of this release, check out my review of National Treasure. The strengths and weaknesses noted there are identical to my impressions there. However, I have score the audio here a tad higher than National Treasure due to the audio at the end of the film when the enter the mountain under Mount Rushmore. The audio from the moment they enter the cavern until they leave is outstanding placing you in the space with the actors. The sounds of the walls cracking and boulders falling makes you want to duck for cover. Excellent stuff and definitely reference material. Well done.

IN CONCLUSION

While a fun film, National Treasure 2 Book of Secrets is just not as good a film as its predecessor. For fans of the first who must have the set, I can recommend the film for purchase, if just for the audio at the end. For the rest of you, I would recommend it as a rental only.

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Blu-ray Review: National Treasure

THE MOVIE: 4 stars out of 5

National Treasure stars Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates who is obsessed with both his family history in the founding of the republic and with finding the legendary Knights Templar Treasure, the greatest treasure known to man. In order to find the treasure he receives financial and technical support from Ian Howe (Sean Bean) who turns on him and abandons him in hope of finding the treasure himself. Gates and Howe discover that the key to finding the treasure rests with a secret map on the back of the Declaration of Independence which Gates races to steal before it can be stolen by Howe. Needless to say, Gates is successful in his attempt to steal the Declaration but is eventually captured and forced to cooperate with Bean to escape the FBI and locate the treasure.

While the premise of the film is rather over the top and totally implausible, the film itself is just good enough to get you to suspend your disbelief and by throwing in just enough actual historical facts to pull you into the action and suspense. The film was filmed in Washington, Philadelphia and New York and takes you into the National Archives in DC, Independence Hall, The Franklin Institute, The Reading Terminal Market and historic sections of Philadelphia and Wall Street in New York. National Treasure is a very enjoyable fast paced film and one I can recommend heartedly for fans of action adventures.

THE VIDEO: 4 7/8 stars out of 5

National Treasure is encoded with AVC and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and looks, in a word, fantastic, leaps and bounds ahead of the prior DVD release. The print itself is in excellent shape. The film itself had excellent color rendition and spot on flesh tones. As a life long resident of the Philadelphia area, I can tell you that the location shots in Philadelphia captured the color and texture of historic Philadelphia and the Reading Terminal Market perfectly. Black level is deep and solid giving the film an excellent three dimensional look. Overall clarity and detail is excellent as as well, giving the image the “looking through the window” effect that is the hallmark of the best looking high definition transfers. I have little doubt that fans of this film will be thrilled by the quality of the video presentation on this Blu-Ray release.

THE AUDIO: 4 5/8 stars out of 5

The audio on National Treasure is encoded with uncompressed PCM at 48 kHz/24 bit and is almost a match for the video. Dialogue is clear and distinct and well placed in the sound field. Bass is deep and tight providing a solid foundation for the action sequences in the film. The overall sound of the film is smooth and open with excellent dynamics. My only criticism here is that I thought that better use could have been made of the surround speakers to give the film a more immersive feeling. I thought that the opening sequences in the Charlotte and the final scenes in New York sounded excellent in regards to immersion but that the immersive effect was not quite up to snuff in the rest of the film. Don’t get me wrong, this is a rather minor quibble as this encode sounds wonderful. It is just not quite up there with the best of the best.

IN CONCLUSION

National Treasure is fun and fast paced dash through history (both real and imagined) and historical sites with excellent audio and video quality. Recommended.

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Blu-ray Review: Saawariya

THE MOVIE: 2 1/2 stars out of 5

Saawariya is described in the liner notes accompanying the disc a romantic Bollywood musical from the acclaimed director Sanjay Leela Bhansall. Essentially, it is a tale of two individuals, one a man and the other a woman awaiting the arrival of their true loves. For Raj, his true love is Sakina, who unfortunately for Raj, is awaiting the arrival of the mysterious Imaan, who Raj does not think even exists. The story is set in a small dreary town in the mountains in India and is told from through the perspective of a local prostitute. The movie was filmed on a rather lavish looking soundstage and is visually very impressive with bright blue and purple the dominate colors and features some stunningly beautiful women. However, I felt that the story kinda of dragged and the music was very ordinary, simple and repetitive, lacking the originality and sophistication of the better musicals out there. The story itself was way too predictable and the film too long with way too much of what is traditionally described as filler on a musical album, placed there to stretch out the length of the film. The main audio track is in Hindi with a lot of English thrown in. There is a lot of filler here and far too few singles. It was also really unusual to listen to dialogue where one half of a phrase or sentence is in Hindi and the other half in English. While the movie is beautifully filmed with excellent audio fidelity, the actual story falls a good bit short for my tastes. Hence, I can only rate this one as a rental.

THE VIDEO: 5 stars out of 5

While I have some problems with the story, I have none at all with the video presentation here. In fact, it is one of the best looking HD films I have ever seen. The film is encoded with AVC and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:40:1 and looks spectacular. The color palette is very bold and vibrant yet with very natural looking colors that are perfectly rendered. Skin tones are spot on as are black levels which are very deep, giving the film a totally three dimensional look. Detail and shadow detail is extraordinary and the clarity of the image is simply off the charts. All I can say is the video presentation here is nearly perfect. It is that good and reference in every way. I just wish that all films looked this good.

THE AUDIO: 5 stars out of 5

The main audio track is presented in Hindi Dolby True HD and is every bit as good as the video. The dialogue track has excellent fidelity with each voice captured beautifully and realistically and capturing the acoustic environment perfectly. The overall sound of the film is rich and lush and totally transparent without even the hint of hardness or edginess. The sound stage here is the most open and wide I have ever heard in a home theater environment, completely filling the entire room with sound of incredible fidelity. While I was not a big fan of the music in this film, it was presented with such incredible fidelity that I think it fair to say that there are many sound engineers who could learn a thing or two about how movies should sound listening to this release. This is amazing stuff and of reference quality. Well done.

IN CONCLUSION

While I can’t really recommend this film artistically, I can recommend it aesthetically as this is easily one of the best, if not the best, looking and sounding film you can find out there on Blu-Ray. If you want to see and hear reference quality audio and video, give this film a rental.

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Blu-ray Review: The Devil's Own

THE MOVIE: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

The Devil’s Own stars Harrison Ford as Tom O’Meara, a New York City cop who unknowingly, takes in an IRA leader, Frankie McGuire (Brad Pitt) and gun runner into his home. Frankie McGuire has come to the US to purchase weapons to take back to Northern Ireland. Tom and his family are not aware of Frankie’s real identity and they become friends. However, Frankie’s attempt to purchase weapons does not go as planned and his identity is revealed to Tom who attempts to track Frankie down and bring him to justice before Frankie is killed by British Intelligence and the FBI.

I must say that I found the first half of the film to be rather tedious. Fortunately, the action picks up a bit at the end but not enough for me to rate this one as a must buy. Accordingly, The Devil’s Own is recommended as a rental only.

THE VIDEO: 4 1/3 stars out of 5

The Devil’s Own is encoded with AVC and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:40:1. For a catalogue title of some vintage, the image quality here was better than what I had expected it to be. The image had good clarity and acceptable black levels. Black levels were fairly deep but not as deep as the best looking transfers which robbed the film of the three dimensionality that is characteristic of the best looking transfers.The lack of deep blacks made the image appear a tad on the flat side but with some depth of field. Colors were natural looking with the exception of flesh tones which were skewed to the red and looked rather unnatural. Detail was good as well so that things such as the pores on the actors faces, clothing and background textures were visible but without the very fine detail rendition that is the hallmark of the very best transfers. I found the shadow detail to be a tad below average with some noise in the darker areas of the film. Overall, the noise was not so obtrusive to negatively impact my overall enjoyment of the film.

THE AUDIO: 4 1/3 stars out of 5

Encoded with Dolby True HD, the audio presentation here is fairly good but falls a good bit short of the best sounding audio encodes. Dialogue is clear and distinct and easy to follow. The overall sound of the film is smooth and open but lacks the richness and fullness that grace the very best audio presentations. Dynamics are quite good with solid albeit not earth shattering bass. The surrounds are used fairly effectively to give a good immersive effect but not quite up to the level of the better audio encodes. The sound mix comes up a tad short of placing you in the acoustic environment with the actors, placing you only part of the way there. I guess I am a bit spoiled by such spectacular audio presentations such as found on I Robot which is truly spectacular in every way and which places you completely in the center of the action. This is simply not the case here. The sound of gun shots and bombs on The Devil’s Own have the appropriate heft and realism that one would expect in a modern film but do not overwhelm you the way the best sounding films do. On the whole, I enjoyed the audio here but it is simply not up to the level of the best action thrillers.

IN CONCLUSION

The Devil’s Own is by no means one of the better action thrillers out there but well worth a rental. It boasts good audio and video which I am sure will please fans of the film. However, the film itself is not such that I would rate it as a must buy. Therefore, I would have to rate this one as a rental only.

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Blu-ray Review: 27 Dresses

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. That old expression essentially forms the basis for this romantic comedy, although I prefer the term “chick flick” to describe this film. 27 Dresses refers to the number of times that the lead character played by Katherine Heigl has been a bridesmaid as she still has all 27 dresses stuffed in her New York City apartment closest. She is so into weddings that she plans the weddings of her friends down to the last detail. She has a crush on her boss but never lets him know until her younger sister arrives and gets romantically involved with her boss to the point where he proposes. Of course, they ask her to plan the wedding. The rest, well, I will leave that for you to find out.

I can’t say that I would recommend this film for anything other than a rental. While there are amusing parts of the film to be sure, it is rather predictable and only mildly amusing. One of the big problems I had with the film was the casting of Ms. Heigl in the lead role. She simply looks gorgeous. The camera really, really likes her and she just radiates off the screen. I just could not believe that she would ever be a perpetual bridesmaid. However, if you and your spouse are looking for light fare on a Friday or Saturday night at home, give this one a rental. It is not a buy for me.

THE VIDEO: 4 stars out of 5

27 Dresses is encoded with AVC at 34MBPS and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:40:1. If I had to use one word to sum up this encode it would be mediocre. All aspects of the video presentation are simply of average quality. Colors and skin tones are good but nothing to write home about. The overall color palette is somewhat muted. Clarity, detail and black level is average as well. The overall image is a tad on the soft side and rather flat, lacking the three dimensionality of the better transfers. Quite frankly, I was somewhat disappointed by the look of this film as I was expecting a sharper more vibrant picture. Make no mistake, this release clearly looks like HD and is miles ahead of a standard DVD, just not up to the level I expected and have come to expect from the folks at 20th Century Fox releases on Blu-Ray.

THE AUDIO: 4 1/4 stars out of 5

The audio on this release is encoded with DTS HD Master Audio and has a very pleasing sound. Dialogue is crisp and clear and well presented in the mix. As you would expect with a romantic comedy, this is a dialogue driven film with the sound field emanating from the front three speakers. There is little use of the surrounds other than for a couple of scenes where they are used quite effectively giving a nice immersive effect. The over all sound of the film is smooth and open without even a hint of edginess or hardness to the sound. My only real, quibble with the sound here is that I felt the bass to be somewhat lacking during the musical soundtrack. Other than that, I found the sound of the film to be quite pleasing if not spectacular and quite in keeping with the overall tone of the film.

IN CONCLUSION

27 Dresses is a nice date flick or one to enjoy with your spouse on a weekend night. However, given the rather lackluster video presentation, I would recommend this only as a rental.

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Blu-ray Review: First Knight

THE MOVIE: 3 3/4 stars out of 5

First Knight gives us a new take on the legend of King Arthur and Camelot, namely a love triangle. First Knight stars Sean Connery as King Arthur who seeks to marry Lady Guinevere played by Julia Ormond. However, one of the former knights of the roundtable, Malagant (Ben Cross), has turned evil going out on his own and seeking the destruction of Camelot. While on her way to Camelot to marry King Arthur, Lady Guinevere’s group is attacked by Malagant’s forces. It is here that she is rescued by a drifter, Lancelot, played by Richard Gere who with his bravery, is invited by Arthur to become a knight in the round table. While Guinevere want s to marry Arthur, she falls in love with Lancelot. This love triangle weaves its way in and out of and forms the basis of the rest of the film. The film itself culminates in an attack by Malagant on Camelot itself. Recommended for a Saturday night viewing with your wife or significant other.

THE VIDEO: 4 7/8 stars out of 5

The video here is encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1 and is in a word, outstanding. In the opinion of this writer, this is a reference encode. The colors here are outstanding looking very natural and beautiful. The subtle shades of green here are a sight to behold as is the rest of the color palette presented here. Flesh tones are outstanding and are some of the best I have seen in my home. Black level is outstanding as well giving the film a totally three dimensional image. Clarity is amazing as well, so much so that is looks as if you are looking through a freshly cleaned window watching the action. Detail is also remarkable. You can seen every pore and blemish on the faces of the actors. The same is true of the clothing where you can seen the stitching on the costumes and the texture of the fabrics. Shadow detail is outstanding as well where I noticed no black crush at all. All of the details in the shadows in Malagant’s headquarters are clearly visible. As you can tell, I loved this encode and was shocked at how good this film looked in my theater. It totally kills the old DVD release which looks looks like a bad VHS copy in comparison. Very well done.

THE AUDIO: 4 7/8 stars out of 5

I am pleased to be able to report that the Dolby True HD track here is every bit as good as the video. For starters, the dialogue track is outstanding. The dialogue is beautifully recorded and rendered here with excellent fidelity. It literally sounds as though the actors are in the room with you as you can hear every subtle aspect of their voices with startling realism. The rest of the sound field is just as good with a smooth, open and dynamic sound. The surround speakers are used beautifully giving you a very immersive sound, placing you right in the middle of the action. Bass is deep and tight and really packs a wallop during the battle scenes. Last but not least, the musical score here really shines providing a full, rich and dynamic sound which is among the best sounding scores in a film that I have ever heard in my theater room. Simply outstanding.

IN CONCLUSION

First Knight is an outstanding release in terms of video and audio quality which are both of reference quality. Fans of this film will simply love this release on Blu-Ray. Recommended.

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Blu-ray Review: Walk Hard, The Dewey Cox Story

THE MOVIE: 2 stars out of 5

Walk Hard The Dewey Cox Story is a fictional biopic along the lines of Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and frankly, just as stupid. Walk Hard stars John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox, a fictional rock superstar and tells his story from the day he cut his piano protege brother in half with a machete to his death seconds after his final performance. The film is filled with what else (?) Cox jokes and juvenile and absurd humor, most of it in poor taste. While I love humor that is in poor taste, it has to be funny. This is not a funny film and one I couldn’t wait to end. If you loved Talledega Nights, you will likely love this film. I didn’t and don’t.

THE VIDEO: 4 stars out of 5

Encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:40:1, Walk Hard doesn’t really offer anything special in the video department. Black levels were below average giving the film a rather flat and lifeless image. The colors were all over the place and didn’t look natural at all looking over saturated. Flesh tones were also not natural at all and seemed to vary from scene to scene. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. I can say that it was not pleasing to the eye, or at least these eyes. Detail was nothing to write home about either. In fact, the film looked fairly soft, lacking the clarity of the reference encodes. All in all, the video presentation here was lackluster, kinda like the film itself.

THE AUDIO: 4 1/2 stars out of 5

While the video here is lackluster, the same can’t be said of the audio. The audio is presented with Dolby True HD and sounds very good. The dialogue is clear and distinct and well presented in the mix. The sound field is also fairly immersive, giving one a palpable sense of space. Bass is rock solid as well. Where the sound on this release really shines is in in the musical numbers which have a nice smooth and open sound with excellent dynamics. The sound really places you in the venues with the performers. It is just too bad that the actual songs were not of better quality although I will say that John C. Reilly did his best to sell them.

IN CONCLUSION

If you are a fan of this type of film, I guess you will enjoy it. I didn’t like this film at all. GIven the rather lackluster video I can’t recommend this one as a purchase to fans of the film. For you fans out there, I would recommend this one as a rental only. For the ret of you, you will be better off skipping this one.

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True HD vs. Dolby Digital: Who's Wins?

Back when Transformers was released on HD DVD, there was a real uproar over the fact that it did not include a lossless audio track. There were many who complained that Transformers would have sounded much better with a lossless track like True HD or DTS HD Master Audio. Unless you had access to the actual studio master, there was no way to tell whether the Dolby Digital Plus track was transparent to the master or whether a Dolby True HD track would have been better. All you knew was that the Dolby Digital Plus sounded excellent and was of reference quality in its own right.

Since there has been no Blu-Ray release of Transformers with a lossless track, we were not able to answer this question at the time. However, we do have a source of comparison for another title released by Paramount on HD DVD here in the US: Beowulf.

Beowulf was released on HD DVD with a Dolby Digital Plus track at 1.5 mpbs. Having reviewed the release on HD DVD, I can state that the audio on that release was amazing as well, although not up to the level of that on Transformers. However, as Warner Brothers has distribution rights to that title in the UK, there is a Blu-Ray release of Beowulf in the UK which has a True HD track so that a direct comparison between the two audio codecs is possible. I purchased the Beowulf Blu-Ray release from Amazon.uk to make this very comparison as the UK release was not region coded and will play on Blu-Ray players sold in the US.

The result? No contest. The True HD track beats the Dolby Digital Plus track hands down. Much better clarity, better bass, a more immersive feel, more detail, a smoother more open sound. The True HD track is better in all aspects that matter to HT enthusiasts. Would the same be true for Transformers? I can’t say for sure but if Beowulf is an indicator, the answer is a resounding yes. I guess we will just have to see. For fans of the film, the UK release is a must buy. Even though the video presentation on both is identical, the audio is so much better on the Blu-Ray release that it is worth a purchase. I am sure glad I did.

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Blu-ray Review: Mr. Magorium's Wonderful Emporium

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

Sometimes you have to scratch your head and wonder why certain movies are released on Blu-Ray before other more popular and important titles. Clearly, there is a rush to get out titles that will appeal to the PS3 crowd, hence releases such as Hitman reviewed earlier. However, I must say that releases like the current review entry take me by surprise. Frankly, one would have expected this title to be released later rather than sooner, given the rather extensive Fox catalogue of highly anticipated titles.

Nevertheless, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is a charming little film which I will admit has a limited audience. It is essentially a children’s film. It stars Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Magorium who operates a magical toy store in New York and who happens to be several hundred years old. However he comes to the realization that he is soon to pass on and he makes arrangements to will his store to his store manager played by Natalie Portman, who has trouble coming to grips with Mr. Emporium’s coming death and her ability to manage his empire. While this is a cute and charming film, I would recommend this one as a rental only as it is targeted to children.

THE VIDEO: 4 5/8 stars out of 5

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is encoded with AVC and presented here on a BD25 disc in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1. In short, this is an excellent looking transfer. The film features bright and bold primary colors with excellent skin tones. Detail is excellent as well but just a tad below the best looking transfers. Shadow detail is excellent as well. Black level is deep and solid, generating an excellent three dimensional image. I saw no evidence of noise or artifacting and as one would expect from a new film, the print used was in pristine condition.

THE AUDIO: 4 1/3 stars out of 5

Encoded with DTS HD Master Audio, the audio presentation is very good. Just don’t expect a bombastic soundtrack. The overall sound of the film is quite nice with a nice smooth and open sound with good but not excellent bass. Dialogue was clear and distinct and always very intelligible, never getting lost in the sound mix. While not an immersive sounding track by any means, the surrounds were appropriately used. All in all, this is a solid sounding audio encode.

IN CONCLUSION

If you are in the mood for a charming family film with excellent video and good audio, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium may be the film for you. For the rest of you out there, I would recommend this one as a rental only.

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Blu-ray Review: Baron Munchausen

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

This Terry Gilliam film involves a 17th Century aristocrat who comes rescue a town that is under siege by the Sultan of the Turkish Empire. Now an old man, he comes to the town and sets out on a journey to find his former henchmen all of who have strange and magical powers. HIs journey includes a trip to the moon in a boat, a dance with the goddess Venus, a trip inside the belly of a whale and an escape from the Grim Reaper. The film stars John Neville, Sarah Polley, Uma Thurman, Jonathan Pryce, Robin Williams and even a brief cameo by Sting. Needless to say, this is a very odd film and one that it not for everyone. Recommended as a rental only.

THE VIDEO: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

Encoded with AVC and presented in it original aspect ratio of 1:85:1, I can’t say that I was impressed with the look of this film at all. I found the image quality to be all over the map. On the plus side, there is plenty of image detail in this transfer with some very nice shadow detail. On the down side, this is one very grainy film. In some scenes, color reproduction is quite good. In others, the image is dull and drab. The image can best be described as looking dirty. Image clarity was below anything I have seen on Blu-Ray to date. The film also has a rather flat look as well. I came away with the impression that this film is in the need of a serious restoration and could have looked much better. Perhaps the 25th Anniversary addition will.

THE AUDIO: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

The audio on this track is presented with Dolby True HD and is a lackluster as the video. On the plus side, the musical score sounds quite good, surprisingly so given the lackluster presentation of the rest of the film. Dialogue is clear and distinct and easy to follow. The rest of the sound field is rather flat sounding and fails to pull you into the narrative. The action sequences sound just OK with the active involvement of the surrounds. Other than the musical score, the overall sound of the film is rather thin. I would have expected a better effort on the sound front on this release, given its designation as a 20th Anniversary edition.

IN CONCLUSION

As you can tell, I was disappointed in both the video and audio quality of this release. I am sure that fans of the film will enjoy its presentation as I am sure it is much better looking and sounding than the DVD. Unless you are a hardcore Terry Gilliam fan, I would recommend that you only rent this release.

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Blu-ray Review: Juno

Note: Juno will be released on Blu-ray disc on April 15.

THE MOVIE: 5 stars out of 5

Juno is a wonderful, charming and very witty comedy about of all things, teen pregnancy. It features an incredible and very original screenplay by Diablo Cody, whose Oscar was well deserved as she totally brings these characters to life. The film traces the emotional and physical journey of a 16 year-old who becomes pregnant and after a brief flirtation with thoughts of an abortion, decides to have the baby and arranges a private adoption with a well to do suburban couple. The dialogue here besides being very funny is all so real coming out of the mouths of these characters on screen. All of the performances are wonderful with Ellen Page just shining as the lead character Juno. In fact, her performance is so good and so natural, that you can’t imagine any other actor playing her role after you finish viewing the film. Special kudos also to the director, Jason Reitman, who follows up Thank You for Smoking with another stellar effort as director. I can’t really praise this film enough. Very highly recommended.

THE VIDEO: 4 1/3 stars out of 5

Juno is encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1 on a 50 GB dual layer disc. In addition to the high def version of the film, this two disc set comes packed with a standard def digital copy which can be downloaded to your laptop or portable video player. This is a great idea as you can now take a copy of the film with you on the road, even if you don’t have a laptop equipped with a Blu-Ray drive.

As for the video quality, it is very good but not up to the levels of the best looking transfers. The film features a bold color palette which is skewed to the color gold, especially the skin tones which have a golden tone about them. Black levels are solid and fairly deep. The biggest drawback here is in the level of detail which I found to come up a bit short. I also found the film to have a slightly soft look and lacking the total three dimensionality of the best looking transfers. It just does not have that looking through the window quality of the best looking transfers. Don’t get me wrong, fans of the film will be thrilled at the video presentation here. It does look very good, just not up to the level of the best transfers, coming up a tad short in the level of detail and clarity that are the hallmarks of those transfers that have garnered a 5 star rating.

THE AUDIO: 4 stars out of 5

Juno is encoded with DTS HD Master Audio and has a ice pleasing audio track. As one would expect with a dialogue driven film, the audio here is concentrated in the front three channels with little use of the surrounds. There is little here in the way of ambiance or immersion in the sound field. However, the audio is presented with excellent fidelity. The sound is smooth, open and full without a hint of shrillness. Bass extension is also good but not great, not that there really ever needs to be. Dialogue is very natural sounding and clear and distinct. One never misses a syllable of dialogue which is important given how good the dialogue is here. The musical score is presented with a nice mellow laid back sound which fits the mood and tone of the film perfectly. Don’t go into this one expecting pyrotechnics as you won’t find any in the audio department, just in the dialogue, which suits me just fine.

IN CONCLUSION

This is a wonderful film which features excellent writing, acting and directing with good video and audio to boot. Very highly recommended.

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Blu-ray Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks

THE MOVIE: 2 3/4 stars out of 5

Alvin and the Chipmunks is based on the characters created by Ross Bagdasarian in 1958, when he recorded a song with the voices sped up sounding like Chipmunks. That song became a hit and spawned a number of successful albums, especially involving a set of Christmas songs as well as an animated TV series in the 1960’s and 1980’s. This film is a live animation CGI mix based on the original TV series. Here the main character is once again David Seville (Jason Lee), a frustrated song writer who can’t get his songs picked up by Jett Records. When he arrives home, he discovers that a set of three chipmunks have invaded his home, making a mess of things. To his surprise, the Chipmunks are able to not only talk but sing and he records a song with the Chipmunks that becomes an instant hit. However, control over the Chipmunks career is taken away from David by the head of Jett Records (David Cross) with predictable results.

While this film was a huge hit, is simply lacks the charm and simplicity of the original TV series. The film itself is totally predictable and relies mostly on the CGI chipmunks rather than a witty script which far too often stoops to juvenile humor. Frankly, the new vocalizations of the Chipmunks falls flat in comparison to the original. So much for digital processing! I have the original Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas record and the voices of Alvin, Simon and Theodore are much more pleasing compared to the digital processing on this film. While I am sure your kids will enjoy this film, the adults will most likely find the film to be tedious. Do your kids a favor, track down the original cartoon series if you can and show it to them. I am sure they will enjoy it more than this film. I would recommend this one as a rental only.

THE VIDEO: 4 1/2 stars out of 5

Encoded with AVC and presented on a BD25 disc at its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1, Alvin and the Chipmunks is a very good encode. The film boasts wonderful and bright colors which are perfectly captured by this encode. I thought that the skin tones had a bit of a golden hue but that the color reproduction was otherwise excellent. Detail was also very good, especially the CGI chipmunks, where each hair of fur was visible. Black levels were deep and stable giving the film a good three dimensional look. The film lacks the crystal clear clarity of the best looking encodes but this is really the only area of the video that falls short. However, I am sure that fans of this film will be thrilled by the quality of the video presentation here. It is clearly of very good quality but just a tad short of the best that Blu-Ray can offer.

THE AUDIO: 4 stars out of 5

The audio encode here is presented in DTS HD Master Audio and unfortunately, falls a good deal short of the quality exhibited by the video. The audio here is certainly has good dynamics, especially in the front three channels where most of the audio here is presented. While the audio is rather front heavy, there is also good and appropriate use of the surrounds, presenting a nice immersive sound, especially during the concert sequences. The ambiance of the other various sets of the film are well captured. Where this release falls a good bit short in my opinion is the quality of the sound. As I have noted above, I have some problems with the overly processed sound of the voices of the chipmunks. My biggest complaint with the sound however is the shrillness of the sound in general. The treble is just way too hot and sounds very bright, especially at reference levels. The brightness of the sound made me reach for the remote to turn the volume down several notches. While this may make my wife happy, I do enjoy watching movies at appropriate real world volume levels. This was difficult to do with this release and hence my overall score.

IN CONCLUSION

I must say that I was a big fan of Alvin and the Chipmunks as a child but that this release falls a good bit short of the original cartoon series in the 1960’s. While it tries, the movie falls short, lacking the wit and charm of the original. This is a case of where more is less. The film boasts very good video and rather average audio. However, I am sure that fans of the film will enjoy both although the audio just did not cut it for me. I can only recommend this release as a rental.

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Blu-ray Review: Coyote Ugly

THE MOVIE: 3 3/4 stars out of 5

I must say that not having seen this film in the theater, I didn’t quite know what to expect. Frankly, the description of the plot which accompanied the film did lnoteave me with high expectations. Thankfully, the film is much better than its liner notes would leave one to expect. Coyote Ugly is a romantic comedy that stars Piper Perabo, Maria Bello, John Goodman, Bridget Moynahan and Tyra Banks, each of which turns in a worthy performance. This release included two versions of the film, the theatrical version and an unrated extended cut featuring seamless branching that works flawlessly. Both versions of the film look excellent.

After moving to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a song writer, Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) finds herself to be desperate having no money and no luck getting her songs heard. Through a twist of fate, she lands a job as a barmaid at one of the wildest bars in New York named Coyote Ugly. This is a bar that must be seen to be believed. Sexy scantily clad barmaids, dancing on top of the bar, squirting each other as well as the patrons with water and booze. While working long hours at the bar, Violet somehow finds the time for love as well as writing songs and pursing her dream of being a songwriter. The film is filled with very attractive women and very original and funny script. While I am sure that this film is not for everyone, I can nonetheless recommend this film for fans of romantic comedies, especially one featuring a bevy of beautiful ladies.

THE VIDEO: 4 1/2 stars out of 5

Coyote Ugly is encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1. Overall, this is an excellent looking encode. The film boasts a bright and colorful palette which looks excellent. The film boasts very vibrant primary colors. Skin tones however strangely vary from being too red to being too gold. Blacks are deep and stable resulting in a very nice three dimensional image. Detail is excellent as well both in brightly and darkly lit scenes. Other than the varying skin tones, the only real negative that I could see with this transfer was a bit of noise in the dark scenes. However, this was not all that noticeable except when you sit very close to the screen. At normal viewing distances, the noise was barely visible and hardly distracting at all. There is no doubt that fans of this film will be very pleased with the quality of this encode.

THE AUDIO: 4 2/5 stars out of 5

The audio on this release is presented in an uncompressed PCM track at 48 kHz/16 bit and while sounding good, falls a bit short of the quality of the video presentation. On the plus side, dynamics are excellent here with a nice open soundstage and excellent bass. Effective use is made of the surrounds, giving a totally immersive sound field, especially the scenes in the bar which place you right in the center of the action. Dialogue is also clear and distinct, even in the rather cluttered sound field which is characteristic of the bar scenes. The only real drawback I have with the audio here is with the quality of the actual dialogue which is a tad bright sounding a bit too digital, like bad CD sound. Other than this, Coyote Ugly has a fine sounding audio track.

IN CONCLUSION

Coyote Ugly is a funny and at times charming romantic comedy that features good audio and video and some very attractive women. Recommended.

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HDTV 'Stretches' My Patience

You may not have noticed it but on March 31st, the HD content you were receiving was reduced, even though no HD channels were dropped.

How so, you ask?

Well, on March 31st, Food Network HD and HGTV HD were dropped as separate standalone HD networks and merged into the standard def versions of the channels. In other words, both Food Network HD and HGTV HD are now nothing more than simulcasts of the standard def versions of those networks. As a result, there is now very little HD content on the channels, especially HGTV HD which was almost totally devoid of any HD content yesterday. The HD has been replaced with stretch-o-vision SD content that looks horrible.

This is clearly a step back in the march to all HD all the time that I think it is safe to say we all want and want now. These networks are now unwatchable and it is a shame as both had some excellent looking HD content. Now all we get is blurry, stretched garbage. Quite frankly, I would just as soon see these channels dropped from my system and replaced with channels that offer real HD. Why waste the bandwidth with pseudo HD channels when they are no better than the standard def counterparts?

Contact your HD provider and complain about this switch. Perhaps if enough of us do, it will make a difference. It seems that this is the trend with new HD channels which offer little in the way of HD. Many of the new HD channels offered on Directv for example offer little in the way of new HD. A&E HD is a misnomer too as there is little actual HD on that channel. While I don’t expect HD channels to be all HD all the time at this juncture, there should be at least 50% HD content on every HD channel. Get with it Food Network and HGTV. Produce all your programming in HD or merge your channels into one that actually shows HD.

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