For the most part, movie trilogies are a mixed bag. While there seem to be many, there are only a few where the third installment is at least as good as the original. The top two that come to mind are the Bourne series and Indiana Jones, where, at least in this writer’s opinion, the third installment betters the first. I am sure there are some of you out there will also want to add the Lord of the Rings given that it was the third installment, The Return of the King, which garnered the Oscar for Best Picture. Not me as I felt The Return of the King to be the worst and most ponderous of the three films. Now we can add High School Musical to the list of film trilogies. How does High School Musical 3 Senior Year compare to the wildly successful first installment?
Film 
Frankly, High school Musical 3 was better than I thought and at least as good as the original. The same cast of favorites from the first two films are present, Gabriella, Sharpay Troy, Trevor and Ryan along with some additions to the cast. This film finds them in their senior year dealing with more pressing issues such as going away to college and leaving the comfortable confines of high school, long time friends and embarking on the journey of life. It is often difficult at that age to have to make your own choices and follow your own path rather than the path set out for you by your parents or what you think you they will want you to do rather than what you think is best for you. In dealing with these issues, HSM3 is a little more mature than the first two. Yes, the same bouncy and rather formulaic and homogenous music that permeated the first two films is back here in spades, but the overall tone of the film is a tad deeper than the first making for a more enjoyable film. If you have middle school or teenaged kids as I do, you will no doubt be forced to watch this film. Don’t worry, you may even enjoy it.
Video 
HSM3 is encoded with AVC and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1. At first glance, there is a lot to like about this transfer. The film features and bright and bold color palette with colors that are well saturated and natural looking, especially skin tones, which are quite pleasing to the eye. Black levels are good as well although not as deep and inky as the best looking Blu-Ray encodes I have seen, resulting in an image of good although hardly reference level depth and three dimensionality. However, while this encode does has its high points, it also has one rather large failing and that is with detail. The image simply lacks the level of detail that one would expect from such a new film. In particular, the texture of the actors’ skin seems rather devoid of texture, blemishes and the like, looking a bit smoothed over. The same is true for distant shots which lack the clarity of the better looking Blu-Ray releases, looking a tad hazy in comparison. It would be great had this release included the best of all worlds, bright and bold colors, deep blacks, top notch detail and clarity but it is what it is.
Audio
HSM3 includes a lossless audio track encoded with DTS HD Master Audio in a 5.1 channel configuration. As was the case with the video, the audio encode has a lot going for it. Effective use is made of the surround speakers which are very active during the film, especially during the many musical numbers, filling the room with a wall of sound. Bass response is good as well, giving the musical numbers a solid foundation. I thought the overall sound quality of the film to be fairly good with good imaging and a nice sense of transparency. However, where the encode and the sound mix in general came up short was in the area of fidelity, especially the dialogue track which was a bit thin and harsh for my tastes. When cranked up to reference levels, the sound led rather quickly to listener fatigue, lacking the richness and smoothness that I have characteristic of most other DTS HD Master audio tracks I have listened to. This is not the track that you will want to crank up, no matter what your kids may think.
Special Features
As one would expect, HSM3 is chock full of extras. However, for me, the most significant extra is the DVD edition of the film included with the release. This gives you the option of being able to play the Blu-Ray addition at home enjoying the high def picture and sound, while being able to take the DVD on the road with you and playing it on any portable DVD player or laptop. This is a bonus as it will enable you to watch the film on a bigger sized screen than you would be able to with the digital copy that is also included that is compatible with both Macs and PCs. It will also enable you to share the film with friends and play it anywhere where a DVD player is available. I wish that all Blu-ray releases, or at least major titles, where released with a DVD copy, to encourage more consumers to purchase the Blu-ray title and help grow the format. One of the features that I really enjoyed with the late HD DVD format was the combo disc which had a DVD copy on one side that you could play in any DVD player. The approach taken by Disney here seems to be the Blu-ray answer to the combo disc. Hopefully, it will be one of an increasing number of releases to feature this extra feature.
The rest of the extras are rather mundane, including a feature on Senior Awards and new cast profiles. Also included is a feature on cast goodbyes, deleted scenes, bloopers and a sing along. The release is also BD-Live enabled which includes a bonus photo feature. I will admit that I am not a huge fan of extras in general and prefer to watch and enjoy the film and leave the extras until later. None of the extras presented here really grabbed me. Then again, I am not in high school. Your kids may feel differently. However, the inclusion of the bonus DVD ediition of the movie fully justifies the score that I have given the extras in and of itself. Hopefully, we will see more of the same on more future releases.
Final Thoughts
While I enjoyed the film, my opinion may have been skewed by the fact that watched it with my high school aged children. I would recommend the film for any families that are familiar with the first two films and enjoyed them. The rest of you may want to consider renting the film first before purchasing.
