The history of modern pop music is filled with arrival what have been dubbed boy bands. Most are essentially one hit wonders and are gone quickly, relegated to the dust bin of history. The latest entry in this string of boy bands is the Jonas Brothers, catapulted into stardom through their appearances on The Disney Channel. Much like that other Disney property, Hannah Montana aka Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers have made their live concert debut on Blu-ray, in 3D no less. Is it worth a look?
Film
I can confidently state that if you are a 14 year old girl, you will love this release. If you aren’t, you will likely be like me and wonder what all the fuss is about. The Jonas Brothers The 3D Live Experience is well produced, capturing the band live at Madison Square Garden in New York, with a full backup band, featuring a string ensemble, along with featured quests Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato.
The concert itself is well produced and presented before a full house of screaming adoring teenaged girls and features all their “hits”. The problem here is that this is totally lackluster and utterly forgettable pop music, which after awhile, simply runs together, like one long forgettable song. There are no catchy tunes here, just formulaic by the numbers pop music. I guess you can tell I am not a fan. Regardless, I can appreciate a quality presentation of lackluster music and the presentation here, for an arena pop show is quite good, with all the histrionics that one has come to expect with such a show. Fans will not be disappointed with this release. The rest of us, well that is another story entirely.
Video
Frankly, the video quality here is very good. It features a very natural color palette with spot on flesh tones. As one would expect, the film is filled with many bright and bold primary colors with deep, stable and inky blacks. Video noise, even during the darker sequences, is non-existent. Detail and clarity are excellent as well with the result being an image with excellent depth and three dimensionality. There is very little to quibble with about the video presentation here and it will no doubt thrill fans of the band.
As for the 3D version of the film, I was less than impressed. While the 3D effect does work in the sense that a 3D image is generated, it is generated with a cost, namely the complete lack of color fidelity. The release comes equipped with 4 sets of 3D glasses with red and blue lenses. When watching the film, the only colors you really see are red and blue. The beautifully natural color palette of the 2D version of the film is completely gone, as is much of the detail. In addition, the glasses are cardboard and flimsy and hard to wear and keep on your face, especially if you already wear glasses like me. If I were you, I would skip the 3D version entirely, as the 2D version provides a much more satisfying viewing experience.
Audio
The audio here is every bit as good as the video and captures the sound of a live arena show with excellent fidelity. The lossless mix has plenty of dynamics with deep and powerful bass and very good transparency and imaging. The surrounds are actively engaged throughout and really conveys the spaciousness of Madison Square Garden, placing you right smack dab in the arena during the show. In this respect, this is an excellent sound mix. The only real quibble I had with the sound here is with the presentation of the vocal track, which is buried in with the rest of the sound mix, being almost inaudible at times. Perhaps that isn’t a bad thing at all given the overall quality of the vocals here. Regardless, I would have expected the vocal track to have been more prominent in the mix and out further in front of the rest of the sound. Other than this one quibble, this is a fine sounding mix overall.
Special Features
This deluxe extended movie edition contains 3 discs.; The first disc is the Blu-ray edition of the film containing both the 2D and 3D versions of the film. The second is a DVD which contains an extended version of the film in 2D only plus the bonus features included on the Blu-ray disc. The third disc contains a digital copy of the film, compatible with Macs and PCs. The extras included with both the Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film consist of 2 bonus songs not included with the theatrical release of the film together with an Up Close and Personal featurette, providing a behind the scenes look at the lives of the Jonas Brothers on tour. Frankly, the extras here are rather threadbare but are provided in HD. Also included are sneak peaks at upcoming Disney Blu-ray releases including Snow White which looks wonderful in the trailer included here.
Final Thoughts
If you are a fan of The Jonas Brothers, you will no doubt love this release and will be more than happy with the video and audio reproductions included. However, unless you are a fan of the band, you may want to skip this release entirely, as there is not really a lot here to keep you interested musically.
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