The problem with wholesome family entertainment as I see it is that too much of it is watered down tripe; lacking much in the way of originality or real entertainment value, especially for us adults who have to watch this stuff with our kids. I for one desire wholesome family entertainment with en edge. What is the difference you ask? Well, just think of the difference between the classic song Tutti Frutti as sung by Little Richard versus Pat Boone and you get the picture. I would classify most of the Pixar films as wholesome family entertainment with an edge, as they appeal to adults just as much as they do to kids, as they are packed with just enough stuff to grab our attention as adults. While I would not put today’s reviewed film, Race To Witch Mountain, in the same class at the Pixar films, it has just enough of that edge to appeal to adults and hence qualify as Wholesome Family Entertainment, with an edge.

Film

Race to Witch Mountain is a remake of the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain. Ok, I guess you can say it is a bit of a re-imagining of the 1975 film rather than a remake but you get the point.

The film stars Dwayne Johnson (I guess we can now drop the moniker “The Rock” from his name given his success as a film star in his own right) as Las Vegas Cab driver, Jack Bruno. One evening he picks up a Dr. Alex Richards (Carla Gugino), an astrophysicist, who is town to present a lecture at a UFO convention. The next morning, while a couple of thugs are attempting to “escort” Jack to their boss (he has a bit of a checkered past), two teenagers, Sara and Seth, jump into the back of his cab with a wad of cash and request that he drive them out to the dessert.

Thinking he was helping the kids to escape from danger, he complies. However, they are quickly chased down by a group of government officials who are tracking aliens who crashed their space ship in the Vegas dessert that night. Jack quickly discovers not only that Sara and Seth are in fact aliens from another planet but that they are also being tracked by an alien assassin known as a Siphon who wants to kill them before they can return to their planet and help save, not only their home world, but the Earth itself. There are a number of good chase scenes in the film as jack, Sara and Seth attempt to allude the Siphon as well as the feds. In an effort to locate their ship, they return to Vegas an enlist the aid of Dr. Freedman and some UFO devotees, and travel to Witch Mountain to recover their ship and return home.

I watched this film with my kids and I must say, we all enjoyed it. Is it a great film? Not exactly, but as I noted before, it is more than a kids film, as it has a bit of an edge, namely some good chase scenes and humor, especially involving the UFO and sci-fi communities. Dwayne Johnson seems to have this type of role down pat, although I was waiting for the Dwayne Johnson of films such as The Rundown, to appear and kick some butt. However, what we get is a softer Dwayne Johnson, as in The Game Plan, also directed by Andy Fickman. If you are looking for a film that the whole family can enjoy and one that will keep the attention of the adults as well as the little ones, check out Race to Witch Mountain. Recommended.

Video

All things considered, this is a fine looking encode from the folks at Disney. What strikes you immediately about the look of the film are the deep and inky blacks. The space scenes with stars against the blackness of space look spectacular, the the blackness of space looking about as black as it can get. Colors look fairly natural if a bit undersaturated as the colors don’t exactly jump off the screen at you. Detail, clarity and depth are all very good but fall just short of reference. In particular, the level of detail, while good, was a level below the very best looking films.

Lacking are all the fine facial and background details that are visible on the best looking films. While black level was outstanding, the image lacks the clarity and depth of the best looking films, looking just a tad flat in comparison to the best of the best, hence the score of 4.5 stars. This is a great looking transfer and one that should thrill fans of the film. However, it is not the best I have seen and falls a level short of the best in terms of overall detail and clarity. However, it is another fine effort from the folks at Disney and one that should more than please fans of the film.

Audio

I found the audio on Race To Witch Mountain to match that of the video in terms of overall quality. Very good but falling just a tad short of the best Blu-ray has to offer. On the plus side, the surrounds are used very actively and aggressively throughout the entire film, creating a fine immersive effect. Panning sound effects were also well done. with the sound of vehicles and space craft whizzing by from side to side and front to back in your room sounding very impressive. In particular, there is a scene early in the film where Jack’s battered cab limps along to the right of the sound field and you can clearly her it clunk along behind your room and to your right and progress all the way up the right side of your room until it stops in front.

Very impressive sounding and a great demo for the importance of surround sound to the home movie viewing experience. The panning effects on this film are flawless. The dialogue track is also well recorded and well placed in the mix, except for a couple of instances where the dialogue gets a bit overwhelmed by the rest of the audio in the car chase scenes. Where the audio falls just a bit short for me is in the level of dynamics which aren’t up to the level of the best of the best. In particular, the bass extension is not as good as I had expected. This is manifested most during the many explosions in the film which, while sounding fairly full and dynamic, lack that room rattling effect and deep extension found in the best sounding films, failing to jar you up and out of your seat. When I think of great bass extension, I think of the early scene in Iron Man where Tony Stark’s military convoy comes under attack in Afghanistan. There, the initial rocket blasts jolt you off you chair and rattle your walls.

With a highly concussive sound effect, the explosions in Race To Witch Mountain lack this last degree of deep bass extension that really grabs your attention and shakes you out of your doldrums. Other than the lack of deep bass extension and the minor issue I noted with the dialogue track, the lossless audio track on Race To Witch Mountain is very, very good and will thrill fans of the film.

Special Features

Out the outset, in judging the extras on this release, I would like to commend Disney for including with this release, not only a digital copy of the film compatible with Macs and PCs, but a DVD copy of the film also. I especially like the inclusion of the DVD as it enables your kids to enjoy the film on road trips and on vacations, as most of us do not have portable Blu-ray players to take with us in the car or on trips. I wish this feature was standard among all Blu-ray releases of films geared to children and pre-teens.

As for the rest of the extras, I really can’t say I was all that impressed as there is very little there. The extras include a blooper reel and some deleted scenes which weren’t even presented in high definition. The last extra, however, is presented in HD and consists of a 8 minute and 20 second featurette with the director Andy Fickman, where he details features and links between this film and the two films released in the 1970′s, Escape to With Mountain and Return to Witch Mountain, including the fact that the two child stars in the film, Lake Eissinman and Kim Richards have small roles in this film. This is really the only extra worth your time as it is interesting from a historical perspective and is only a tad over 8 minutes long. Otherwise, the extras here are pretty disappointing.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a film that the whole family can enjoy and that can at least keep the attention of even the most jaded adult, give Race To Witch Mountain a look. I am sure that you will be glad you did. Recommended at least as a rental if not an outright buy for families with young children.

Film

Confessions of a Shopaholic stars Isla Fisher as Rebecca Bloomwood, a magazine writer in New York who can’t seem to stop shopping, running up incredible debt on all of her credit cards. Eventually, we all have our limit and hers occurs when she has maxed out her credit cards, all 21 of them. She is so addicted to shopping that she continues to lust after more clothing and trinkets even after she loses her job. Desperate for money, she applies for a job at what she thinks is her dream job, Alette, a fashion magazine as well as a financial magazine, Successful Saving, which is having some financial issues of her own.

On her way to an interview, she sees a green scarf in the window of a store and quite naturally, has to have it. However, she is 20 bucks short, and is not able to purchase it until she is able to con the $20 out of a nice gentleman with an English accent she sees at a hot dog cart, claiming that she desperately need the money to buy the scarf for a sick aunt. Rebecca is later surprised to encounter this same man when she arrives at Successful Saving for her interview as he is none other than Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy) the managing editor hired to turn the magazine around.

As Luke is somewhat smitten by Rebecca, he hires her on a trial basis and tasks her with writing an article dealing with thrift. Even though she uses Google as her research vehicle, she wows Luke with an article using her shopping experience and terminology and she is hired for a regular monthly columnwhere she is known as the Girl With the Green Scarf. However, Rebecca is soon being tracked down by a debt collector who is trying to recover the over $9,000 she owes his client. He brakes every law I can think of in his underhanded collection tactics, eventually tracking her down to the magazine where he embarrasses her on national TV. Will that experience ruin her career? Her budding relationship with Luke? I guess you will have to see the film to find out.

Confessions of a Shopaholic is a rather formulaic film. While the film consists of rather light fare, it does contain more than a few laughs, which in today’s economic climate, is a good thing. I just wish it had more of them and a more imaginative screenplay. Recommended as a rental only.

Video

There is a lot to like about the look of Confessions of a Shopaholic on Blu-ray. The film features a very nice and natural looking color palette with good skin tones and deep and stable blacks. The film’s color palette as one would expect given the film’s subject matter, features many bright and bold colors across the entire color spectrum which really pop off the screen. However, the film falls a bit short in two critical areas, clarity and detail. Despite the deep blacks, the film lacks the depth of the best looking films, due to its slightly below average level of clarity.

The film also falls a bit short in the level of detail as the film has a bit of a soft look. Clarity and detail go hand in hand to produce an image of great depth and both are lacking here. Don’t get me wrong, this is a bright and colorful film that many will no doubt find appealing. However, its general softness and mediocre level of detail left me wanting just a bit more than is delivered here.

Audio

While there is a good bit to like about the audio design on this release, it is more of a hit or miss proposition than the video. For a comedy, the surrounds are fairly actively engaged during parts of the film. However, they are primarily engaged with music rather than room ambiance. During the sequences with music accompaniment, you are provided with a nice immersive sound experience, albeit, a little different than I would have preferred. In those scenes without the musical accompaniment, the sound is a bit front heavy, as one would expect with a light hearted comedy.

The dialogue track is also well recorded and well placed in the sound mix and always intelligible which is important for a comedy for obvious reasons. While the overall dynamics of the audio presentation is decent, I found the overall quality of the audio to be a bit below expectations, sounding a bit harsh and thin compared to most recent lossless encodes I have heard. I found the audio here to be a bit fatiguing to listen to at reference levels. This is one film that I would suggest you experience at lower volume levels. Given that there is nary a gun shot or explosion here, I don’t think you will be missing anything by doing so and will actually enjoy the movie a bit more.

Special Features

Out the outset, I should report that I had some troubles reviewing the extras on this release. I reviewed the disc using the Panasonic BD55 Blu-ray player. I had never encountered any issues with any discs with this player before this title. While I could watch one of the extras without problems, if I tried to watch another, the player would freeze up. It would require me to boot up the disc again by accessing the Top Menu. I had to do this each and every time I wanted to watch more than one extra at a time. As you can imagine, it got real annoying real fast. This is probably an issue that I can clear up by downloading the latest firmware upgrade for the player which I hope to get around to real soon. You may not encounter this issue with your player if it is different than mine. Hopefully you will not encounter this abnormality. The actual film played flawlessly however.

This release comes equipped with a digital copy that is compatible with both Macs and PCs but is not BD-Live enabled. The extras include 4 deleted scenes which are presented in full HD as well as a blooper reel presented in standard definition.

The extras include three music videos, consisting of Stuck With Each Other with Shontelle featuring Akon, Accessory by Jordyn Taylor and Takes Time to Love by Trey Songz. The remainder of the extras consist of 6 short featurettes which vary from about 2 to 3 minutes in length each so it shouldn’t take you all that long to check them out. All are presented in HD and look quite good. Included is Wardrobe by Patricia Field, where award winning costumer designer Patricia Field takes you behind the scenes in her wardrobe design for the film.

Next is Temple of Shopping which takes you behind the scenes at Henri Bendel’s in New York as they transform the interior of the store for the film. Next is The Green Scarf where Patricia Field discusses how she created the green scarf featured so prominently in the film. Next up is New York’s Fashion Central which discusses shopping in New York. Sample Sale Madness takes you very briefly behind the scenes of the shooting of this scene. Finally, Window Shopping takes you to the store fronts at 71st and Madison where the scenes with the storefront mannequins were shot with live actors which were eventually replaced in the film with CGI mannequins.

Frankly, I didn’t find the extras to be all that interesting. It didn’t take long, for example, to see why the deleted scenes were dropped. The blooper reel isn’t all that funny and the featurettes are all very short and not very informative. Perhaps you will feel differently.

Final Thoughts

While falling a good bit short of reference in the audio as well as the video departments, Confessions of a Shopaholic is a lighthearted good natured film that has more than a few laughs. It is a perfect film for a Saturday night get together with your significant other or the entire family, provided you aren’t expecting too much. Recommended as a rental only.

Film

Most sports films have a tendency to be overly dramatic and veer away from the actual facts for the sake of a more dramatic and emotionally involving film, often times adding various subplots for the purpose of trying to make the film appeal to a broader audience. The best example I can think of of a sports themed film that makes such a mistake is Invincible, which adds a romantic subplot which was not only historically inaccurate, but really derailed the telling of the compelling story that is the Vince Papale story. Such is not the case with Miracle, probably because the story itself is so good that such embellishments were probably not thought to be necessary.

I am sure that most of you are already aware of the story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team and their improbable road to Olympic Gold. However, Miracle is more than a story about the team, it is a story about their coach, Herb Brooks, who had a vision about how to defeat the most powerful hockey team in the world, about what types of players and personalities it would take to do so and how best to mold them into a true team, functioning as one for the singular goal of defeating the Soviets.

The film stars Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, who was tragically killed in 2003 before the completion of the film is a car accident. Above all else, this film is a tribute to him as a coach and molder of men. The film also features some fine performances by a group of rather, at the time, unknown actors, who were picked, first and foremost, for their hockey playing ability. Miracle is without question a very inspirational and uplifting film that is one that the whole family can enjoy. It was a thrill to relive that period as well as get a behind the scenes look at the making of “The Miracle on Ice”. Highly recommended.

Video

Quite frankly, this is a great looking encode from the folks at Disney. There is really very little to quibble with about the look of the film on Blu-ray. The film features a slightly under-saturated but very natural looking color palette with excellent flesh tones. Black level was fairly deep and stable but falls just a smidge short of the type of inky blacks that are the hallmarks for the very best looking films on Blu-ray.

The rest of the video here is top notch, with excellent detail, shadow detail and overall image clarity, with an excellent sense of depth and three dimensionality. The rendering of fine detail is excellent, from skin textures, pores and blemishes, to clothing fabrics to individual stands of hair. While filmed in 2003, the film does have the look of a film made in the late 1970′s but with the black level, detail and clarity of a more modern film. In short, this is a fine looking film and one that will no doubt please fans of the film. I know it did me.

Audio

To say that I was thrilled with the sound of this release would be an understatement. I wish all sports based films sounded this good. With the one exception noted below, this is an almost a perfect sound mix. The quality of this sound mix and design is apparent from the outset of the film. What strikes you first is the aggressive use of the surround speakers, which totally immerse you is a sea of sound. While the hockey action sequences are simply spectacular sounding, the rest of the film has an immersive sound mix as well, even the scenes that take place in a home or more intimate setting.

The other quality that is readily apparent from the outset is the incredible dynamics. This is a full and robust sound presentation, which is perhaps even a bit over the top which only adds the the sense of drama. Particularly impressive are the hockey practices and games, which place you right on the rink with the team, from the sound of the skates flying by, the puck smacking against the boards and goal posts and the sounds of body checks, both at center ice and into the boards. Anyone who has been at ice level at an NHL game will be amazed at how realistic the sound of the body checking is on this release.

The fidelity of the sound here is excellent as well, sounding smooth, open and full bodied, with excellent transparency and imaging with rock solid placement of the sound effects into the sound mix and deep and tight bass. Dialogue is well recorded as well and well placed in the mix. However, the mix is not perfect. The only significant issue I had with the sound mix was the placement of Al Michaels game play by play in the sound mix, as it was often times drowned out by the sound of the game action in addition to the rest of the dialogue track . Other than this one small hiccup, this is a tremendous sound design and fully worthy of a gold medal on its own.

Special Features

Miracle comes equipped with several extras. Unfortunately none are in HD. The release does not include a digital copy and is not BD-Live enabled. The extras include an audio commentary by director Gavin O’Connor, Director of Photography Dan Stoloff and Editor John Gilroy. Outtakes are included as well.

There are several featurettes included including the usual making of featurette here entitled (surprise!) The Making of Miracle and a feature on the selection and training of the actors who play the members of the team entitled From Hockey to Hollywood: The Actors’ Journeys. Also included is a featurette on the sound design of the film entitled The Sound of Miracle. I find it highly appropriate to include such a featurette given how important the film’s sound design is the the success of the film. Also included is an ESPN Roundtable hosted by Linda Cohn and featuring Kurt Russell and three members of the team, goalie Jim Craig and John Eruzione and Buzz Schneider.

Also included is a featurette First Impressions: Herb Brooks with Kurt Russell And The Filmmakers. This featurette is rather poignant given Herb Brooks tragic death. It features him describing his coaching philosophy and what was involved in making the team the success it was. Of all the extras, this is by far my favorite. However, there is one glaring omission from the extras and that is footage of the actual games. There are some brief actual ABC broadcast footage of the games themselves included in the making of featurette. It would have been great to have included the entire broadcasts of some of the games, at least the Soviet contest, given that the games were broadcast by ABC which is owned by Disney. Perhaps they were not able to secure the rights to do so from the International Olympic Federation? Regardless, it would have been great to have included the actual games as part of the extras.

Final Thoughts

Miracle is a truly inspirational and moving film that is a treat for the whole family. It features excellent audio and video reproduction and is a fine addition to any film library, sports fan or not. Highly recommended.

Film

Anna Farris plays Shelley Darlington, a Playgirl Bunny residing in the Play Boy mansion. Her life of luxury includes constant partying and she has very little knowledge of life outside the mansion. But the day after her twenty-seventh birthday Shelley finds a note from Hugh Hefner asking her to vacate the mansion as she is too old. Reluctantly she heads out into the real world, struggling to find a place to live. Not before long she meets Natalie (Emma Stone) the head figure of Zeta Alpha Zeta, an extremely anti social sorority. Initially the group rejects her until they find out that she can help attract guys to the sorority as the group is extremely social awkward. As time passes Shelley becomes close with the girls of the sorority who help each other develop and grow. Aside from Shelley’s life as a house mother on campus she begins dating Oliver who isn’t quite like any other guy she’s met. Her flirtatious ways don’t work on him and the girls of the sorority have to teach her how to behave in regular situations. As the relationships develop there are several obstacles to overcome including set ups, back stabbing, and good old fashioned heartbreak. The House Bunny follows the quintessential buddy film plot, but brings its own comedic twist too it.

Okay, so the premise isn’t exactly original, but there are some unique elements we haven’t seen before. You really want to care for Shelley as she journeys into the real world and maturity. As she learns the true value of friendship and life outside of the mansion, there are some moralistic points, but the story doesn’t stray too far from its comedic tone. Although Anna Farris did a great job headlining the film it was nice to have a great ensemble of supporting actors all bringing a great feel to the movie, which included; Colin Hanks, Emma Stone, Hugh Hefner, Beverly D’Angelo, and Christopher McDonald.

Ultimately I had some mixed feelings about The House Bunny, on one hand the movie is extremely likeable in its own dippy way, but the story is so trite that you can see it all play out from the beginning. Then again in its defense it’s not trying to be anything more than a stupid comedy, after all it’s a story based on an exiled playboy bunny who takes refuge in a sorority house. So in the respect of getting some good laughs in I like the movie, but the romantic angle between Farris and Colin Hanks (Although the characters weren’t compatible it was nice to see Colin Hank in the film, as usual he did a great job with his character) was a tad bit drab. The two didn’t share any chemistry or common ground and the relationship seemed forced and unnatural. But it was a comedy after all, so who cares, right?

I don’t, so despite some weak side stories I liked The House Bunny. The laughs were pretty constant and sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and watch a silly movie. From some classic one liners to physical comedy, and classic blonde stereotypes, The House Bunny will have something for most audiences to enjoy.

Video

Presented in 1080p 2.35:1 aspect ratio and encoded in MPEG-4, The House Bunny comes to Blu-ray with some glowing results.  I must admit, before popping the disc in I was expecting an oversaturated transfer with unrealistic flesh tones and an overblown color palette, luckily my expectations were wrong.  Colors were vibrant but realistic throughout the entire movie.  Some of the actresses look as if they have spent a bit too much time in the tanning bed, but that hardly the fault of the transfer itself.  Detail was also impressive with a sharp and clear look which created a very deep looking picture.

The print shows no sign of artifacting or dirt on the print, as a film released in 2008 should look.  Overall the transfer looks great and should please its viewers.

Audio

Sony has included a 5.1 TrueHD track with The House Bunny and it does a great job presenting the given material.

Dialogue is crisp coming through the front channels with extreme clarity and no audible balancing issues.  Surround and bass channels were active frequently throughout the film.  Although they never left me saying “WOW” they did provide enough substance to increase the hearing experience.   The soundtrack fits the film well, with songs by Rihanna and Avril Lavigne, giving the overall track more oomph.

Special Features

• Deleted Scenes – 10 deleted scenes all of which are presented in standard definition.  The scenes themselves will provide some entertainment for people who are fans of Anne Farris.  Personally I’m not the biggest Farris fan and didn’t find these scenes too funny.
• Featurettes – We are essentially given a 12 part making of feature spanning the film’s production.  A majority of featurettes gives us interview segments with cast and crew.  The rest of the material focuses on the filming at playboy mansion as well as casting decisions.
• I Know What Boys Like Music Video

Final Thoughts

The House Bunny doesn’t compare with most comedies in regards to being witty, unique, and on the floor laughing. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad movie, and it certainly isn’t. The one liners and asinine behaviour portrayed by Anna Farris is admittedly funny in several instances throughout the movie. So despite a commonplace storyline and a romance much in need of more chemistry I found The House Bunny a worthy viewing. So yes, if you like Anna Farris you won’t be disappointed, and I recommend that the casual comedy lover give The House Bunny a rental. For those of you interested in buying the Blu-ray you will be pleased with both the audio and video transfers. To go along with that there is a befitting amount of features that are a decent fan pleaser.

Film 

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc opens with a young Joan making confession in a local church.  The priest appreciates her constant visits and incessant desire to confess, but also questions her general happiness for one so young spending so much time in confession.  Joan says she is happy in life but expresses her religious duty to the priest.  Even at this young age of about 11 or so, Joan claimed to have experienced messages sent by God.  Shortly after leaving the church, we find Joan running through fields of tulips and wildflowers, laughing and frolicking about.  She takes a playful tumble only to find herself lying right next to a mysteriously placed sword, hidden in the high grass.

Taking this as another sign from above, Joan wields the weapon and heads back to her village, only to find it in flames, courtesy of the English.  Here is where the movie runs  parallel to 1995′s Braveheart. William Wallace lost a father at the hands of the English and grows up to become a freedom fighter against them.  Joan of Arc loses a mother at the hands of the English and grows up to become a freedom fighter against them.  Now if that’s the way history played out, well, no one can help that.  However, from a viewer’s perspective in a cinematic sense, I just sat there thinking, “Didn’t we walk this path before?”

I did find it incredibly surprising that Joan (Milla Jovovich), who everyone knows was born a commoner, is accepted so readily by French royalty, especially by Charles VII (John Malkovich) in her claims that her visions are for real.  Not only that, she’s given armor, a sword, a war horse, military command and her own banner upon her request.  In today’s world, it would be like me writing my congressman, telling him I’ve seen visions on how to wipe out Al Qaeda and I need to see the President.  He gets me an invite to the White House where I’m given a military-grade Humvee, my own M-16 and command of a Marine division.  Ta-da!  It’s that easy folks!  Well, apparently it was that easy 600 years ago.

Video 

Remember that part earlier on where I mentioned Joan running through the fields of wild flowers and tulips?  The scenes were so amazingly pristine that I grew increasingly excited that the whole film would be so visually flawless.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  The film, presented in a 1080p AVC 2.40:1 aspect, was quite good for the most part.  However, if I am to average out the good with the grain, we come up above average but not excellent.  While the opening confession scene makes every pore and freckle visible in striking clarity, there are a variety of scenes where it looked like someone forgot to dust off the camera lens.

Audio 

The audio was as striking as the film’s best visuals throughout most of the film’s two-and-a-half hour runtime.  While dialogue was being delivered, the occasional gallop of horse hoof to beaten path could be heard in the rear speakers.  Most of thunderous crashes of battle did not go unnoticed, nor did the contrasting chirping of birds in the calmer scenes.  My only complaints are that I’d expect more bass out of the battles and some of the whispering in the film was lost.  I found myself leaning forward at times to try and make out what was said.

Special Features 

I could not believe it.  I had to be suffering from lack-of-navigation syndrome.  After watching the film, I made a (quick) trip to the Special Features section of the disc’s menu.  To say I was a little surprised was an understatement.  Under this menu option was one, yes, count it off on your pinky, one available, lonely selection.  I figured I had to be doing something wrong.  There just had to be other special features.  After all, the option is plural.  It is called Special Features.  Well, mark that one with red ink.  The sole item to view here is called “Previews.”  Even a trailer for a bad movie would have been a welcomed addition here.

• Previews: Blu-ray is High Definition – This is a 2-minute, 36 second overview of Blu-ray.  The narrator quickly discusses bookmarking, picture in picture, etc.
• BD Live - While this is not included in the Special Features section, it is nonetheless a special feature that is available.  For those unfamiliar with BD Live, you can create a running commentary and video montage and share it with others.  It worked well on The Dark Knight.  For The Messenger, my Blu-ray player locked up when I chose this feature…not good.

Final Thoughts 

I am certainly in no position to say Joan of Arc’s claims of divine messages were or were not true.  If either outcome were somehow validated tomorrow, I would not have trouble believing either.  You have to remember though, everyone was claiming ‘heretic’ back then and several burned at the stake as a result, including our heroine, Joan of Arc.  Some believe she was simply crazy.  Others support the sainthood bestowed upon her.

I do want to point out that there is some high-talent in the film which includes John Malkovich and a brief appearance by Dustin Hoffman.  With that being said, I have a serious problem with the casting director for this film.  Keep in mind the fighting that’s taking place is between the English and the French.  Why then, were so many English actors used in French roles?  Don’t get me wrong.  They were fine actors but talk about confusing!  I was getting lost trying to determine if one guy was a French priest with an English accent, an English sympathizer to the French or an English minister just trying to run a fair trial.  Did I mention the American in the French army?  He must have been on loan from George Washington via time machine.

That’s something that still bugs me about Enemy at the Gates.  I love that movie but if you are a great actor, then utilize your character’s respective accent.  You had a German with a Yankee accent (Ed Harris) and a Russian with a British accent (Jude Law).  Authenticity gets lost in the storytelling because of this.

Back to our story though, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, was quite entertaining through its first 30 or 40 minutes.  After that, it lumbered onward at times but concluded in dramatic fashion.  This may not be the best history lesson regarding Joan of Arc, however, if you are like me and wanted more information than the one page my high school history book provided, then sit back and enjoy a viewing of The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.

Film 

Open Season 2 is a direct-to-video sequel to the 2006 hit animated movie Open Season.  Surprisingly, although this is not the case in the United States or UK, Open Season 2 was released theatrically in some countries last fall.  The stars of the voice cast include the likes of Mike Epps, Joel McHale, Cody Cameron, Jane Krakowski, Billy Connolly and Crispin Glover.  At the time of this writing, the movie has scored mixed user reviews on IMDB.

Having never seen the first Open Season film, I think may have missed out on the blossoming love relationship between Giselle (Krakowski) and Elliot (McHale).  Open Season 2 begins with the wedding between Giselle and Elliot, but it quickly takes a detour when Mr. Weenie (Cameron), having lived the free life in the wild all this time (something I probably missed out on again from not seeing the first film), is kidnapped by his former owners.  Boog (Epps), Elliot, McSquizzy (Connolly), Buddy and the rest of the wild gang launch a full-scale rescue mission to rescue Weenie, but soon find themselves in situations where improvising becomes critical to success.  Of course this means that the wedding between Giselle and Elliot is temporarily postponed, making for a very unhappy bride and a much-relieved groom.  You see…I guess you can say that Elliot is having a classic case of cold feet and is having trouble coping with the definitive terms forever and ever.  Amusingly, he did not know about the last “ever” part.  That cracks me up!

Eventually our beloved characters find themselves deep in the heart of the enemy camp…that is a camp park specifically designed for owners and their pets.  That is where they meet the enemy leader, a toy poodle named Fifi (Glover).  Neither side plans to let Mr. Weenie go without a fight.  This is a film any dog lover will take absolute delight in, as the dogs literally take on a personality of their own in this film.  Can a dictator-like toy poodle really mastermind and take down the resistance fighters that include a 900-pound grizzly bear?  What will happen to the fate of Mr. Weenie?  Most importantly, will Elliot ever conquer his fear and marry Giselle?  For these answers and more, you will just have to find out for yourself when Open Season 2 releases on the Blu-ray format January 27^th .

Video 

Sony brings Open Season 2 to the Blu-ray format with a simply gorgeous and breathtaking video transfer.  I guess that is hard not to do when one is working with a direct digital source, but I found nothing to complain about with the captivating, vibrant and bold treat your television is about to display.  Open Season 2 releases on the Blu-ray format with an eye-popping 1080P AVC MPEG-4 video encode and a 1.78:1 aspect ratio presentation.  This Blu-ray gives new meaning to the word three-dimensional pop.  The characters were unbelievably separated from their environments in the utmost of clarity and detail.  The textures were divine with the intricacy that went into the environments and characters such as fur, rocks, clothing, roads and more.  I think you get the picture.  Although the animation style differed slightly from the likes of Pixar movies, I could not find one complaint to make even after a subsequent viewing of this film.  This is my first 5-star video rating ever for a Sony release.  Good job Sony!

Audio 

Open Season 2 hits the Blu-ray format with a feature Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track.  The dialogue is always loud, clear and prominent throughout the entire mix.  That is a big plus for me.  The soundtrack was a loud one.  I have no complaints there either.  The musical score was mixed in well as were little ambient effects here and there within the rear channels.  This brings me to my only complaint.  Unlike Pixar and Disney films, I think Open Season 2 could have benefited just a little more by increased rear channel utilization.  However, this is a hardly a deal breaker here.  The surround track, although not a perfect 5-star like the video, is definitely one not to be reckoned with and is intended to be heard loud.  A little more activity in the rears is the only complaint I have to make.  Another great job by Sony!

Special Features 

The fun doesn’t stop with the movie itself…oh no…Sony has a few more treats for us in the special features department.  And get this…they are all, for the most part, in glorious High-Definition!  The only downfall is there isn’t much material to go around, but let’s rejoice in the fact that we are not subjected to Standard-Definition garbage.  Take a moment to review all the bonus materials, found below, that Sony provided us on the Blu-ray version of Open Season 2.

• Wacky Weenie Arcade – The “Wacky Weenie Arcade” features five carnival-style games for kids to enjoy.  We are treated to Elliot’s “Go Fetch!” (a Frisbee catch game), “Track That Treat” (a magic shell game), “Fix that ‘Do” (a doggie glam-up activity game), “Boog’s Waterslide Maze Craze” (a game where you navigate your way through a wild waterslide), “Doggie Strength Test” (a ‘ring that bell’ sort of style) and “Save Mr. Weenie!” (a Frogger-style game, where Boog and Elliot must cross busy streets avoiding hunters, speeding traffic and innocent pedestrians).
• Going WILD! With the Voice Cast of Open Season 2 (HD) – Here we have a 14-minute featurette on the comical voice cast of Open Season 2.
• How to Draw Your Favorite Characters: Boog, Elliot & Fifi (HD) – Storyboard artist Sean Allen shows kids how to draw their favorite characters in this 18-minute featurette.
• Deleted Scenes (SD) – There are 3 deleted scenes (“Forever and Ever,” “Reilly’s Family Tree” and “Bald Spot”) that are not fully rendered and appear more like sketches.
• Music Video (HD) – The music video is like a 3-minute Open Season 2 cast mockery of the song “Who Let The Dogs Out.”
• BD-Live – There is BD-Live functionality on the Blu-ray disc of Open Season 2, but at the time of this writing there is nothing to unveil.  All BD-Live functionality for Open Season 2, as stipulated from the press release by Sony, will be live on the servers for its release date, January 27, 2009.
• Previews (HD) – There are High-Definition trailers for Open Season, Surf’s Up, Monster House, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Zathura: A Space Adventure and Daddy Day Care.

Final Thoughts 

All in all, I really can’t say enough good things about this zany animated adventure.  It is a short feature film that both the kids and the parents can enjoy watching together.  You don’t see too many family films of this caliber anymore.  Despite my initial reaction of wanting nothing to do with the review of Open Season 2, I went in with an “open” mind and I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it.  It is not going to win any fancy awards, but hopefully this Blu-ray release will win a spot in your heart.  Let’s recap…you have exceptional reference quality video and amazing soundtrack and a handful of special features to keep your kids busy for hours.  What is not to like about this release.  It is with no qualms that I highly recommend a purchase of this Blu-ray release of Open Season 2.  I think parents, dog lovers and children alike will fall in love with Elliot, Boog, Mr. Weenie and the rest of the gang.  This one gets my two-thumbs up personal recommendation for the whole family to enjoy.

I hope you enjoyed my review of Sony’s Open Season 2 Blu-ray release.  Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.  I look forward to receiving feedback from my readers.

Open Season 2 will be released on Blu-ray January 27, 2009.  If you like what you read in the review above, then please show your support for our site by clicking the shopping cart link above to order and save with Amazon’s Everyday Lowest Price Guarantee.  Thanks for your support!

I love Las Vegas. I haven’t been there that many times but the times I have been there I definitely feel like I am in another world. Everywhere you look, the bright lights and all of the people just make you feel more alive in some way, for me at least. It might be the thrill of winning a bunch of money gambling or the fact that you are in a place known for being sin city, and what happens there stays there. Being based on a true story, 21 should provide anyone who visits Las Vegas with the same dream, to make a boatload of cash.

21 follows Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), an MIT student who is smarter than most. He is recruited by his fellow student, Kate Bosworth in particular. She just happens to be a girl that Ben has dreamed about being with for as long as he can remember. He is asked to join them in a special class that takes place on weekends in Las Vegas. Of course, the training for the class takes place at nights in a classroom within MIT. The professor in charge, Mickey (Kevin Spacey), shows each of his students how they can win boatloads of cash just by counting cards.

The challenge, however, is to stay below the radar of the casino cameras and security. The object, win tons of cash and get out without a whimper. That is easier said than done as it is Cole Williams’ (Lawrence Fishburne) job is to take down those trying to cheat out the casinos of their money. Now, card counting is not illegal, it is just greatly frowned upon and if caught, you can bet Cole is going to teach you a lesson.

That is the task at hand. It is up to Jim and his classmates. Can they get in and get out without all hell breaking loose? Sometimes winning comes at a price.

I really am a big fan of Las Vegas. If I could, I would jump on a plane anytime I felt like it and just go there. Of course, I live in the real world where most people need to work and not waste their time trying to win big gambling. I really enjoyed the story of 21. The acting in the film was quite good and made the film even better. I enjoy most of Kevin Spacey’s work anyway, so that is a positive right off the bat. I was really surprised with how much I liked the performance of Lawrence Fishburne. He played a great spoiler.

Kate Bosworth is just so attractive, watching her on film is as easy as eating a bowl of ice cream. You know it is what you want and without a doubt, you know you are going to enjoy it. Thinking back, with the help of imdb.com, she sure has brown up a lot since Remember the Titans.

I had not seen Jim Sturgess before, although Across the Universe is available on Blu-ray so I may just have to check that out. His performance was quite good as well. He played the not so cool guy but transformed himself into Mr. Las Vegas like it was nothing.

Video

21 is presented on Blu Ray with a 2.40:1 1080P High Definition transfer that is well above average. The Vegas shots are obviously more vibrant than the ones taken place in Boston. The Vegas lights and colors are fantastic with little to no signs of dullness. Skin tones look great. There are absolutely no signs of significant or disruptive grain in the picture. The only grain I did notice was just very minor and you really have to be close to the TV to actually see it.

There were a few instances of softness but nothing to cry about. The only signs of shimmering I noticed was at the very beginning of the film. There is also some minor edge enhancement, but nothing distracting. I just happened to be up close to the picture and noticed it one time. Overall, an impressive transfer.

Audio

Sony has equipped 21 with a fantastic Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English soundtrack. The surrounds are active a bunch throughout the film. The music soundtrack is completely off the charts. Dialogue comes from the front channels as well at times from the surrounds. Bass is used throughout. I was truly impressed with this True HD track. It definitely has the potential to be one of my favorites so far on Blu.

Also included is French and Portuguese in TrueHD 5.1 and Spanish and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1. There are also plenty of subtitle tracks.

Special Features

• 21: The Advantage Player
  • The cast of 21 explains the game of blackjack and how it originated. Also, they go through the art of card counting.
• Basic Strategy: A Complete Film Journal – Making-of Featurette
  • This goes through, just like many other making-of’s, how the film was shot, how great everyone was and how the film came to be.
• Money Plays: A Tour of the Good Life
  • This is a featurette showing the locations where the film was shot, the type of clothes the actors wore.

• Virtual Blackjack
  • This is just like any online card game where you can play blackjack for fun.

• BDLive

Final Thoughts

I liked 21. It was easy to like. I felt the acting performances were well above average and the story itself was top notch. Although the Blu-ray lacks the special features one would expected for such a new film, the audio definitely makes up for it. As I stated in the audio review, I was blown away with this track. Mind you, I won’t compare it to I, Robot but, for a non action film, I was totally impressed.

If I said it once, I have said it a thousand times; Will Smith just knows how to make money when it comes to movies. Sure, he has had some flops, but for the most part, a 100 million box office is almost a given. Tommy Lee Jones is no slouch either, with films such as The Fugitive, No Country for Old Men and Man of the House; he also has a box office draw. Put those two together and what do you have? Well, you have yourself a money making team that is almost sure to entertain.

As stated on the back of the box, “Men in Black follows the exploits of Agents J (Tommy Lee Jones) and J (Will Smith), member of a top-secret organization established to monitor alien activity on Earth. The two MiB find themselves in the middle of a dealt plot by an intergalactic terrorist (Vincent D”Onofrio) who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from the opposing galaxies. K and J face a simple imperative; track down the interloper or Earth will be destroyed.”

Men in Black still holds up well after 11 years since its release. The movie never seems dated and if released today, the film would work just as well as it did back in 1997. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones work very well with each other. Jones is given the role of having the serious demeanor, yet still getting some laughs. Will Smith provides the full comedic relief while not being totally cocky in doing it.

Also, Rip Torn, Tony Shaloub and Vincent D”Onofrio also provide a nice supporting cast making Men in Black a nice, well-rounded film.

The work of Rick Baker and his creations of the alien characters was truly impressive. The aliens are so life-like and never seem to be too over the top crazy. They really make the film that much better.

Video

The 1.85:1 1080p high definition transfer for MiB was not bad. During many of the daytime scenes, there was a slight hint of grain but really did not detract from the film. If you look at the blue skies, you’ll notice the grain. Nothing of color really pops out at you either during the film. The image is clean and looks nice, but, as previously stated, nothing eye popping.

The action sequences are a pleasure to watch and the images of the bugs are almost reali-like.

The transfer is clean of any specs of dirt and blacks are spot on here. Sony does produce a decent transfer but nothing that will blow you out of the water. The audio is the true champion with this disc. I will say that this transfer blows the previous Superbit out of the water, easily.

Audio

The TrueHD 5.1 audio on Men In Black was pretty darn good, aside from the few times I noticed a little bit of tin-like sound. Bass was exceptional. Surrounds were pretty perfect as they were in play throughout this action packed film. Definitely close to showcase audio for your home theater.

TrueHD is also available in French and Portuguese. For those listening in either Spanish or Thai, you are stuck with plain on Dolby Digital. There is also a boatload of subtitles here for almost any language.

Special Features

There is a boatload of special features here, many of them ported over from the MIB 2 Disc that was released long ago. However, three new extras are given to us that were not on the previous DVD discs. Accessing the extras on this disc was a bit troublesome and quite slow. Honestly, if you have the patience, then give it a shot. My disc actually froze during the extras, and I have updated firmware and a fantastic Panasonic BD30. I gave up after the Creatures: Concept to Completion.

• Commentaries
  • Telestrator commentary with Director Barry Sonnenfeld and Tommy Lee Jones
  • Audio commentary with Barry Sonnenfeld and Tommy Lee Jones
  • Technical commentary with Barry Sonnenfeld, Rick Baker and Industrial Light & Magic Team.

• Intergalactic Pursuit: The MIB Multiplayer Trivia Game

• Ask Frank The Pug
  • This is quite a silly extra. Here you can ask the dog questions about money, health, career and what not. Don’t waste your time here.

• Extended and Alternate Scenes
  • Outside Leschko’s Diner
  • Jay MIB audition
  • Mrs. Edelson
  • Chinese Restaurant
  • Bouncing ball with special effects

• Metamorphosis of Men In Black
  • Not a making of but more of a creation of Featurette. Talks with Rick Baker, the actors and the like about how the aliens were created. Definitely a really neat extra and shows how much a genius Rick Baker actually is.

• Original Featurette
  • As the title suggests, this is the basic Featurette of the film. As I always say, if you have seen one, you have seen them all. Just your basic fluff piece.

• Visual Effects scene deconstruction
  • Quite a neat extra that can be a littler tricky to use as I had some issues, but maybe it was just me. You can see storyboards, bluescreen shots and a bunch more from the Tunnel scene and the Edgar Bug Fight.

• Character animation studies
  • Just like the previous extra, here you can view the character animation study of Mikey, Jeebs and the Worm guys. I tried to get some of them to work, such as the adding skin and texture but was unable to get it working. Again, this extra, as well as the previous one is very glitchy. Since it didn’t work right for me, I can’t say I recommended this extra.

• Creatures: Concept to Completion
  • Finally, an extra that worked right. Here you are shown the original concept of the character and then their completed transformation and finished product.

• Galleries

• Scenes editing workshop

• Storyboard Comparisons

• Music video: Men in Black

• Men in Black trailers

• Previews

• BDLive

Final Thoughts

What is nice about Men in Black is that it doesn’t take itself seriously. It is a sci-fi comedy with a boatload of action. I remember watching it the first couple of times and I had a hard time liking the movie. I didn’t know what it was. Maybe at the time it was a case of Will Smith overload. Since then, I have grown to like the film, although I hated the second installment of the film.

With a fantastic audio track on this Blu-ray disc and a pretty decent video transfer, recommending this disc for purchase is easily done.

I’ve made it known in the past that I’m a huge fan of horror movies. I love the feeling you get when you’re scared, the adrenaline rush to the senses that just grasps you throughout your cinematic experience. To date there have been very few horror movies that focus on the theory of human possession and exorcisms, today I will review one such film. Of course there is the one and only pinnacle of horror movies that deal with these subjects, The Exorcist, but unfortunately to my disappointment it hasn’t been put on the Blu yet. Instead today we look at a film that kinda mirrors the ideas present in The Exorcist, but twists the story to focus more on the legal aspects of exorcisms. It’s an interesting concept and ideally an attempt at something new, something we really haven’t seen on film to date. The question is does it work, or will people just reject it as another attempt to dethrone the legendary The Exorcist. Today I will review The Exorcism of Emily Rose on Blu-ray.

The story is said to be based on true events, whether or not that’s true I don’t know, but it does add to the mystery if it is indeed. The story focuses on a nineteen year old Catholic college girl named Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter). Emily dies a couple of days after being submitted to an exorcism carried out by her parish priest, Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson). Emily believed she was possessed by six demons, and although authorized by Emily and he parents, Father Moore is accused of negligent homicide, since he had suggested Emily to interrupt the use of medications for epilepsy. In order to avoid a scandal, the Archdiocese hires the successful, ambitious and agnostic lawyer Erin Bruner (Laura Linney), and the prosecution assigns the religious prosecutor Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott). Along the days, there is a vicious court battle between science and religion. The story is told via flashbacks, all court scenes take place in real-time, and the possessions and exorcises as events already unfolded.

I don’t know, a lot of people really like this movie, but for me it just doesn’t really blow me away. I realize it’s my opinion here and honestly you may love this film, but in the end I was super disappointed when I saw it back in 2005. Maybe it was a misunderstanding going into watching it, I was lead to believe by the trailers that it was going to be a real nail-biter of a horror, but it wasn’t. Instead what you get are a few scenes, maybe 30 minutes, of horror type material mixed into a TV court drama like Law and Order. When the movie does feature scenes of terror and possession it’s really well done, not cheesy like many horrors tend to be. But to me I guess it just wasn’t enough, I want to be thrilled and scared continuously, not given 2 minutes of great stuff and then be back in the courtroom for 20. The movie does have a few great scenes which are super scary and tend to induce the favorite ‘jump’ reaction among its audiences. If you like horror/suspense movies you may want to give it a go if you haven’t seen it yet, but just don’t expect it to scare you stupid.

Video

Emily Rose is presented in Blu-ray standard of 1080p/24, MPEG-4 (AVC), featuring an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. Picture quality is really good, and strong throughout the film. Colors are excellent and super clean, a lot of the scenes focus front and center on people’s faces and the skin tone color was vivid and really life like. Something else I noticed that was extremely pleasant and refreshing was the control of blacks throughout the film. Lately a lot of the Blu’s I’ve reviewed have had really weak night and dark scenes, often suffering from black crush and lose of detail, Emily Rose doesn’t seem to suffer from this. Detail, contrast and sharpness are also very good, this is the way Blu-ray transfers should be. I really have no complaints about this disc’s video transfer.

Audio

There is a plethora of audio tracks on The Exorcism of Emily Rose and again like the Blu-ray edition of Urban Legend, a few odd ones. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix comes in the forms of English, French and Portuguese, if you do Spanish or Thai, its Dolby Digital 5.1 for you. Audio is also very strong and constant throughout the transfer. It’s often very dynamic and ultra pronounced; some scenes with rain and thunder are simply amazing, it will definitely pound your sub and press your tweeters. Sound is always clean and very life like, one scene features a glass that falls and breaks, no word of a lie it sounds like it happened right beside you. Sound detail therefore is also excellent, as you hear every creak and crackle, obviously important in a scary movie. Since a lot of the film features courtroom dialog its key the soundtrack expresses that, which it does, voices are robust and apparent, never over shadowed by the surroundings. I do wish more Blu’s gave this quality of sound.

Special Features

Special features are unfortunately weak, as they are no different than the ones released with the 2005 DVD. Also all specials are in standard definition, another minus, by now special features should be at least partially in Hi-def. The back of the case does say BD-LIVE, but like Urban Legend on Blu I don’t see any interactive 2.0 material or menus. This is what you get….

• “Director’s Commentary” – Not bad, features Writer/Director Scott Derrickson talking about his project and the work that went into creating this tale.

• “Genesis of the Story” - A really interesting featurette that offered some attractive information on the story and production, definitely my favorite pick on the disc.

• “Casting the Movie” - Another featurette, this time focusing on the cast choices.

• “Visual Design” – A look at establishing the appearance and feel for the film.

• “Deleted Scenes” – A few extra scenes that were cut, but nothing that really adds to the film.

Final Thoughts

So I don’t know, if you’re a fan you’ll want it on Blu, if you’ve never seen it you might want it to. If you already own the DVD or aren’t really into this attempt to combine horror and courtroom drama into one you might want to skip it. Despite your choice of opinion on the film, you can’t really argue the transfers. Both video and audio are really really good, there pretty darn close to demo in my opinion. Special features are meh, nothing new, nothing Hi-Def and maybe you can figure why they keep putting in huge letters “BD-Live Enabled” on the back of cases, but nothing on the disc?

An urban legend is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them. The term is often used to mean something akin to an “apocryphal story.” Like all folklore, urban legends are not necessarily false, but they are often distorted, exaggerated, or sensationalized over time. Out of all the urban legends my fav have always been the ones that focus on horror. These are the legends we all know, you know like the classic axe murderer in the backseat, alligators in the sewers, or being buried alive. Today I get the treat to review one such film on Blu……….. Urban Legend.

Urban Legend was released back in 1998 but it is a fresh new catalog title on Blu-ray. The movie begins with a bravura opening sequence featuring Natasha Gregson Wagner getting slaughtered by the killer with an axe hiding in the backseat of her car; Urban Legend tells the story of a group of pretty college students at a remote New England university. The focus of the story is Natalie (Alicia Witt), a beautiful, academically-gifted student at the fictional Pendleton University. Natalie and her friends (who include Jared Leto as a brash journalist, Rebecca Gayheart as her best friend, Michael Rosenbaum as the party-hardy boy, Joshua Jackson as a practical joker and Tara Reid as the sexy campus DJ) are all involved in the Folklore class being taught by Professor Wexler (Robert Englund). Wexler regales his class with urban legends, which include Pendleton’s own urban legend about a Psych professor who murdered six students at Stanley Hall 25 years ago. Natalie is the first one to suspect there’s a killer on campus, especially after she has ties to all of the victims. First, it’s her high school friend, a guy she’s in the woods with at night, her roommate (Danielle Harris)… No one, including her friends, Wexler, Dean Adams (John Neville) and security guard (Loretta Devine), of course, believes her until its too late and everyone begins to die according to famous urban legends, and Natalie believes it’s all tied to a dark and horrible secret from her past. Now she finds that she and her friends are part of the killer’s ultimate urban legend–the story of their own horrific deaths.

Many of the cast in Urban Legend went on to have fairly successful acting careers, so the acting in the movie is fairly decent. Although a bit campy, which is probably on purpose to add to the film, actors like Jared Leto, and Robert Englund really add to the talent list. The film does unfortunately feature Tara Reid, who as most can guess, can’t act to save her life. Overall the story is pretty good, and does provide a few scares now and then, it’s not terrifying or anything, but does have a few well placed ‘jump’ scenes. I might add there are also a few good comic moments too. It is worth sitting down and watching Urban Legend if you have never seen the movie.

Video

Urban Legend is presented on Blu in 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 High Definition featuring a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. As I said before the movie was released in 1998 so the master is about 10 years old. Despite the age and not originally being made for Hi-Def, Urban Legend does have a fairly improved picture quality over the standard DVD. Colors look very good and are not saturated, nor do they bleed. The only issue with color I have is with some of the darker night scenes. There seems to be a bit of a black crush that happens, this somewhat weakens the color, and softens the details. Speaking of detail it is quite strong throughout the rest of the film, minus the problem just mentioned. Contrast is good between blacks and white, as is the sharpness, again night scenes are somewhat hurt by the crushing issue. I do own the SD version so I can safely say it’s a huge improvement when compared side-by-side.

Audio

The audio track features Dolby TrueHD in 5.1 Surround (48kHz/16-bit) in English, French and oddly Portuguese. Also odd it features a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (640kbps) in Spanish and Thai??? While the video is fairly strong, the audio is just kinda… meh. I’m not implying its bad, but it’s just not powerful, nor immersing. I think a lot of this is due to the fact the movie isn’t a shoot em up action, there are no gun fights, car chases or explosions, so you don’t get that edge of your seat audio. The audio is clean and crisp though, just 90% of it is just talking or screaming. There is also very little base in the movie, again most likely just because of the type of movie it is. The musical score does provide some heavier bass moments though.

Special Features

Hmmmmm…. very very lazy is what comes to mind. Urban Legend on Blu features almost zero bonuses, and worst of all they are all in standard def. The back of the case does indicate BD-Live enabled, but for what there is, who cares. This is what you get…..

• “Director’s Commentary” - Just your standard director talk about the film, I fast forwarded through much of it to be honest.
• “Making of Featurette” - A look at the process of setting up and filming Urban Legend, again I didn’t find anything of particular interest that I just NEEDED to see.

Final Thoughts

Urban Legend is a fun film, it’s campy, but it’s supposed to be. A lot of the scenes are very predictable of the horror approach but it’s still interesting none the less. Video is very good, especially for a lower budget film made ten years ago. Audio is ok, nothing mind-blowing, but still crisp and clean. Let’s face it though the special features suck, no nice way to put it. If you don’t own Urban Legend on DVD, you might want to pick it up on Blu, also if you’ve never seen the movie, you might want to as well. If you already own the DVD, you can probably skip this one.