Blu-Ray Review:
The Hangover
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Current Rottentomatoes.com score 78% Fresh: 153 Rotten: 44
From "Old School" director Todd Phillips comes a comedy about a bachelor party gone very, very wrong. Two days before his wedding, Doug (JUSTIN BARTHA) drives to Las Vegas with his best buddies Phil and Stu (BRADLEY COOPER and ED HELMS) and his future brother-in-law Alan (ZACH GALIFIANAKIS), for a blow-out bachelor party they vow they'll never forget. But when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning with pounding headaches, they can't remember a thing. Their luxury hotel suite is beyond trashed and the groom is nowhere to be found. With no clue about what happened and little time to spare, the trio must attempt to retrace their bad decisions from the night before in order to figure out where things went wrong in the hopes of finding Doug and getting him back to L.A. in time for his wedding.--© Warner Bros.
There had been a lot of hype surrounding this movie. Almost everyone I talked too, said it was absolutely hilarious. Now after watching the film, I did think it had its funny parts, but it didn't have me laughing as much as I thought I was going to. The best part about this movie has to be Alan played by Zach Galifianakis. He is so funny. When they wake up in there trashed hotel room and he goes to the bathroom only to find a live Tiger in there with him, his reaction is classic! Also the dentist named Stu played by Ed Helms is really funny. I loved the line he says when he wakes up and notices his tooth is gone, he says "I look like a nerdy hillbilly" The movie has everything you would expect to see in a comedy like this and even things you would not expect to see, like Mike Tyson singing Phil Collins songs. I watched the unrated version but I have not had time to watch the theatrical version to see what is different. I suspect there is more swearing and nudity in the unrated version. The movie did have me laughing just not as much as I was expecting. Does that mean it's a bad movie: absolutely not! It still ranks up there with some of the best comedies.
8 out of 10
Video
The transfer for The Hangover is hard to describe. Yes it looks really nice, but for some reason I wasn't that impressed by it. Is that even possible. The transfer is technically sound, but there is something missing. Flesh tones are natural and well defined, black levels are at there inky best in most scenes. Detail is also well done. Close-ups of the actors faces show every pore and in the case of Allen, every hair in his beard. Bradley Coopers shirt is a good example of the detail, it's ripped and soaked with blood. Evidence of what really happened at that bachelor party. When we see Stu looking at his missing tooth in the mirror, you can see every bloody detail. Colours in the film for the most part are warm and inviting. Night scenes are not as detailed as those that were shot in the day. I did detect quite a lot of edge enhancement. Plus I noticed a bit of noise in certain scenes as well. Overall this disc is pretty good considering comedies usually are not the best looking discs.
7 out of 10
Audio
For the Audio Warner has given us a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. I was disappointed in this track, if I am being honest. It ends up being a very front heavy mix, with not a lot going on. After watching it I found myself thinking it could have been a stereo track and you wouldn't be missing much. I did find the dialogue to be clear and easy to hear, even when a lot of things were going on. Surround channels were pretty much non-existent, which is a shame because I saw many areas in the film that they could have been used to great effect. Now there are some scenes where the track comes alive, like when they are speeding along the highway or getting rammed by a big SUV. The LFE channel is pretty active adding weight to some of the effects. When they get rammed by the SUV it sure makes you feel it. Unfortunately the LFE channel can't help Mike Tyson's singing. The track is decent but fails to impress.
6 out of 10
Extras
Here is what you get in the way of extras
Picture-in-Picture Commentary
Map of Destruction
The Madness of Ken Jeong
Action Mash-Up
Three Best Friends Song
The Dan Band!
Gag Reel
More Pictures from the Missing Camera
BD-Live Functionality
Lately comedies have been coming out with a treasure trove of material. The Hangover is the exception to that comment. There isn't one extra here that is really worth your time. The PIP commentary has a few laughs but is mostly a long boring waste of time. There are pauses and stretches where there is nothing going on making it all the more useless. Even though the extras are in HD, most of them are so short they are not even worth you time. I did think that some of the outtakes from "The Madness of Ken Jeong" were funny but that's about it. For a movie that made Warner Bros a lot of money they are really sticking it to the fans of this film.
3 out of 10
Overall
If you're a fan of the film I would recommend it if you can get it for a good deal. For everyone else I suggest renting it, until Warner gives us the disc we deserve.
6 out of 10