Disaster Movie Blu-ray despite great video and audio falls short as a Blu-ray release
In 'Disaster Movie', the filmmaking team behind the hits 'Scary Movie', 'Date Movie', 'Epic
Movie' and 'Meet The Spartans' puts this time its unique, inimitable stamp on one of the
biggest and most bloated movie genres of all time -- the disaster film. 'Disaster Movie' follows
the comic misadventures of a group of ridiculously attractive twenty-somethings during one
fateful night as they try to make their way to safety while every known natural disaster and
catastrophic event -- asteroids, twisters, earthquakes, the works -- hits the city and their path
as they try to solve a series of mysteries to end the rampant destruction. Taking aim at
everything and everyone, from Indiana Jones and Iron Man to Amy Winehouse and 'High School
Musical', 'Disaster Movie' lampoons the blockbuster movie, pop culture icons and public figures
along the way as Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer satirize everything as only they can.
Wake up and smell the Prius! I know it's an inconvenient truth but it's called 'global
warming.'
Disaster Movie redefines cinematic absurdity. The film's one saving accomplishment lies
in its adding to the lexicon of cinema adjectives, the film so bad that its very name may now be
used to describe the worst of cinematic blunders (The Hills Have Eyes 2
is a 'Disaster Movie'!). One must wonder if the title was chosen as a play on words, because the
film so aptly suits the title and the title the film; there is nothing subtle in calling a disaster a
disaster. As anyone even remotely familiar
with the film's co-writers and co-directors, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Meet the Spartans,
Epic Movie), may know, their movies incorporate both cinematic and popular culture
references into a barely coherent plot that play to the lowest common denominator. Their
movies might be rubbish (Disaster Movie currently holds down the number two spot on
Internet Movie Database's bottom 100 movies, while Epic
Movie ranks at number 67), but audiences continue to spend their moviegoing dollars on
such rubbish, though with decreasing regularity. Disaster Movie grossed only $14.1
million,
while its predecessor, Spartans (pound-for-pound a worse movie), grossed $38.2 million.
Only time will tell if the low returns will spell the end of these cataclysmic films once and for all.
'Disaster Movie' on Blu-ray makes Martin a dull boy.
It's no surprise the movie is terrible; if one had to wager on what would be better, the next
Friedberg/Seltzer or Uwe Boll film, the
smart money would be on Uwe. Disaster Movie fails to even offer a coherent script;
"lazy" doesn't even begin to define it. Every line of dialogue and every plot development are
obviously and painfully forced. It's as if the writers randomly pulled the name of a movie or
celebrity out of
a hat and built a segment around them. "Scene 34 calls for a movie. [Shuffle].
Superbad it is! Oh, scene 11 needs a celebrity. [Shuffle]. Hannah Montana! Hilarious!"
A randomly generated computer script couldn't have come up with
anything as disjointed as this.
Believe it or not, there are one or two measly positives to come
out of the
Disaster Movie experience. For example, the film actually features a couple of "decent"
ideas, like
Alvin and the Chipmunks transforming into some sort of satanic metal band, but such moments
are rarer than the Pittsburgh Pirates achieving a winning season. The film also so poorly
parodies other movies, that even lesser films, like 10,000 B.C., suddenly seem
Oscar-worthy in comparison. Last but not least, as alluded to above, Disaster Movie is
slightly more watchable than Meet the Spartans, but saying one is better than the other
is like saying it's better to be strafed by an A-10 Warthog than it is to be shot in the face with a
.50
caliber rifle. Neither is a pleasing prospect.
Lionsgate's Blu-ray release of Disaster Movie features an above average video transfer,
presented in 1080p and inside a 1.78:1 frame. The film begins somewhat questionably, with dull
blacks and little fine detail. The early scenes tackling 10,000 B.C. are bright but slightly
washed out and devoid of fine detail, though foreground detail, notably of actors, is acceptable. The
transfer picks up considerably once it gets past this opening sequence. The level of fine detail
increases noticeably; clothing, backgrounds, and various odds and ends scattered throughout the
frame take on a strong, quality appearance. The image is generally sharp and clear, with little
softness, minimal grain, and no print anomalies. Colors appear bold and lively, but never overblown.
The transfer features an appreciable level of depth. Flesh tones hold steady and accurate
throughout. Lionsgate has done well by this film, and they continue to release quality Blu-rays,
even on lesser titles such as this one.
Disaster Movie explodes onto Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless soundtrack. It's a
shame that a perfectly good 7.1 channel soundtrack is wasted on this "disaster movie," because it's
actually an
above-average track. It feature thunderous bass and plenty of surround use. The Gladiator
sequence packs a decent thud, as do various impacts throughout the film. Popular music thumps
nicely in several scenes later on. A marching band performance (the High School Musical
sequence) in chapter four is tough to watch but far from an objectionable listen, the pop track
positively filling
the soundstage with the song's beats. When the actual disaster gets underway, a meteor strike as
heard in chapter five features a nice spread of sound through the speakers, flowing naturally around
the room. Dialogue reproduction is also solid from start to finish. The track is never an
embarrassment. Too bad the same cannot be said for the film it accompanies.
Disaster Movie features a decent spread of supplemental materials. First up is
Bonusview Picture-in-Picture With Cast and Crew. This Blu-ray profile 1.1 features video
commentary with Aaron Seltzer, Jason Friedberg, producer Kenny Yates, and actors Vanessa
Minnillo, Gary 'G Thang' Johnson, and Matt Lanter. For the sake of your display, please hold the
rotten fruit. Eight featurettes, presented in 1080i high definition, are included: Straight From
the Ladies (3:59), G-Thang's Tour (10:18), This is How We Do It (9:05),
Girl Fight (1:41), Sitting Down With a Stand-Up (7:48), Who's Spoofing Who?
(4:21), I'm !@#$%^& Matt Damon Sing Along (3:59), and High School Musical
Sing Along (4:09). This disc is also "Molog" enabled, allowing users with a BD-Live (Blu-ray
profile 2.0)-enabled player to discuss the film with other users as it plays. The package concludes
with 1080p trailers for My Bloody Valentine 3-D, The Spirit, War, Crank, Lord of War, and The Punisher.
Films like Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans give a bad name to the
once-proud parody genre. Long gone, it seems, are the days of Spaceballs, Hot
Shots!, and UHF, such classics now replaced with dreck like this. Hopefully, this classic
genre will make a comeback, and here's hoping that the aforementioned titles see Blu-ray releases
sooner rather than later to hold down the fort until reinforcements arrive. For the morbidly curious,
Disaster Movie arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate with a strong video transfer, a great
lossless audio track, and a few bonus materials. The question, however, is: will anyone buy or rent
the disc to actually notice these positives?
Lionsgate Home Entertainment has announced the special features for the upcoming Blu-ray releases of 'Bangkok Dangerous' and 'Disaster Movie', both due to hit store shelves on January 6th. Technical specs are still yet to be revealed, but you can expect 1080p AVC ...
Lionsgate Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the Nicholas Cage film 'Bangkok Dangerous' and the comedy 'Disaster Movie' to Blu-ray on January 6th, day-and-date with the DVD releases. No technical specs have been announced at this time, though ...
