Old Dogs Blu-ray

Old Dogs

 (2009)

Comedy | Family



Two best friends -- one unlucky-in-love divorcee and the other a fun-loving bachelor -- have their lives turned upside down when they're unexpectedly charged with the care of 7-year-old twins while on the verge of the biggest business deal of their lives. The not-so-kid-savvy bachelors stumble in their efforts to take care of the twins, leading to one debacle after another, and perhaps to a new-found understanding of what's really important in life.

For more details about Old Dogs on Blu-ray, see the Old Dogs Blu-ray Review

Starring: John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston, Ella Bleu Travolta, Bernie Mac
Director: Walt Becker

Old Dogs Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Overzealous contrast leveling and bronzed skintones notwithstanding, Old Dogs bumbles onto Blu-ray with a fit and faithful 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer. Jeffrey Kimball's spray-on-tan palette, while far from beautiful, is accurately preserved with vibrant colors, flashy primaries, and deep, well-resolved blacks. His searing skies come dangerously close to assaulting the proceedings, but it all works well within the exaggerated confines of Becker's chummy comedy. More importantly, detail remains strong throughout. Edge definition is clean and satisfying, textures are sharp and refined (particularly during closeups), and delineation, though a bit unforgiving, is fairly revealing (minus a few scenes set in a dimly lit apartment). Witness the ravines that form along Williams' forehead, the tidy stitches on Travolta's suits, and the bristling fur on Green's gorilla. Some soft shots sneak in, sure, but each instance should be attributed to Kimball's original photography, not Disney's technical transfer. Likewise, source noise appears on occasion (a nighttime pan of the city is especially problematic), but artifacting, banding, aliasing, crush, edge enhancement, DNR, and other pesky nonsense is nowhere to be found. All things considered, Old Dogs looks as good as it should, and fans will be pleased with the results.

Old Dogs Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


The same applies to Old Dogs' bombastic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. While the film's lumbering, blunt-force-trauma sound design didn't do much to win me over, Disney's lossless outing is commendable, powerful even, and continually gets the job done. Dialogue is crisp, intelligible, and nicely prioritized; LFE output lends weight and heft to every pratfall, jetpack, and exploding clay pigeon; and aggressive rear speaker support effectively spreads lunging penguins and noisy crowds around the film's already convincing soundfield. Moreover, directionality is precise (despite its artificial nature), dynamics are punchy, and pans are breezy and smooth. Inherent issues limit the impact of the experience -- John Debney's music is often either overbearing or underwhelming, and sound effects have been beefed up to heighten the gags they accompany -- but again, that's the nature of the genre beast. I doubt anyone will bemoan the technical quality of Disney's track, even if the soundscape it presents is primed to induce migraines. Suffice to say, the more you enjoy the film, the more you'll adore this Master Audio mix.

Old Dogs Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Disney Offering $10 Coupon for Old Dogs Blu-ray - March 9, 2010


• Old Dogs Blu-ray Announced and Detailed - February 1, 2010

Old Dogs Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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