The Hungover Games Blu-ray delivers stunning video and audio, but overall it's a mediocre Blu-ray release
Bradley, Ed and Zach have survived other bachelor parties gone wrong, but this time they must survive The Hungover Games and find their friend Doug before it's too late.
For more about The Hungover Games and the The Hungover Games Blu-ray release, see the The Hungover Games Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on April 7, 2014 where this Blu-ray release scored 2.5 out of 5.
Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. The cleverly titled but otherwise atrocious The Hungover Games opens with a text blurb that says
something about a rebellion against a Hollywood system that's run out of new ideas. So what does Director Josh Stolberg's (Writer, Sorority Row, Piranha 3DD) film do? It follows modern Parody convention to
disastrous fault, never once even toying with a smidgen of creativity or novelty, content to simply rehash all of the standard genre gags that amount
to little more than throwing random movie characters and popular culture references up against the wall with only cursory care for form, structure, or
coherency. Maybe that's part of the joke, but the movie is almost nothing more than a slog through recycled and dull material that was bad in
movies like Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie and is not appreciably better here.
Beam us up to a better movie.
Four friends -- Doug (John Livingston), Zach (Herbert Russell), Ed (Ben Begley), and Bradley (Ross Nathan) -- are preparing the bachelor party of
a
lifetime, or at least the best bachelor party they can string together. Doug is marrying is longtime boyfriend Tracey (Sam Pancake) and they've
gathered together at the Chief Loose Slots Casino, situated in a run-down hotel that advertises caked-on semen in its rooms as a selling point.
Zach has brought along a plethora of hallucinogens. Suddenly, Ed, Zach, and Bradley awaken in the future where Doug is missing and they are
told they must
participate in "The Hungover Games," a fight to the death with other representatives from various "pantheon[s] of pop culture." Along the way, Ed
meets Katnip (Rita Volk), a beautiful young lady with whom he is head-over-heels in love.
While The Hungover Games' targets aren't completely scattershot -- there's at least a semblance of a purpose behind some of the
inclusions past the obvious Hunger Games and Hangover references on which the film is built -- the picture relies
heavily on gratuitous references for
no other reasons than why not. There's precious little structure beyond the base plot advancement, and many of the parody targets seem
inserted at random, such a Johnny Depp sequence here or a stray Avatar sighting there (and the film peculiarly chooses some films that
haven't fallen out of favor but that are certainly not first-and-foremost on audiences' minds these days). Other films, TV shows, and personalities
that make an "appearance" include Carrie, Ted, Django Unchained, Thor, The Walking Dead, The Lord of the Rings, The Human Centipede, The Muppets, and ESPN television personalities Skip Bayless and
Stephen A. Smith.
Sadly, the movie never does make creative, fun use of its parade of parody. The picture is largely humorless and woefully flat, a movie that
moves linearly with the only surprise when and how -- not usually why -- it chooses to incorporate certain elements into the loose storyline. To
compensate, the
picture never shies away from gratuity, embracing ample female top-half nudity, plenty of rubber male sex organs, and crude language aplenty, all
part of a basic
storyline that revolves round a homosexual marriage. In short, it's not something for easily offended or traditional audiences. Even progressive
viewers, however, will likely be turned off not so much by the basic content but rather the film's failure to do anything with it other than slather it
all over
the screen just because it can, not because it has anything to say.
The Hungover Games arrives on Blu-ray with a slick, practically pristine 1080p transfer. Sony's picture, sourced from an HD video shoot, is a
little flat and not particularly cinematic, but it offers exceptional clarity and constant stability. The image is immaculately defined, showcasing stable,
revealing details throughout, whether battered furniture in a hotel room seen early in the film or close-ups of tree bark and vegetation midway through
the movie. Facial and clothing textures are wonderfully realistic, revealing the finest lines and seams, respectively. Colors are brilliant and bold. This
is an abundantly colorful movie; everything from purple lipstick to green grasses sparkles. Black levels are solid and flesh tones appear accurate. No
stray blocking, jagged edges, or major bouts of noise are visible. The movie's no good, but its transfer is a real looker.
The Hungover Games' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is just as impressive as the razor-sharp 1080p video transfer. The track
presents listeners with big, bold musical cues that are nicely spaced -- including a healthy surround sound element -- and deep, pronounced bass. The
big battle sequence, and several other action-oriented moments, deliver all the chaos with precision stage placement and the proper potency. For
example, a swarm of bees buzzes throughout the entire listening area in chapter seven. The film also features clean, accurate dialogue.
The Hungover Games contains two brief film-related extras.
Go Deep Inside The Hungover Games (HD, 15:29): A shallow making-of feature that offers plenty of interview snippets,
presented largely in a humorous tone. A large amount of behind-the-scenes footage is included.
The Hungover Games is rarely funny and offers nothing of value. If the target audience is happy to only see their favorite movies and
characters make random appearances with little regard for plot cohesion, storytelling, or purpose, the movie delivers, though without quite the variety
of some of the other awful genre films. Otherwise, it's a curiosity at best and most will likely find it a waste of 80 minutes. Sony's Blu-ray release of
The Hungover Games does deliver stellar video and audio. A few throwaway extras are included, including a 15-minute featurette that's often
funnier than the movie. Skip it.
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