HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: THE BOUNTY HUNTER (1 Viewer)

[Timothy E]

THE BOUNTY HUNTER

Studio: Sony Tri-Star

Year: 2010

Rated: PG-13

Film Length: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1080p High Definition Widescreen (2.35:1)

Audio: English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, Portuguese DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Release Date: July 13, 2010

The Movie

Nicole (Jennifer Aniston) is an investigative reporter who gets in so far over her head on her latest news story that she misses her arraignment in court on a minor charge. Enter Milo (Gerard Butler), the bounty hunter who is also Nicole’s aggrieved ex-husband who takes the assignment to track down Nicole and bring her to justice. Various disreputable types are looking for both Milo and Nicole as they gradually and reluctantly join forces against their best wishes.

If this premise sounds familiar, it is probably because you have seen other variations of this concept in other films. The Bounty Hunter is neither the best nor the worst rendition of this idea, but it falls somewhere in between, in spite of an excellent cast of supporting actors and great use of location shooting in New York and New Jersey. Director Andy Tennant (Hitch, Fool’s Gold) stages some fine action set pieces between vignettes in which Aniston and Butler chew the scenery as ex-spouses who, in fine movie logic, hate each other so much that they must really love each other. Unfortunately, the Bounty Hunter tries to be twice as funny and entertaining as it actually is; this kind of love story has been done funnier and better in other films like Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday (1940).

Video

The movie is in 1080p high definition in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The picture quality is consistently good. There is a minimal amount of grain apparent as to be expected with a movie filmed on high definition cameras. Although there is some edge enhancement and DNR, it is applied sparingly and seems to present the film consistent with its theatrical presentation.

Audio

The English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks are adequate for the demands of this film. The volume of dialogue is always appropriate and properly audible over the music and sound effects. I really can find no fault with the audio, but I would not necessarily play this disc to demonstrate my sound system.

Special Features

The special features include all of the following:

Making The Bounty Hunter (17:42): Cast and crew provide enthusiastic comments about the making of this film.

Stops Along The Road: Hunting Locations (11:21): Interesting featurette about the locations used for The Bounty Hunter.

Rules For Outwitting A Bounty Hunter (1:21): Short with scenes from the film explaining in pseudo-comedic terms the ways you can outwit a bounty hunter.

BD Live Blu Ray players connected to the internet can access the movieIQ feature, which presents information about the cast, crew, production, and music during the movie via a pop-up window. The window takes up about one-third of the screen when it appears.

Trailers for make.believe (1:02), The Back-Up Plan (2:25), Chloe (2:07), and Get Low (2:08) appear by default after the disc is loaded and prior to the main menu. These trailers are also included in the Previews menu of the special features, as are the following previews:

The Runaways (0:49)

Nine (2:32)

Extraordinary Measures (2:07)

Dear John (2:25)

Not The Messiah (He’s A Very Naughty Boy) (1:58)

The Pillars of the Earth (1:44)

There is curiously not an actual trailer for The Bounty Hunter anywhere on this disc, unless it is hidden as an Easter egg.

Also included is a second disc with digital copy for the mobile device of your choice.

Conclusion

If you like anything starring Jennifer Aniston or Gerard Butler, then go out right now and buy this film. If you are the target audience for this film, you probably have a good idea already if you will like it or not. On the other hand, The Bounty Hunter is not the film to win you over to romantic comedies if this is not your cup of tea. The audio and video presentation are consistently better than the film being served. The special features are probably adequate to satisfy anyone’s curiosity about the making of this film. The Bounty Hunter has a great cast with excellent direction and production values; unfortunately, the whole is not greater than the sum of the individual parts, and The Bounty Hunter is merely an average romantic comedy, in spite of its potential to be more than that.