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Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Wedding Crashers (1 Viewer)

Citizen87645

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
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May 9, 2002
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13,056
Real Name
Cameron Yee


Wedding Crashers

Release Date: December 30, 2008
Studio: New Line Cinema
Packaging/Materials: Single-disc Blu-Ray case
Year: 2005
Rating: R (theatrical version) / NR ("uncorked" version)
Running Time: 1h59m (theatrical version) / 2h07m ("uncorked" version)
MSRP: $28.99

MAIN FEATURESPECIAL FEATURES
Video1080p high definition 16x9 2.40:1May be in standard definition
AudioDolby TrueHD: English 5.1; Dolby Digital: English 5.1Audio standards my vary
SubtitlesEnglish and SpanishNone


The Feature: 4/5
There's no way to sugarcoat it. John and Jeremy (Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn) crash weddings to sleep with women. And they're really good at it - the wedding crashing, that is (the sleeping with women we can only assume). On the last big stop of the season, John meets the bride's sister Claire (Rachel McAdams) and begins to fall in love while Jeremy meets the other sister Gloria (Isla Fisher) and is scared as hell. But Jeremy is willing to do about anything for his best friend, including putting up with a sex-crazed firecracker for a weekend. Of course the whole family will find out about the wedding crashing eventually; John just needs Claire to hear it from him first. But since Zack (Bradley Cooper), her ultra-competitive, blowhard of a boyfriend, is always around, that's not going to be easy.

Though wedding crashing is perhaps more lame than reprehensible, being a mooch and a player aren't exactly endearing qualities. Fortunately the creators of "Wedding Crashers" made John and Jeremy the coolest uninvited guests ever (so cool they could probably sell their services to make weddings more fun than they sometimes are). Not to mention the two are shown the error of their ways by finding true love in the midst of their matrimonial cynicism. Along with an all around stellar cast and some truly hiliarious one and (in the case of Vaughn) multi-liners, "Wedding Crashers" strikes a nice balance between poking fun at weddings and celebrating their foundational element.

"Wedding Crashers" on Blu-Ray includes an unrated cut of the film that has eight minutes of material not shown in theaters. Much of the added material is superfluous, as evidenced in the commentary track by Wilson and Vaughn, who have a less than enthusiastic response to the first of the scenes.


Video Quality: 3.5/5
Accurately framed at 2.40:1, the video is encoded in VC-1 and generally free of blemishes. Grain appears reduced, evidenced by the sometimes abnormally smooth skin surfaces and overall grain-free image. Wide shots also show a noticeable drop in detail - most visible with crowd shots, of which there are several given the number of weddings the main characters attend. Contrast is also a bit variable, sometimes exhibiting mild black crush and at other times looking too hot or washed out. Flesh tones can also vary, though colors in general have decent depth and pop.


Audio Quality: 3/5
The Dolby TrueHD audio track is primarily front-focused with nominal activity in the surrounds for some atmospheric effects and light music cues. LFE is practically non-existent except for a few choice body blows during the touch football game. Dialogue is consistentely clear and intelligible.

The 640 kbps 5.1 Dolby Digital track sounds less expansive in comparison, but I expect most would only tell with aggressive A-B switching.


Special Features: 3/5
The Blu-Ray release includes the majority of extras from the 2006 DVD edition, with the exception of the DVD-ROM items.

Commentary by Director David Dobkin: Dobkin provides an informative track covering the bases of film development and production along with some personal thoughts and analysis.

Commentary by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn: Wilson and Vaughn aren't particularly focused and tend to state the obvious, but peppered here and there are some amusing stories.

"Event Planning" (11m35s): A glimpse behind the scenes of production, focusing on the five different weddings in the film.

"The Rules of Wedding Crashing" (7m27s): Film clips edited with interviews of Vaughn and Wilson present the various rules.

Deleted Scenes (7m49s): Four scenes with optional commentary by Dobkin.

Teaser Trailer (1m26s):

Theatrical Trailer (2m32s)

The Sights "Circus" Music Video (3m07s)


Recap

The Feature: 4/5
Video Quality: 3.5/5
Audio Quality: 3/5
Special Features: 3/5
Overall Score (not an average): 3.5/5

An entertaining and endearing comedy gets average treatment across the board.
 

cafink

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 19, 1999
Messages
3,044
Real Name
Carl Fink
I enjoyed this film a lot more than I thought I would.

I'm extremely pleased to see that both the theatrical and extended editions are included. I've actually been rather surprised to see how many "extended edition" Blu-ray discs include the theatrical version as well, as that didn't seem to be the case very frequently on DVD (admittedly, Wedding Crashers was one of the few DVDs that did include both versions on the same disc).

That makes me want to purchase it all the more. I'm much less concerned about supplements than most HTF forum-goers, but it's important to me to be able to own the version of the film I saw in theaters, a sentiment most forum-goers don't seem to share. It's nice to see all audiences being catered to with Wedding Crashers. Bravo, New Line!
 

Loregnum

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 31, 2008
Messages
112
Real Name
Rob
I figure I'll probably get this down the line sometime.

Cameron I just do not get some of your reviews though. You give this video 3.5/5 and mention possible grain reduction and loss of detail in wide shots yet The Dark Knight had those same issues in the non IMAX shots and you called it reference despite the fact it is far from reference. Weird.
 

Citizen87645

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 9, 2002
Messages
13,056
Real Name
Cameron Yee
For "Wedding Crashers" I took points off for the DNR, the drop in detail and the contrast issues, problems which are not present in "The Dark Knight."

Here's what I wrote about the Dark Knight (not that I want to drag that discussion in to this thread, but I'm sure the moderators will help out on that):


EDIT: Ah, I see now you were saying that you disagree with my evaluation and not that I was being inconsistent (i.e. scoring one title higher and another lower despite both having the same issues). That's a relief.
htf_images_smilies_smile.gif
 

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