Blu-ray Review Crazy Rich Asians Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Todd Erwin]

Todd Erwin submitted a new blog post

Crazy Rich Asians Blu-ray Review

Continue reading the Original Blog Post.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Nice review!

Weird about Warner not including the 7.1 track. We know it's Warner's policy to not include anything more advanced than 5.1 on 3D discs, but their BD policy for the past couple years has been to include the best available track on the 2D version.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Warner has been doing some crazy stuff lately (no pun intended). Why are Atmos tracks the default on Blu-ray but not on UHD, for example.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I'm surprised they even released this in 7.1. It doesn't strike me as being the kind of film that needs two more channels.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Thanks for the review, Todd. I'm looking forward to adding this to my collection when it's lower than $22.99. WB (and Disney's) street date pricing over the past couple of years has been steep, and I just can't do that for every title.

 

[darkrock17]

I don't why studios love to skimp on features, this film should have extensive making of documentary and featurette's.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don't why studios love to skimp on features, this film should have extensive making of documentary and featurette's.

I don’t think it’s a matter of loving to skimp - I think it’s driven by the knowledge that, in most cases, bonus features don’t drive sales. Most viewers never watch them either.

Warner tested this out around 2005. Prior to that, they simply released one SKU per title, with all the bonus features. Then they experimented with putting out simultaneously a bare bones single disc version and a two disc version with special features. The bare bones version was cheaper, but only by a dollar or two on street date. Without fail, customers preferred the cheaper, featureless versions.

That was the beginning of the end for high quality bonus features on standard releases.

If the mass of regular customers were interested in them and if they drove sales, I have little doubt that studios would continue producing them.

 

[Tino]

Nice review!

Weird about Warner not including the 7.1 track. We know it's Warner's policy to not include anything more advanced than 5.1 on 3D discs, but their BD policy for the past couple years has been to include the best available track on the 2D version.

Weird is right. I saw this in a Dolby Cinema theater with the 7.1 track and it sounded terrific with great discrete placement of sound and music throughout the film. The surround channels were very active. Sad that awesome track isn’t included. The film definitely benefited from it.

Terrific film and my 4K disc is arriving tomorrow.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I don’t think it’s a matter of loving to skimp - I think it’s driven by the knowledge that, in most cases, bonus features don’t drive sales. Most viewers never watch them either.

Warner tested this out around 2005. Prior to that, they simply released one SKU per title, with all the bonus features. Then they experimented with putting out simultaneously a bare bones single disc version and a two disc version with special features. The bare bones version was cheaper, but only by a dollar or two on street date. Without fail, customers preferred the cheaper, featureless versions.

That was the beginning of the end for high quality bonus features on standard releases.

If the mass of regular customers were interested in them and if they drove sales, I have little doubt that studios would continue producing them.

The curious thing about bonus features is the fact that some high-profile releases - like "CRA" - skimp on them, but then you'll get bombs that are packed.

Look at "Kin". The movie was a complete flop but the Blu-ray comes with a commentary, a nearly-2-hour documentary, another hour-long documentary, deleted scenes, a short film and more!

 

[Carlo_M]

Todd Erwin submitted a new blog post
Unfortunately, Warner decided to forego a 4K UHD release (although it is available in 4K UHD on various digital platforms) and instead offered up the movie on Blu-ray.

I don't think that's true, right? Tino says his 4K is coming tomorrow, and Best Buy just sent me my shipping notice for my 4K, scheduled to arrive next week. I know it was hard to locate (no Best Buy in SoCal had one in stock, Target didn't even list one, and Amazon's page says "will ship within 1-2 months") but a 4K disc was produced. I bet it just got stuck in that production capacity issue that plagued many discs this holiday season (like 2001 4K).

 

[Tino]

I don't think that's true, right? Tino says his 4K is coming tomorrow, and Best Buy just sent me my shipping notice for my 4K, scheduled to arrive next week. I know it was hard to locate (no Best Buy in SoCal had one in stock, Target didn't even list one, and Amazon's page says "will ship within 1-2 months") but a 4K disc was produced. I bet it just got stuck in that production capacity issue that plagued many discs this holiday season (like 2001 4K).

Correct. It’s not true. There is indeed a 4K version released the same day. Almost impossible to find in stores but available online from all of them.

Mine is coming tomorrow. Ordered on Tuesday from Amazon.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Officially, the 4K was never announced and thus was not included on the press release. I even checked with my PR contact at the studio and was told that the title wasn't being released on 4k. I think we can chalk this up to where the studio decided not to announce in case quantities were limited, as it seems to be the case.

 

[Tino]

Well the 4K preorder went live on November 3 so Warner knew at least before then that a 4K was being released.

The point is there is a 4K version available to purchase right now.

 

[Mike Frezon]

The Blu of this title is poised to drop to $9.99 this coming week at Best Buy. (I'm hoping Amazon matches that.)

I almost pulled the trigger on it during a trip today to Target. The price was $14.99 (which is also the Amazon price right now). So I might bite on that $9.99 price.

Everyone here seems pretty positive about the film.

 

[Tino]

The Blu of this title is poised to drop to $9.99 this coming week at Best Buy. (I'm hoping Amazon matches that.)

I almost pulled the trigger on it during a trip today to Target. The price was $14.99 (which is also the Amazon price right now). So I might bite on that $9.99 price.

Everyone here seems pretty positive about the film.

I think you and Peg will love the film Mike. Just a hunch.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I think you and Peg will love the film Mike. Just a hunch.

Don't go playin' your hunches, Tino. We hated it.

A dumb, hackneyed plot with really stiff, flat writing. Performances were generally quite good...but it was hard keeping the relationships between all the characters straight. Singapore looked interesting...and I REALLY liked Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh in this. But that's about as far as I can go.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I bought a digital copy of this months ago during a Vudu sale. Tonight I miraculously had no new episodes of any of my shows, so I decided to give it a watch.

I liked it a lot. It's an assembly of very old pieces, ranging from modern rom-coms to the very old school class conflict romantic comedies like The Philadelphia Story. The movie is full of cliches, but they're cliches for a reason: because they work.

The setting and the cast of characters made something that would otherwise feel very stale a lot more interesting. I loved the dance between Constance Wu's character and Michelle Yeoh's character. I particularly loved their final confrontation, at the Mahjong table.

The wrap up felt over the top, and a bit too neat. But the journey to get there was engaging. Gemma Chan does good work giving her character a complete arc in a small number of scenes.