21 Jump Street Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as Schmidt and Jenko, an odd couple who graduated from the police academy only by combining their efforts. Schmidt and Jenko end up partnered together as mediocre police officers whose juvenile antics land them in an undercover assignment to infiltrate a high school, as students, to shut down a drug ring.  21 Jump Street is the theatrical remake of the Fox Network TV series that aired originally from 1987 to 1991. The screenplay by Jonah Hill and Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) emphasizes ironic humor much more than the comparatively straight-laced TV series.  The result is a funny, self-referential film that mostly succeeds because it never takes itself and its concept too seriously.

21 JUMP STREET BLU-RAY REVIEW

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Year: 2012

Rated: R

Film Length: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1080p High Definition Widescreen (1.78:1)

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Thai DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, French, Chinese (Mandarin Simplified), Chinese (Mandarin Traditional), Indonesian/Bahasa, Korean, Thai

Release Date: June 26, 2012

The Movie

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as Schmidt and Jenko, an odd couple who graduated from the police academy only by combining their efforts. Schmidt and Jenko end up partnered together as mediocre police officers whose juvenile antics land them in an undercover assignment to infiltrate a high school, as students, to shut down a drug ring. They find themselves answering to their irascible new boss, Captain Dickson(Ice Cube), who is looking for any excuse to throw them off his squad.

21 Jump Street is the theatrical remake of the Fox Network TV series that aired originally from 1987 to 1991. The series was created by Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh, who were also the creators of Hardcastle & McCormick for the ABC Network. The original series starred Johnny Depp, Michael DeLuise, Holly Peet Robinson, Dustin Nguyen, Richard Grieco, and Steven Williams.

This film is directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who previously co-directed Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and shared executive producer credits in the past for such TV series as Clone High and How I Met Your Mother. The screenplay by Jonah Hill and Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) emphasizes ironic humor much more than the comparatively straight-laced TV series.

The result is a funny, self-referential film that mostly succeeds because it never takes itself and its concept too seriously. This approach to reviving TV shows as theatrical films can have mixed results but it works for this film, perhaps because it has some heart beneath the comedy. As Schmidt and Jenko find themselves reliving their school days, they find themselves reversing their roles from their first time through as high school seniors in a way that expands their personal limitations for the better and creates some funny moments for the film.

Video

The movie is in 1080p high definition in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. This is an excellent Blu-ray transfer. Colors are vibrant and well saturated, shadow detail and fine detail are great throughout, contrast is uniformly sharp, and grain and DNR are minimal to non-existent.

Audio

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks have some nice directional audio, especially during the action sequences in the finale. Most dialogue originates in the front channels with rear speakers deployed well for full immersion for ambient sounds and music.

Special Features

The special features are all in high definition and include all of the following:

Commentary: Stars Tatum and Hill and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller provide this active feature length commentary including their memories of shooting the film.

Deleted Scenes (29:32): These scenes are alternate or extended versions of scenes in the film that may be accessed individually or with a "Play All" selection.

Gag Reel (4:58): The usual goofs and gaffs by the cast during filming.

Cube-O-Rama (1:53): Goofs and gaffs by Ice Cube during filming.

Back To School (7:43): Cast and crew reflect upon recreating high school for the film.

Brothers In Arms (6:23): Tatum and Hill discuss working together on the film.

Johnny Depp On Set (4:42): Cast and crew talk about Johnny Depp’s time visiting the set.

The Rob Riggle Show (9:24): Riggle talks about making the film interspersed with outtakes and behind the scenes footage.

Peter Pan On The Freeway (4:12): Cast and crew discuss one of the action set pieces from the film.

Film trailers appear by default after the disc is loaded and prior to the main menu. These trailers are also accessible in the Special Features menu under Previews:

Ultraviolet (1:42)

Safety Not Guaranteed (2:25)

Lockout (2:23)

Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance (1:52)

That’s My Boy (2:32)

The Raid: Redemption (2:05)

An Ultraviolet redemption code is also included for streaming the film from your movies in the cloud of your Ultraviolet account.

Conclusion

21 Jump Street is a worthwhile R-rated reinvention of the TV series that updates the original concept with more comedy without overly disrespecting the source material. Hill and Tatum have great screen chemistry together as odd couple police partners, and the film has some good laughs. The video and audio are first-rate on this transfer, and the special features are good viewing for anyone who enjoys the film and wants to see more while waiting for the sequel. 21 Jump Street enjoyed high enough box office returns generated by good word of mouth to make this one of the more successful films of 2012 to date, and the quality of this film means that we can expect this Blu-ray release to be a best seller as well.