Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Blue Hawaii Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 18, 2022

At time of writing, this Blu-ray release of 'Blue Hawaii' is only available with the UHD disc in the 'Paramount Presents' line.

Blue Hawaii struggles to walk the very fine line between "star vehicle" and "pleasant escape." The film is in a difficult position, and it is built around a difficult proposition, because it is entirely all about its externals. Fortunately for the film, the primary external is Elvis Presley. The other is the beautiful state of Hawaii. Outside of these, there is very little story to speak of, but the picture is determined to make itself a fun and a viable alternative for a lazy, rainy weekend afternoon on the strength of its cheerful locations and nearly endless musical numbers, performed by its star, alone. But the film is hopelessly flat beyond the admittedly beautiful facade. Elvis does his best to carry it, playing a hopelessly two-dimensional character and offering little more than, like the rest of the movie, the expected superficialities to cover up the flat script and vacant story.

Official synopsis: After being discharged from the U.S. Army, cool guy Chadwick Gates (Elvis Presley) returns home to Hawaii. Following several years of strict military life, Gates wants nothing more than to hang loose and surf all day. His family pressures him to work for the family pineapple business. Much to the chagrin of his snobby mother (Angela Lansbury), Gates lands a job as a tour guide at the same company where his girlfriend, Maile (Joan Blackman), also works.

That's the long and short of Blue Hawaii, a film with a plot that serves no purpose beyond offering some semblance of a framework for music, locations, and Elvis. There is simply no substance here. The story's wafer-thin depth means little because the characters are even thinner; nobody is going to walk out of Blue Hawaii grateful for or likely to even remember the story specifics beyond what the title implies: Elvis in Hawaii. The film is so packed with songs and scenery that the story commands precious few minutes in total; it would be an interesting exercise to legitimately clock it, and an even more interesting exercise to muster up a meaning for it. This is not necessarily a point that is worthy of being overly critical about, because if anything the film knows what it is and recognizes the general lack of meat and muscle beyond the superficialities, but audiences should be aware that the film literally amounts to nothing beyond the advertised star and setting, which it does, to its credit, offer in great abundance.

Audiences are coming for Elvis, and the King certainly looks good here. This is prime Elvis, and he soaks up every scene not with finely toned acting -- Elvis is certainly far from the best actor there ever was -- but rather a finely honed screen presence. The film tasks him with very few emotive acting duties, and he is able to carry the picture on stature, charisma, looks, and voice alone. The minimal plot is a blessing for him, leaving him with little chance of blowing a scene because there's nothing to challenge him as an actor. He's very comfortable singing, smiling, looking handsome, and surrounded by natural and human beauty, and that's most of all that he is asked to do. The support cast is fine, particularly the gaggle of nice-looking ladies that surround Elvis and do their best to add a little substance to the story, as the story allows.

Blue Hawaii Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paramount brings Blue Hawaii to Bu-ray with a very satisfying 1080p transfer. The opening title cards are simply gorgeous The Blue color output just dazzles and delights as it leaps off the screen in a commanding and pleasing blue tone. Even against blue skies and blue waters, the color is effectively robust and a beautiful sight to behold. The red sports car to follow is likewise a dizzying shade that punches the vividness through the roof without appearing gawdy or otherwise over saturated. Colorful attire throughout the island leaps to life and natural greens are lush and full. The picture also holds to a natural grain structure; there is very little evidence of processing here. The image is filmic and pleasing to the eye. It captures wonderful clarity and sharp film-quality textures in most every shot (there are a few photographically softer and airier shots here and there). Overall crispness is superb and detail is exacting right down to grains of sand on beaches. Facial complexity is excellent as well. There's not much here to complain about. Paramount's recent track record may be spotty, but this is a bright spot in that spottiness.

Blue Hawaii Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paramount brings Blue Hawaii to Blu-ray with a pair of notable English language soundtrack options: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and original 2.0 Dolby Digital lossy mono, both labeled as "restored." Neither soundtrack offer a significant gain over the other. The 5.1 track, while a little fuller compared to 2.0 mono, offers little in the way of immersion. Surrounds carry next to no content; it's difficult to point to even a subtle surround engagement moment and impossible to identify a significant one. But even if the track has not been engineered to distribute content all around the listener, this configuration does, at least, present the content with mild body and pleasant front-side spacing.

Here are a few distinguishing characteristics: the 5.1 track is a bit shallow. There's not a lot of depth to airplane sounds in the opening minutes, and not much fullness to airport din, either. There is very little sense of space or engagement when waves crash around the 12-minute mark, and overall this track struggles to offer much in the way of engaging atmosphere. Music and lyrics are presented with fair dynamics and good fidelity but lack authority at reference volume. Spacing is adequate along the front. The original track, presented in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, sounds just about as good for clarity. Fullness is not bad either, comparatively speaking with the 5.1 track. There's about the same sense of front-end spacing and spread. Dialogue does image well to the middle in 2.0 mono. Dialogue is suitably clear in both presentations.

Blue Hawaii Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Blue Hawaii contains three extras as outlined below. As it ships in the 36th film in the 'Paramount Presents' line, a digital copy code and the familiar 'Paramount Presents' fold open slipcover with alternative artwork are included.

• Audio Commentary: Historian James L. Neibaur reads prepared remarks about the film, its cast, and so forth. The content is good and Neibaur clearly knows his Elvis movies (as he should; he is the author of the book The Elvis Movies).
• Blue Hawaii Photo Scrapbook (1080p, 5:29): A series of still photos presented at approximately 4x3 aspect ratio and accompanied by score.
• Original Theatrical Trailer (480i, ~2.39:1, 3:14).

Blue Hawaii Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Blue Hawaii is a film of well-meaning sight and sound but zero substance. That is a legitimate point of criticism, but it's also fair to cut the film some slack; it's not pretentious, it doesn't pretend that it's meatier than it is, and it enjoys the casual atmosphere and gentle ebb and flow of the process of moving from one number and location to the next. Go in expecting a simple, relaxed time at the movies and find a mostly agreeable little film; expect something of even modest substance and walk away disappointed. Paramount's Blu-ray offers dazzling video, acceptable audio, and a few bonuses, headlined by a prepared-remarks commentary track. Worth a look.