6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
Ali is a small-town girl with a big voice who escapes hardship and an uncertain future to follow her dreams to LA. After stumbling upon The Burlesque Lounge, a majestic but ailing theater that is home to an inspired musical revue, Ali lands a job as a cocktail waitress from Tess, the club's proprietor and headliner. Burlesque's outrageous costumes and bold choreography enrapture the young ingenue, who vows to perform there one day.
Starring: Cher, Christina Aguilera, Eric Dane, Cam Gigandet, Julianne HoughRomance | 100% |
Musical | 50% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
BD-Live
movieIQ
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Didn't anyone ever give you a shot in life?
Director Steven Antin's Burlesque might be technically sound and, yes, even a fair bit entertaining here and a mite touching there, but it's
incredibly derivative and
so lacking in originality that it takes all of five minutes to figure out the entirety of the two-hour film. Take Nine, Chicago, and Coyote Ugly, toss them in a blender, and out will pop Burlesque, a
questionable film from the outset not only because of its terribly unoriginal story, but the chances it takes on making leads out of a grandma-aged Cher
and a rookie star in her first big role. Fortunately for first-time primetime lead Christina Aguilera, Burlesque asks little more of her than to sing
boldly and look
pretty, both of which she pulls off without a hitch. Unfortunately for the rest of the film, the trite and predictable plot keeps it from going anywhere or
achieving anything beyond drowning in genre cliché. Burlesque has its moments; its sweet by nature and sexy by choice, but there's just
nothing of value to make a return trip to this sultry night club worth the effort.
Christina Aguilera modeling the Julia Roberts 'Pretty Woman' hooker wig.
Burlesque isn't as razzle-dazzle as potential viewers might be led to believe by the gaudy and bright posters and advertisements. This is actually a fairly low-lit and somewhat soft movie. Sony's 1080p Blu-ray transfer nevertheless handles the picture's style quite well. Much of the action takes place inside the club where low lighting, shadows, and soft details are the norm. There's simply not much for the transfer to reveal in terms of details and colors; everything is fairly vanilla, but that appears to stay true to the picture's intended visual structure. Detailing improves in those scenes outside the club and away from the dusty old diner where Ali works at the beginning of the movie; even a scene outside in the pouring rain and under overcast conditions, as gray as it may be, delivers more in the way of discernible details than does the average scene inside the club. With that in mind, the transfer appears incredibly faithful to Director Steven Antin's vision. Shadow detail is critical in this film, and Sony's transfer handles blacks with great proficiency. The transfer does manage some bright, sparkly scenes on occasion, but "low key" seems to be the order of the day, which does allow for the film to emphasize its music over its visuals. The image is a little flat by nature and slight banding is evident from time to time, but this is an accomplished transfer from the top-down that might not dazzle viewers, but should instead satisfy film enthusiasts who wish to replicate the theatrical experience at home.
Burlesque features a dazzling, exuberant, powerful, big, crisp, kicking, and spacious monster of a soundtrack. Use whatever adjective comes to mind, but this one really belts out the energy and still has something left in the tank when the movie comes to an end. Sony's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack will push the best sound systems to their limits with energized music and hard-hitting vocals in every musical tune, and things are just quiet enough in the downtime that the big boys have room to recharge while the center channel handles dialogue like it was made for the movie. Sure the track is obviously jazzed up a bit, but wo cares? It's fun and passionate, an exhilarating listen that's sure to put a smile on listeners's faces even when the movie has them singing the blues. The track also delivers a wonderful spread of city atmospherics; passing cars, honking horns, driving rain, and background music beats coming from a closed-door club all immediately place the listener smack-dab in the middle of Los Angeles. Of course, the track makes excellent use of every speaker to create a seamless 360-degree field of sound during most every segment, both loud and reserved. The low end belts out plenty of accurate and strong but not excessively rumbly or sloppy notes. This is a complete package of a soundtrack, a dazzling listen that's easiy the best part of the Burlesque experience.
Burlesque features a healthy assortment of extras, including a good audio commentary track and five featurettes.
Burlesque isn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. It's just completely irrelevant. It might be touching, sincere, and even a little funny, but those are qualities of the genre and the clichés through which the film is built, not the results of any imaginative strokes of genuins or bucking of the system on the writers's and director's part. Cher and Christian Aguilera -- along with a very good supporting cast -- make the movie worth a watch, but at two hours it's just too long and even the sex appeal wears off by film's end. It's a movie with its heart in the right place; just don't expect anything new. Sony's Blu-ray release of Burlesque features a fine 1080p transfer, a dazzling lossless soundtrack, and more extras than the film probably deserves. Worth a rental.
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