Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 3, 2019

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle thrives on a Frankenstein hybrid of simplicity and complexity: simple in its strict adherence to brainless formula and purposeless narrative attributes and complex in the ever-changing set pieces and costumes and one-up work on visual effects and general cinema spectacular that frequently and relentlessly drives the movie. And in the downtime Director McG, who helmed the first Charlie's Angels film, simply allows his girls to play to the camera, and does the camera ever love them. It's vapid entertainment epitomized, and it might make audiences feel lobotomized afterwards. It works as transparent cinema, overworked and underwritten, but those looking for something of dramatic impact, cultural significance, or with more than a couple of brain cells won't find it here. In other words, it's never releasing under the Criterion label (though anything's possible).

The plot, as it were, revolves around the Angels -- Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Alex (Lucy Liu), and Dylan (Drew Barrymore) -- along with the dimwitted Bosley (Bernie Mac) tasked with tracking down the HALO (Hidden Alias List Operation) rings which contain sensitive data: witness protection lists. Eventually, the Angels take in a young witness named Max Petroni (Shia LaBeouf) and face off against the mysterious Thin Man (Crispin Glover) and Seamus O'Grady (Justin Theroux), with whom Dylan has a dangerous connection and who has connections well beyond the criminal world.

There’s a lot of interconnected tissue at play: a ton of characters, no shortage of cameos, plenty of action, and of course ever-changing locations and costumes. As McG moves the film from one set piece to the next, it seems his main goal is to bombard the audience with so much eye candy and cinema swirl that viewers won’t notice the dearth of plot and characterization. Admittedly the movie was not made with depth of story in mind, and even if it were there’s so much happening at any given moment that it’s masked by the movie’s superficialities. Even would-be dramatic reveals make use of large sounds and camera movement to keep the feel of forward momentum going strong. What it all means is that the film forges its path and hedges its bets on screen chaos and sex appeal, both of the digital and human variety. Everyone’s up for it, too. At least the movie offers no pretenses about it being anything other than just another sight-and-sound plaything spectacular. It does its thing well, so fans of these films should find this one appealing just as it is.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle was shot on 35mm film and like the series' previous outing outing would have made an ideal candidate for the UHD format to really bring out the best in its filmic texture, its beautiful characters, and its hot-contrast colors, but Sony has elected to break up the series as far as 4K releases go. The good news is that the Blu-ray here is perfectly good, a highlight reel itself for its grain management, texture clarity, and booming colors. The grain is light but maintains good, natural balance and complimentary consistency throughout. Details are wonderfully accurate and sharp. There's a pleasing clarity and command about every facial close-up, showcasing the girls' freckles and makeup with scene-stealing ease. Their clothes are visually complex and revealing of every stitch and seam. Environments never want for additional clarity and visual accessibility. Colors are bold and punchy. The palette is never lacking; jacked-up contrast and a bit of warmth define the overall tonal condition and it's certainly more than complimentary to the film's frenzied style and saucy sprawl. Each tone pushes the format's standard definition spectrum to its limits, though one is left wondering what the film might have looked like with HDR applied (probably like the last film on UHD, truth be told). There are a few errant compression issues and one or two minuscule speckles and pops but nothing to really get in the way of another high class Blu-ray from Sony.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

What to say of the soundtrack other than Awesome!? Sony's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless audio presentation is in command of all its elements. It's thorough in its surround usage: gunfire, crowd cheers, music, and other assorted high value, volume, and intensity elements (all often one and the same), all of which blasts through with plenty of back channel engagement and good, wide front end stretch too. It's a delightfully seamless adventure through the stage, with Sony's presentation delivering the right sound in the right place at the right time for the duration. That said, it's a classic example of its era's sound engineering. It's overdone at the source, there's nothing at all subtle about it, and it often competes with, rather than supports, the visuals and what modicum of plotting appears in any scene. Still, it's rather fun in its own right, with one of the highlights being the lively, expressive, and detailed presentations of the countless Pop songs that play through the film. The subwoofer works hard throughout, too, always with aggression in mind but never with so much power as to drown out necessary surrounding details. Dialogue plays back with no issues of note.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle contains a ton of bonus features, most hailing from the DVD era when a voluminous assortment was more commonplace. Two cuts of the film are also available: Theatrical Version (1:45:34) and Unrated Version (1:47:05). This release ships with a Movies Anywhere digital copy code and a non-embossed slipcover.

• Check Out the New Charlie's Angels (1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 2:16): Not a trailer but rather a scene from the film taking place at a horse racing track. This is the same supplement from the first film's UHD disc.
• McG's Telestrator Commentary: With the same commentary as listed below playing above the film, key elements are circled on the screen.
• McG's Commentary: McG covers the film's theatrical cut: film assemblage, music, performances, visual effects, anecdotes, influences and homage, and more. It's a well spoken and quickly paced track.
• Writers' Commentary: Writers John August, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley open with a laugh, saying they have been asked to participate "to prove that writers worked on this." It's a lighthearted open that sets low expectations for depth. The participants do a good job of deconstructing the movie from their own perspective as both writers and viewers.
• Angel-Vision Trivia: Text-based pop-up trivia appears in conjunction with the film's theatrical cut.
• Pussycat Dolls (1080i upscaled 4:55): A look at the group's contributions to the movie.
• Rolling with the Punches (1080i upscaled, 6:07): A closer examination of the film's physical requirements and the girls' training and hard work.
• XXX-Treme Angels (1080i upscaled, 9:05): Cast and crew discuss the Motocross sequence. It most interestingly interviews various riders who appeared in the film.
• Full Throttle: The Cars (1080i upscaled, 17:51): A thorough exploration of the vehicles seen throughout the film. It actually begins with the Motocross bikes used in the film before moving on to the four-wheel vehicles, from supercars to the Bigfoot Monster Truck.
• Designing Angels: The Look (1080i upscaled, 7:26): An exploration of how the filmmakers strived to make "every frame special." It looks at things like lighting, color, locations, and more.
• There's No Such Thing as a Short Shot, Only an Overworked Producer (1080i upscaled, 8:51): A look at the movie's size and budget and how the sprawl constantly challenges the production.
• Angels Makeover: Hansen Dam (1080i upscaled, 4:06): A discussion of the movie's opening sequence.
• Angel Scouts (1080i upscaled, 6:49): A look at the process the crew uses in visiting shooting locales weeks ahead of filming.
• Dream Duds (1080i upscaled, 4:11): This piece takes a quick look at the movie's wardrobe via sketches, still photos, and film clips.
• Cameo-Graphy (1080p, 3:37 total runtime): Quick introductions to some of the key cameos in the film. Included are Bruce Willis, Béla Károlyi, Robert Forster, Eric Bogosian, Andrew Wilson, Pink, Eve, Mary-Kate & Ashley Olson, Carrie Fisher, The Pussycat Dolls, Chris Pontius, Ed Robertson, Big Boy, and Jaclyn Smith.
• Full Throttle Jukebox (1080i upscaled, 33:54 total runtime): Director McG and Music Supervisor John Houlihan discuss why certain songs were selected for inclusion into the film, followed by clips from the scene in which they appear. Included are "Sleep Now in the Fire" by Rage Against the Machine, "Surfer Girl" by The Beach Boys, "Feel Good Time" by Pink Featuring William Orbit, "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer, "Danger! High Voltage" by Electric Six, "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" by Dr. Dre, "The Pink Panther" by Hollywood Studio Orchestra, "A Girl Like You" by Edwin Collins, "Any Way You Want It" by Journey, "Firestarter" by Prodigy, and "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" by Nickleback Featuring Kid Rock.
• Angels Film School (1080i, 11:47 total runtime): Fans are introduced to some of the behind the scenes inner-workings of how a movie is made. Included are #1 - First Assistant Director, #2 - Script Supervisor, #3 - Storyboard Artist, #4 - Creative Advertising, #5 - Special Effects Supervisor, #6 - Visual Effects Supervisor, #7 - Driver, and #8 - Stunts.
• Music Video (1080i upscaled, 4:17): "Feel Good Time" by Pink Featuring William Orbit.
• Trailers (1080p): Included are Teaser Trailer (2:00) and Theatrical Trailer (2:26).

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle was to its day what Hobbs & Shaw is to today: a bunch of noise and flash with plenty of polish but precious little purpose. To call the movie wafer-thin would be to insinuate that wafers are very fat. If one is looking for a classic late 90s/early 2000s example of big-time brainless cinema with girls, guns, and gaudy colors, this is it. Sony's Blu-ray will please every single fan. Video and audio are just about of reference quality and the disc is packed with extra content.