4.1 | / 10 |
Users | 1.8 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 1.8 |
Billie Frank is a talented young singer struggling to make it big in New York City. With plenty of will and determination, a voice like an angel, and the help of a handsome nightclub DJ, she will quickly learn that the roller coaster ride to success is as treacherous as it is glamorous.
Starring: Mariah Carey, Max Beesley, Terrence Howard, Tia Texada, Da BratRomance | 100% |
Music | 58% |
Drama | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
512Kbps
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Is this the best time for Mariah Carey's Glitter to see a surge in notoriety with its release to Blu-ray? The world-famous singer was recently embarrassed by a faulty New Year's Eve Times Square performance in front of the entire world, and it was only a couple of years ago that a the raw vocal feed from a Holiday performance leaked to the world's horror. They say all publicity is good publicity, so maybe her recent headlines will spur on a few extra Blu-ray sales for her film, which is itself widely hailed as a cinema disaster, a movie desperate to find that cult audience that embraces the most popular of bad movies. As it is, Glitter needs no introduction but everything it can latch onto to help it find a new audience for its latest release. And for whatever may be right or wrong with the movie, it's at least a fair bit better than the superstar's latest flubs that once again see her in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
A star is born.
Glitter arrives on Blu-ray not with a shiny, sparkly transfer as the movie's name might suggest but, maybe better, or at least more expected, a rather simple and straightforward and never at all offensive 1080p presentation. The film opens in the past with a decidedly bleak, practically grayscale picture. As the action shifts to the "present" of 1983, it falls into its routine and displays a much more naturalistic contrast and color scheme. The platte isn't at all noticeably vibrant, but its baseline neutrality is a strength and it's enjoyably presented with enough core level accuracy to please. The image appears healthy and filmic, retains a very light grain structure, and never appears digitally tinkered or noise reduced. Details don't exactly leap off the screen, but the cinematic texturing allows faces, clothes, and environments to find a good, basic level of finer point detailing that, combined with the greater 1080p clarity the Blu-ray affords, presents the movie in a fairly good light. Black levels are never offensive and skin tones appear fairly accurate. The only truly noticeable issues comes by way of opening title wobble and the occasional pop or speckle marring the print, but such are minimal. Even with the antiquated MPEG-2 encode (which might be a new trend for Mill Creek), there's not much room for real complaint.
That Glitter contains a multichannel 5.1 soundtrack -- even in a lossy configuration -- is welcome, but the presentation isn't without it warts. First, and chief amongst them, is a decided reservedness, a hush that renders music and dialogue in particular occasionally hard to hear, presented at a low inherent volume even with the home theater set at reference level. Even heavy dance club beats heard around the 10-minute mark don't offer any sort of energy or low end weight. Vocal and musical clarity are decent enough in a rather crude, "get the job done" sense, but prioritization and authority are again both real concerns. The track does offer a smattering of content spread beyond the front. Sirens wail in the background at the seven-minute mark, microphone drop reverberation in chapter eight is nicely spacious, and a fair sense of open space, environmental reverberation, and music presentation at a concert hall in chapter nine are nicely engaging through the entire stage. The track is baseline effective, though shallow dialogue makes it a problematic listen.
Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Glitter contains no supplemental content. No in-movie "Pop-Up" menu is included. The top menu offers only a "Play" button. Subtitles must be toggled on or off in-film via the remote's "subtitle" button.
Glitter isn't a very good movie, but it's not really as poor as it's made out to be. Better to call it "painfully generic" than just "painful." The movie tells a competently put together, baseline rags-to-riches tale with an "insight" into the music business as seen through the eyes of a burgeoning superstar. It brings nothing new to the table, Mariah can't act very well, and the script gives neither her nor her co-stars anything meaty with which to work. It's not worth watching, but it's not worth trashing, either. Mill Creek's Blu-ray offers decent video, uneven lossy audio, and no supplements. Skip it.
2014
2007
40th Anniversary Edition
1984
2015
2006
35th Anniversary Edition
1987
Dance-Off Edition
2008
2020
2018
2018
2010
2007
1983
Warner Archive Collection
1946
2012
2020
2004
2010
Young Man of Music / Warner Archive Collection
1950
2016