Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

MacGruber Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 16, 2024

Mill Creek has released the 2010 Action-Comedy film 'Macgruber,' directed by Jorma Taccone and starring the ensemble of Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe, and Maya Rudolph, to Blu-ray. The film was previously released to Blu-ray in 2010 through Universal. That disc offered a few extras. Sadly, no extras are included on this release. Technical specifications and presentations appear to be very similar between the two releases.

Official synopsis: Only one operative has been awarded 16 purple hearts, and only one guy is man enough to still sport a mullet. In the 10 years since his fiancée was killed, special op MacGruber has sworn off a life of fighting crime with his bare hands. But when he learns his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that's been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter VonCunth (Val Kilmer), MacGruber teams up with his trusty sidekick (Kristen Wiig) and an uptight lieutenant (Ryan Phillippe) to get the job done.

MacGruber is something of a play on MacGyver, but unlike the mostly family-friendly primetime 80s TV fare, MacGruber is a vulgar and fairly bloody film that cannot find the proper balance between crude and cool. It pushes hard for the sake of pushing hard, and it's a film likely to divide audience for its sheer force of language that suffocates situational humor with a deluge of dirty words that rob the material of its inherent charms, interest, or narrative needs. To his credit, Will Forte rolls with it, pushes hard, and gives everything he has to the film, either physically or verbally, even when his pants are pulled down and an endless stream of F-bombs roll off his tongue. Like the language, the film plays everything over the top: whether its action and violence, its physicality, or its characters and their emotional responses to various happenings. It's a film of extremes, played up for impact, and the net result is a film that might have worked much better with a more grounded approach, with tongue planted in cheek rather than dangling out of its mouth.

For a full film review, please click here to read Jeffrey Kauffman's thoughts on his review of the 2010 Universal disc. Note that the score above reflects mine rather than his.

MacGruber Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

One of the chief differences between this Mill Creek issue and the previous Universal issue is the latter's VC-1 encode and the former's MPEG-4 encode. While I did not review and do not have a copy of the original Universal issue, it is clear that by reading through Jeffrey Kauffman's review and perusing his screenshots that these are very similar transfers. However, as so often seems to be the case with Mill Creek releases -- even those for relatively new films, like this one, that are released years after a solid outing from the parent studio -- there are some issues with compression. Look at the 10-minute mark as an example of the compression anomalies that creep into the transfer. These are never seriously debilitating but are present enough in density and frequency to knock the video score down a peg or two. There are also some softer elements here, but such appear to be more a part of the source and less an issue with the encode.

Otherwise, the image appears to be fairly similar to the Universal issue, boasting solid, though not great, detail and clarity throughout the film. Indeed, close-ups are where the best of the 1080p magic happens, capturing lines, hair, pores, sweat, blood, and other elements with very impressive detail and definition. Enviornmental elements and key props and odds and ends are likewise pleasantly sharp, well beyond standard definition, but still not at the level of the best of the highest end digital captures. Color reproduction is solid, offering good, stable tones, pushing a bit warm-ish in places, but appearing faithful to the filmmakers' desires. Reds are suitably bold and other brights nicely vivid. Whites are well balanced, black levels rarely cause concern, and flesh tones look spot-on accurate. This is not a showstopper of a Blu-ray by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a solid enough watch that should satisfy most viewers, though to be sure hardcore videophiles will be left wanting more.

MacGruber Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mill Creek releases MacGruber to the Blu-ray format with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, the same encode from the Universal release. While it is likely that this is the same track from the Universal issue, I will offer a few words on the Mill Creek track in isolation from the Universal track since I have no opportunity for direct comparison.

The Mill Creek track is suitably penetrating and dynamic, lacking the absolute intensity and range of the best tracks but offering ample surround extension to action, good bass in accompaniment and satisfying musical clarity and spacing. Indeed, action envelops the listener, music wraps with more dominant front and balanced surround usage, and the back channels likewise chime in to offer hearty and healthy and balanced environmental detail. The movie does rely heavily on core and basic dialogue scenes apart from the action, and the spoken word satisfies for prioritization, placement, and accuracy.

MacGruber Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 2010 Universal release for MacGruber includes a few extras, including an audio commentary track, a deleted scene, and a gag reel, none of which is included here. In fact, there are no extras of any kind to be found on the disc. Early artwork for this release also showed an advertisement for two separate cuts, as were included on the Universal disc. However, there is no option to play the unrated cut; from the main menu screen selecting the "play" option simply begins the 90-minute theatrical cut. The only other menu option is a toggle for turning subtitles on and off. The menu screen presents a static image with no overlaid music. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

MacGruber Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

MacGruber pushes boundaries and chucks any semblance of subtlety out the window. It's a lesser film for it, and one can imagine a more streamlined MacGyver spoof being more satisfying, but as it is the film will likely only appeal to those with high tolerances for the kind of empty vulgarity that is in the film for the sake of empty vulgarity. Mill Creek's Bu-ray is the lesser when compared with Universal's, offering no extras and only adequate video, but the audio is fairly good. Seek out the superior Universal issue instead.