7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
Teenage Cady Heron was educated in Africa by her scientist parents. When her family moves to the suburbs of Illinois, Cady finally gets to experience public school and gets a quick primer on the cruel, tacit laws of popularity that divide her fellow students into tightly knit cliques. She unwittingly finds herself in the good graces of an elite group of cool students dubbed "the Plastics," but Cady soon realizes how her shallow group of new friends earned this nickname.
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Amy PoehlerComedy | 100% |
Romance | 62% |
Teen | 45% |
Coming of age | 22% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you.
Is Mean Girls the Heathers for a new
generation? It would seem so, though the comparisons end before the whole "shoot your
classmates" and "blow up the school" plot lines of Michael Lehmann's and Daniel Waters' 1988
Black Comedy classic, or at least they stop there in the literal definition of the terms. Despite the
differing scenarios, the tone is essentially the same in each
film.
"Heathers" have been replaced by "Plastics," a more modern and perhaps even more polarizing
version of the classic "glamorous girl" clique that seems to get under everyone's skin simply
through their very presence. Walking down the hall in tandem or sharing the same lunch table,
in coordinated outfits and colors, of course, sets them apart as something mysterious and oddly
desirable, their group one everyone dreams of being a part of but could never join, if for no other
reason than for the stability of whatever moral compass they may possess, wayward as it may
already be. Each film sees a pretty but misunderstood girl enter school and find herself torn
between allying with the group that accepts her as she is or sacrificing her very essence to join
the in-crowd. Both Mean Girls and Heathers arrive at the same conclusion,
though they take drastically differing paths within what is basically the same setting and
structure.
They so should have painted these stalls a different color.
Mean Girls arrives on Blu-ray with a decent-looking 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. This film sports that now-standard looking Comedy look to it with warm and vibrant colors. It's a solid transfer overall, one that isn't necessarily demo-worthy, but does make for slightly better-than-average high definition material. Visible levels of detail are adequate; whether in the high-dollar clothes worn by the girls, facial details and textures, or the many objects scattered about classrooms, cafeterias, mall boutiques, or bedrooms, viewers will find plenty of information to absorb. The transfer sees some heavy noise over the open, but is otherwise mostly clear and pleasant. Flesh tones are slightly reddish in appearance and blacks are stable and dark. Mean Girls is another one of those transfers that looks just fine in high definition, but won't overly impress those that have seen dozens of other Blu-ray titles.
Mean Girls' Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack is just fine for what it is, which is a front-heavy and completely generic mix. The film is primarily dialogue-driven and features only the occasional burst of sound, generally coming from the film's pop-rock soundtrack. The music is clear and loud, flowing effortlessly from the front channels with the support of the subwoofer on several occasions to drive home the beats. A party sequence in chapter twelve is about as active and immersive as this one gets, with the soundstage filled nicely with the loud music. Dialogue reproduction is uniformly strong. Mean Girls makes for a bland listen, but there is nothing inherently wrong with the soundtrack; it simply reproduces all it has to offer with satisfactory results.
Mean Girls comes to Blu-ray with several bonus features. First up is a commentary track with Director Mark Waters, Screenplay Writer and Actress Tina Fey, and Producer Lorne Michaels. This track is fairly standard, the trio sharing basic information on the filmmaking techniques, the locations, actors, the book on which it is based (Queen Bees and Wannabes), and more. Only the Strong Survive (480p, 24:52) looks at the life of teenage girls and how each character fits into the world of American high schools. The Politics of Girl World (480p, 10:33) examines the importance of self-image to high school girls and the problems that plague campuses. Plastic Fashion (480p, 10:25) takes a look at the importance of costuming to the film. Word Vomit (480p, 5:44) is a series of outtakes. So Fetch - Deleted Scenes (480p, 7:01) is a series of nine excised scenes with optional commentary from Mark Waters and Tina Fey. Interstitials (480p, 1:39) are a trio of brief promo pieces for the film. Concluding the special features is the film's theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:35).
Mean Girls and Heathers have more in common than meets the eye. While Mean Girls sees no gun play and bombs strapped to one's chest, the film does indeed show the very real and very damaging destructive power of all the high school faux-pas it rails against. They are in many ways the same film, with Mean Girls updated for a new generation and featuring far less in the way of subtle dark humor and manipulation in getting its point across. It's more glamorous, more inviting, but not quite as powerful or poignant as Heathers, but it's still a timely film that is also well-made and rather fun to watch. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Mean Girls should please both newcomers and longtime fans. The disc features a good high definition transfer, a bland but accurate soundtrack, and several worthwhile extras. Recommended.
2004
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2004
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2004
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