7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
A trio of thirty-something buddies tries to recapture the outrageous, irrepressible fun of their college years by starting their own off-campus frat house. Mitch, Frank and Beanie have all reached a crossroads in their lives. They can choose to be responsible adults, with wives, families and steady jobs--or they can postpone adulthood in favor of the reckless abandon of frat house living with all the fun and none of the education. No contest.
Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven, Ellen PompeoComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-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 | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
We're going streaking!
Academia has served as the foundation of several headlining comedy films over the years.
Consistently
ranked among the "best of the best" the genre has to offer are school-centric films like
National
Lampoon's Animal House, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Ferris Bueller's Day
Off, Real Genius, and Back to School. Old School is a film that
desperately wants to be mentioned in the same breath as these classics, but falls short at most
every turn. This Will Ferrell (Stranger Than
Fiction)/Luke Wilson (Bottle Rocket)/Vince
Vaughn (Dodgeball) outing is
not necessarily a bad film; it's an
average comedy that has its moments, but it lacks a definitive groundwork, featuring a plot that
meanders much of the time and an avalanche of random characters played by an assortment of
name actors. The film doesn't gel until the final act, which is
almost good enough to forget the doldrums of the first two.
The gang from 'Old School' returns to campus from the Men's Warehouse Christmas sale.
Old School enrolls on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer of above-average quality. Much like the movie, the first half of the transfer don't seem to hold up as well as the later half. Much of the image takes on a rather drab, slightly obscure tone at first, not allowing for much in the way of vibrant colors or high levels of fine detail. Later in the movie, the image seems to brighten up, offering more robust and rich colors, and an appreciable, but not high, level of detail and texture. Both the early and later segments of the movie offer good high definition imagery, but neither qualify as "eye candy." Nor does the film exhibit much depth. The print's second half is also cleaner than its first; grain and blemishes both seem reduced later in the film. Blacks are strong, and flesh tones never veer too far from natural. Old School is certainly no Baraka, but DreamWork's efforts here are satisfactory and should please any and all die-hard fans.
Old School parties hard on Blu-ray with an adequate Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The popular music that so permeates the picture spreads out nicely over the front channels, coming across as sufficient in volume and clarity at reference level. However, the foul-mouthed band playing at the wedding reception early in the film offers little in the way of a lifelike presence. This particular performance comes across as generally flat and uninspired. Some of the more rambunctious party sequences feature a fair amount of bass and presence around the soundstage, but nothing in the mix ever truly engulfs the listener. This mix offers very little in the way of rear channel activity, either in the form of ambient environmental support or discrete sound effects. Dialogue reproduction is crisp and natural, emanating from the center channel with solid clarity and at an appropriate volume in relation to the rest of the track. Old School doesn't offer listeners a new school lossless whiz-bang action extravaganza soundtrack, but considering it accompanies a comedy with only limited opportunity for sonic excellence, the track performs its assigned duties adequately enough.
Old School earns a passing grade for its supplemental features. A commentary track featuring writer/director Todd Phillips and actors Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn headlines the set. Fortunately, the track is a laugh-a-minute, funnier in many places than the actual film, adding quite a bit of wit to what are usually more standard-fare commentary insights. Fans of the film and/or fans of any of these participants will want to give this one a listen. Eight deleted scenes (480p, 13:19) are included next. Old School Orientation (480p, 13:02) serves as a rather cheesy introduction to the film. A narrator takes audiences through the plot, intercut with footage from the film and interview snippets with the cast and crew. Inside the Actors Studio Spoof (480p, 13:39) is a humorous piece that pokes fun at the Emmy-nominated Bravo program, featuring Vaughn, Ferrell, Wilson, and Phillips, hosted by James Lipton (played by Farrell). Rounding out this supplemental package is a series of outtakes and bloopers (480p, 5:04), the film's theatrical trailer (1080i, 2:29), and three TV spots (480p, 1:36).
Old School is a satisfactory film that continues the great tradition of academic-oriented comedies, but it falls a bit short of achieving the same classic status as its brethren. The primary cast turns in a solid set of performances, but the movie features hit-or-miss laughs and a plot that never seems to go anywhere until the end of the movie. Jeremy Piven, in particular, stands out as Dean Pritchard, the arch-nemesis of the film's trifecta of leading men. The film's strong following of dedicated fans are sure to be pleased with this release. DreamWorks has delivered an adequate high definition transfer, a passable lossless soundtrack, and a few bonus materials. It's not a package that will set the world on fire, but for those many repeat viewings, fans cannot currently enjoy Old School presented better than it is here.
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