6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.6 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
A small town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip, while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianne Hough, Russell BrandComedy | 100% |
Musical | 43% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Rock of Ages tries. It tries so hard. Tries to have it all, tries to live it up, tries to cram a be-all end-all compilation of '80s hard rock hits under the roof of a sensible musical, tries to revel in the excess of the decade, tries to evoke the erratic Pour Some Sugar on Me spirit of hair metal, tries to rock you like a hurricane, tries for laughs, tries for swoons, tries for satire, tries for awwws, tries for yeeeah!s... tries, tries, tries. But like poor Drew Boley, the juke box hero of the film who loves rock n' roll but discovers every rose has its thorn, Rock of Ages hit me with its best shot and did little more than harden my heart. (Fun with song titles. Woo! Moving on.) It succeeds and fails in equal measure, delivering the goods -- casting, killer songs and... erm, casting -- as often as it comes apart at the movie musical seams. It mostly gets high on silly spoofing, bad hair and flashbulb nostalgia, though, stumbling from scene to scene, musical number to musical number, without a sense of what it hopes to accomplish.
Everything serves Warner's stunning 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer, though. There isn't many issues to be had. Bojan Bazelli's late-80s palette is bold, brilliant and beautiful, with dazzling splashes of color, electrifying primaries, gorgeous fleshtones and deep, satisfying black levels. Detail is remarkable too, from the golden locks spilling down Sherrie's shoulders to the beads of sweat pooling on Stacee's skin, the errant hairs in Dupree's mangy beard, the dials on an electric guitar, the faded print of any given '80s T-shirt, and every stitch, stud, seam, rip, snag, sequin, pattern and swatch of fur adorning Rita Ryack's costumes, most of which represent the culmination of an entire decade of hard rock and hair metal fashion. Textures are refined and rewarding (albeit a touch hyper-sharpened at times), edges are crisp and clean (without any significant ringing), and shadow delineation is excellent. And the encode? Just as strong. No artifacting, banding, aliasing or unwieldy noise. Rock of Ages looks terrific.
Rock of Ages' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track rocks when the music kicks in. The heavy dom ta tum dom ta tum and climbing guitars of "Wanted Dead or Alive," the soaring synth melodies of "I Want to Know What Love Is," the dug da da daaaah dug da da daaaah of "I Wanna Rock," the driving strums and call and response of "We Built This City" / "We're Not Gonna Take It," the dips, rises and dives of "Paradise City"... there isn't a song in the film that isn't given the full support of Warner's lossless mix. If I only I could be as enthusiastic about the rest of the soundscape. Dialogue is reasonably clear and intelligible but woefully misprioritized. Don't adjust your volume to suit the actors' speaking voices; the next song might just send you scrambling for your remote, clutching at your ears. Then there's the rear speakers, which chime in but rarely with the purpose or presence you might expect from such an energetic musical. And the LFE channel follows suit, backing drums and bass guitars far more commendably than it does anything else. That's not to say Rock of Ages doesn't sound the part. It just doesn't do so with the same prowess, precision or power of a more capable hard-rock Master Audio track.
Rock of Ages may scream "We Built This City!" at the top of its lungs, but filmfans, musical junkies and '80s rock connoisseurs would do well to bark back "We're Not Gonna Take It." Ironic, considering the movie's metal lovers belt out the former and its shortsighted moral crusaders respond with the latter. Unfortunately, director Adam Shankman's film is a mess from top to bottom, and only skirts by on scene-chewing performances from the likes of Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Warner's Blu-ray release is better, particularly in the video department, but its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is decent but flawed and its supplemental package is solid but sorely in need of a commentary or two and a better production documentary. Ultimately, with all of the talent Shankman packs on stage, Rock of Ages should be ten times the movie musical it is.
Theatrical & Extended Editions
2012
Movie-Only Edition
2012
Theatrical & Extended Cut
2012
2005
1982
2010
2011
1984
1984
1989
2011
Mastered in 4K
2013
1988
2012
2020
1964
Collector's Edition
2012
1995
2005
2-Disc Shake and Shimmy Edition
2007
2011
2004
Totally Awesome Edition
1998