Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie Review

"And I would've gotten away with it..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown September 9, 2013

It seems Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon will remain the king of direct-to-video Scooby-Doo original animated movies a little while longer, if for no other reason than the fact that it works on numerous levels. Scooby Doo! Stage Fright, the series' 20th, is a fun little mystery that takes plenty of jabs at reality TV and televised music competitions, but its script isn't sharp enough, its jokes smart enough, or its villain clever enough to place this one among the best of the best. None of that should frighten away longtime franchise fans, of course. Nostalgia is the real king when it comes to these releases... that and the devotion of a legion of young followers who've been hungry for one more Scooby Snack ever since Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated concluded its 52-episode Cartoon Network run earlier this year. Instead, it should simply set expectations. Stage Fright isn't the next great Mystery Inc. adventure, merely a passable one. If that's good enough for you, purchase away. If not, well, ruh roh!

"...if it weren't for those meddling kids!"

Join Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and the Mystery Inc. crew as they head to Chicago for a talent show, some museum tours and pizza! The windy city is home to the hit TV show, "Talent Star," in which songwriting duo Fred (Welker) and Daphne (Grey DeLisle) are finalists with some high hopes. Not to be left out, Scooby and Shaggy have a secret act in the works that they're betting will take the contest by storm. Unluckily for them, the competition is frightful at this talent contest, as the show is being broadcast from an opera house with a history of horrors and a particularly vengeful phantom that has cursed the show's production. From costume-changing chases to collecting creepy clues, the show must go on.

Rather than a lightning round of laughs, Stage Fright telegraphs its funny-bone punches and takes its grand ol' time moving from chase to chase, gag to gag, and clue to clue. It lacks energy, or perhaps inspiration. Either way, it tends to meander, as if it doesn't an endless supply of material to draw upon. And with so many singing competitions littering the airwaves, the American Idol riffs and America's Got Talent jabs shouldn't be as sparse and sporadic as they are. Even so, there are grins to be administered and smiles to be had. Shaggy and Scooby come to the rescue whenever the movie is in danger of slowing to a crawl, the voice cast gives it their all, and supporting voices Wayne Brady, Vivica A. Fox and Peter MacNicol are welcome guests. Ultimately, Stage Fright is a decent entry in the Scooby canon, it just feels like the first draft of a leaner, funnier direct-to-video feature.

Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Stage Fright features a strong 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that isn't nearly as prone to banding as other Scooby-Doo! direct-to-video movies. Banding still creeps into the proceedings from time to time, as most everyone should expect by now, but what few instances there are trace back to the digital animation source. Better still, they're aren't all that distracting in the grand scheme of things. Everything else is in pristine order. Colors are rich and vibrant, primaries shine, black levels are perfectly inky, and contrast is spot on. Detail is excellent too, with thick, smooth, crisply defined lines, next to no aliasing or pixelation, and nicely resolved backgrounds. And without any artifacting, noise or compression issues to point to, there really isn't very much to complain about. Now if only Warner Bros. Animation could do away with the banding, however minimal it may be, that pops up when inserting or overlaying lighting effects onto the animation...

Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track sounds great, and the "Talent Star" music is fittingly full. The movie's sound design is a touch flat and uneventful, particularly when the gang isn't being chased, frightened or shoved into mortal danger. But, yet again, fans should expect that sort of thing by now. Fortunately, voices are impeccably clean and clear, prioritization is terrific, the LFE channel is confident and able-bodied, and the rear speakers make the most of action and chaotic comedy sequences. It remains rather two-dimensional throughout, yes, and isn't exactly immersive. But Stage Fright couldn't sound much better than it does here.

Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Two episodes of classic Doo are included -- "Never Ape an Ape Man" and "Don't Fool with a Phantom" -- but both are presented in SD, and represent the only extras on the disc.

Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright isn't going to win a lot of favor with the judges, but it also isn't going to be booed off the stage. It's just a bit more direct-to-video in pace and scale than the best Scooby-Doo original animated movies, making it something of a middle-of-the-road letdown. Warner's Blu-ray release is quite good, with a strong AV presentation, but it lacks behind-the-scenes special features, which would be nice to see accompany one of these movies for a change. All told, Stage Fright isn't bad at all; simply not as good as it could be. Diehard Mystery Inc. fanatics will be entertained. Everyone else will be mildly amused... at best.