6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.9 |
Sharpay Evans travels to New York where she is pursuing a Broadway career but it's her dog who lands an acting gig first.
Starring: Ashley Tisdale, Austin Butler, Cameron Goodman, Bradley Steven Perry, Alec MapaFamily | 100% |
Comedy | 61% |
Musical | 32% |
Romance | 29% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It takes a brave man to slip off his work boots, step into the ballerina flats of a fourteen-year old girl and evaluate a direct-to-video High School Musical spinoff like Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure in the proper frame of mind. But I am not that man. While I can understand the appeal of the HSM franchise, particularly in lieu of the cultural supernova that is Glee, I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my head around the allure of this one, from the perspective of a thirty-year old man or a trailblazing teen. She may have been a bearable antagonist, but Tisdale's snappy, spoiled, self-centered Lava Springs prima donna makes for an obnoxious, unattractive protagonist, no matter what rosy, well-intentioned sweetheart may lurk deep within, no matter what New York adventure she might embark on, no matter who lowers their pink-tinted glasses to watch the formerly devilish diva flaunt her more grating personality quirks in a solo outing all her own.
“You mustn't be afraid to dream bigger, darling.”
Well, it's certainly colorful. As if Sharpay didn't don enough pink to startle a flock of flamingos, Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure is teeming with innumerable pinks: hot, demure, carnation, brink, pastel, cotton candy, ultra, cherry blossom, dusty rose, dogwood... you name a pink, it's here in all its fabulous high definition glory. The rest of Disney's 1080p/AVC-encoded follows suit, reveling in every vivid, vibrant scene the film has on tap. It isn't as stunning as, say, a high-dollar feature film -- Sharpay's low budget, direct-to-video roots result in a string of soft shots and consistently muted blacks -- but it's presumably an accurate rendering of its source. Detail ranges from decent to remarkable, fine textures and closeups are suitably impressive, and edge definition is fairly refined. More importantly, artifacting, banding, ringing and other lower class anomalies never sully the richer aspects of the presentation. All things considered, fans with reasonable DTV expectations will be quite pleased with the energetic parade of pink Disney has put together.
Disney's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is certainly serviceable. Tisdale's song-and-dance numbers alone make good use of the LFE channel and rear speakers. But the film's made-for-TV mix limits the possibilities. Dialogue is nice and crisp (if not a bit too shallow at times), effects are clean and clear, and prioritization is passable (for a direct-to-video release anyway). Sadly, LFE output doesn't exactly beat down any doors, and barely gets the job done when called upon. Likewise, the whole of the experience is largely a front-heavy, conversation-driven one, even though a touch of directional prowess transforms busier scenes with brief but more immersive bursts of activity. Even so, George S. Clinton's bubble-pop music weathers the worst of Sharpay's tantrums to contribute to the studio's solid, albeit uninvolving lossless track.
Seventeen minutes of special features hardly constitutes a supplemental package, much less a riveting behind the scenes experience built with High School Musical fanatics in mind. Even the most devoted HSMers will balk at the lack of any substantial content.
Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure continues to elude me, even though I have no doubt its target teens will fall in love with High School Musical's self-centered drama queen. Disney's Blu-ray release isn't much better. While its video transfer is sure to satisfy fans, its DTS-HD Master Audio track underwhelms and its supplemental package disappoints. For diehard HSM fans only.
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2008
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2007
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