6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
Eight housemates on a fake animated reality TV show realize they've been canceled and set off on a journey to get back on the air
Starring: Cree Summer, Jack Plotnick, Tara Strong, Abbey McBride, Adam CarollaComedy | 100% |
Animation | 91% |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
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)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (256 kbps)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Have you ever even seen your show? It's filthy, it's racist, and it has a shocking lack of Dave
Chappelle.
It's difficult to remember television before the deluge of reality programming dominated
the airwaves. "Survivor," "American Idol," "The Real World," and "The Amazing Race" represent
just the
tip of the iceberg in what has become an absolute craze both in the United States and around the
world. For some, the appeal of watching "real people" in "real situations" deal with and compete
against their peers for cash, pride, fame, or whatever it is that motivates them to suspend their
actual "real lives" in search of a dream is too much to resist. For others, the genre has taken on
a
life of its own and become a farcical reminder of just how far the television medium has fallen;
nowadays, for every "traditional" program like "Breaking Bad" or "The Sopranos" there are
dozens of "The Bachelor," "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire," and "Temptation Island." Love
them or hate them, reality shows are a staple of American culture, and with reality overload,
there was bound to be something to come along that promised to inject some new life and
vitality into the mix. That "something" was "Drawn Together," an animated parody of shows like
"Big Brother" that places several "unique" characters into a house and follows their
excessively over-the-top exploits that are anything but "real." As profane,
disgusting, disturbing, and morally corrupt as anything out there, "Drawn Together" certainly
takes the "reality" out of "reality television," but then again, "reality" was always a term that
was often only loosely descriptive of the genre.
Yes, a character makes out with a gradually-decaying corpse in 'The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!'
The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! debuts on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer that's available with optional 3D scenes. More on the latter in a moment, but the primary presentation looks solid if not a bit routine. The image can appear just a tad soft, but lines are suitably sharp and there's no evidence of jagged edges or distracting banding. Colors are nicely resolved and showcase smooth gradations, through some appear with perhaps just a slight lack of vibrancy, whether analyzing the vomit-yellow and pink skin tones of Wooldoor and Spanky, respectively; The Jew Producer's baby blue sports coat; or Toot's heavy gray shading. Blacks tend to waver, sometimes looking somewhat washed out but at other times appearing very deep, inky, and true. Detail is adequate; the animation proves rather simple by nature, but the 1080p transfer allows for a sharper image and a better realization of some of the finer nuances in each frame, particularly during those scenes that take on a construction paper-like consistency and appear reminiscent of "South Park." Unfortunately, the 3-D scenes (glasses are not included; a special feature on the disc instructs viewers how to construct their own, but for the purpose of this review, a pair from the Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray release were used) are terrible. It's not clear if the lack of a convincing 3-D experience is part of the gag, but it offers neither any sense of depth nor any "popping" effects that would show objects seemingly sticking out of the screen. The select 3-D scenes will only have the viewer seeing double as there's a terrible ghosting effect. Combined with awful color reproduction, The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! makes even mediocre anaglyph 3-D presentations like The Polar Express look fantastic. Obviously, viewers cannot expect anything like what's to be seen in the modern 3D experience, but this effort drags the video score down a notch, even if it is optional and only found in select scenes.
The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! features a steady Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This presentation is clear and accurate, with strongly-realized sound effects and a smooth and proficient musical delivery. Gunfire as heard in one early scene seems to zip across the listening area with an effortless flow, and various sound effects throughout the movie often engulf the listener and seem to move naturally from one speaker to the next. The picture doesn't produce much in the way of ambient support, but the strong sound effects and musical reproduction make up for the lack of a more consistently-immersive atmosphere. The picture's score is soundly reproduced, often accompanied by a fair amount of bass, particularly in some of the more comically over-pumped tracks scattered throughout the movie. Additionally, dialogue is sharp and focused, and the varied voices of the eight primary Drawn Together characters never come across as in any way muffled or unclear. While not a stunner of a soundtrack, Drawn Together's TrueHD lossless presentation is a good one, not lacking in any area and nicely supportive of all the movie has to offer from a sonic perspective.
The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! arrives on Blu-ray with a hearty supplemental package, headlined by an audio commentary track featuring Writers/Producers Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser, Writer/Developer Jordan Young, and Sound Designer Kurt Vanzo. The track is a bit scattered, with a mixture of relevant information and random off topic discussions. When the conversation does take a turn for the more interesting, the participants discuss their desire to craft a series that has no real point other than to entertain, the difficulty of writing for eight main characters, recording a phony commentary track for a sequence in the movie, and more. 'Drawn Together': True Confessionals 1080i, 12:16) features cast and crew speaking, sometimes with tongue planted in-cheek, on the show's cancellation, their thoughts on making a direct-to-video follow-up, the film's shock value, the process of voicing the characters, and possible future "Drawn Together" material. 'Drawn Together': The Legacy (480p, 4:16) looks back on the "importance" of "Drawn Together" to the world at large. Anatomy of an Animated Sex Scene (1080i, 5:32) examines the creation and implementation of the 3D sex scene found in the film. Next up is Re-Animating 'Drawn Together': From the Small Screen to the Slightly Bigger Screen (1080i, 9:46), a piece that looks at the differences between creating a show and a feature-length film. D.I.Y. 3-D Glasses (1080i, 2:14) shows viewers how to craft their own pair of 3-D glasses (they're not included in the package). Rounding out this package of extras are several deleted scenes (1080p, 8:45) and a collection of eight "Drawn Together" Minisodes (480p): Foxxy Love (4:54), Spanky Ham (4:30), Captain Hero (4:26), Wooldoor Sockbat (4:23), Princess Clara (4:18), Toot Braunstein (4:44), Ling Ling (4:10), and Xandir P. Whifflebottom (5:03).
The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! isn't comedy gold, but fans of the cancelled show should find plenty in here to love. The humor is decidedly juvenile to the extreme, with every scene laced in profanity, packed with innuendo, and often accompanied by gratuitous graphic violence. It's best described as "weird," but to the writers' credit, the picture acknowledges its pointlessness and thereby gives it a free pass to do what it will, and oddly enough, make the material relevant thematically through its admission of irrelevancy. The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! will be a tough sell for those without at least a cursory knowledge of what the show is about, but it's a good jumping-in point, even if it does, seemingly wrap up the series. Paramount's Blu-ray release of The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! is solid from top to bottom. Boasting a quality technical presentation (aside from the 3-D scenes) and a good assortment of extras, fans should have absolutely no reservations in picking this one up at their local Best Buy store, where this disc may be found as an exclusive release.
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