6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Gordon Bombay, a successful defense attorney, is charged for drunk driving. The court orders him to coach a peewee hockey team, the worst in the league.
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland, Lane Smith, Heidi Kling, Josef SommerFamily | 100% |
Comedy | 69% |
Sport | 36% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
The great sport of hockey has certainly taken a back seat in the United States to the other big three sports and professional leagues. Fans will cite a myriad of reasons for the sport's decline in popularity, some legitimate, some a bit of a stretch, but anyone who has remained a fan through the years, at least of the sport and not of how the NHL runs it, there's no mistaking the majesty. Equal parts grace and violence, speed and skill, and one of the ultimate team sports that demands impeccable cohesion, awareness, and lightning-fast mental and physical reaction, it's arguably the most demanding team sport in the world and its championship certainly the most arduous to earn. At lower levels, all of those elements and attributes may not be fully developed or magnified, but The Mighty Ducks, Disney's 1992 franchise starter that also spawned an NHL team that won the Stanley Cup a decade ago and this year made it to within two wins of the Cup Finals, tells the story of a ragtag group of not necessarily low skill but rather poorly motivated kids who mature into a team that plays the game for the right reasons under the leadership of a coach on the path to personal, and hockey, redemption.
The Mighty Ducks' Blu-ray presentation is hardly one to remember. That doesn't mean it fails the basic eye test. The movie is soft, and not just in some of the dreamy flashback scene to Gordon Bombay's youth. The movie proper plays with a flat, sometimes lightly diffuse, appearance. Details rarely excite, certainly not skin textures but even some of the ragged makeshift uniforms and old, battered equipment don't reveal much tangible or intimate texturing. Basic things like frayed, worn tape on stick blades or the heaviest stitching or writing on clothes and equipment reveal adequate definition, but never does the movie truly explode with any sort of eye-catching level of intense, realistic detail. Clarity is decent, however, and the image enjoys a firmer posture thanks to the 1080p resolution. Colors aren't world-beaters, either. The green Ducks jerseys and the hodgepodge of orange/red "uniforms" the team wears early in the film don't exactly sparkle, favoring more a simple, monochromatic appearance. Black levels aren't exciting, and some of the darkest corners all coverage into one indistinct morass, particularly as Gordon arrives at the ice in his limo in a shot that sees the interior, his dark clothes, and the background shadows merge into a single blob. Flesh tones are a touch pasty and pale. The image retains a light bit of somewhat chunky grain and sees some splash sou noise every now and then. The end result is hardly striking, but with little print or encode deficiencies, there's not much room to be too harsh on a rather bland-looking movie.
The Mighty Ducks' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is just as mundane, but baseline effective, as its video counterpart. Music is light and limited to begin, failing to stretch into the rears and offering a simple bit of uninspired push. Clarity hovers somewhere between "competent" and "good." Music does gradually seem to open up throughout the film, culminating in a more well-rounded, more aggressive, more surround-intensive bit of sound during a playoff montage near film's end. The track doesn't express much in terms of surround support beyond the heavy, fast pucks that come off Fulton's slap shots. Practically all of them rifle through the stage and into the back with a satisfying, but fairly forced, zip and swish effect. Ambient effects, whether in the rink or on the street, are kept to a bare minimum. Dialogue propels most of the movie, and it's satisfyingly clear, well prioritized, and center-positioned, though like music and effects it can't match the best of the best for sheer detail and lifelike transparency.
This Blu-ray release of The Mighty Ducks contains no supplemental content.
The Mighty Ducks doesn't redefine its genre but it's a sound, enjoyable little movie that holds up very well for its charm and simplicity. Enthusiasm and heart cover up its predictability. Performances and production design are strong. Disney's Blu-ray, exclusive to its online movie club, lacks any kind of special features. Video and audio are adequate, hardly the stuff of format legend. Recommended for fans.
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