Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 17, 2024

Mill Creek has released the 2007 film 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,' directed by Jake Kasdan and starring John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Raymond J. Barry, Kristen Wiig, Tim Meadows, and Harold Ramis, to Blu-ray. The film was previously released to Blu-ray by Sony in 2008. I did not review, nor do I have access to, that disc, so this review will cover the Mill Creek release on its own merits rather than in a comparative style. Mill Creek has included two cuts of the film, as was the case with the original Sony release. There's 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' (1:36:03) and 'American Cox: The Unbearably Long, Self-Indulgent Director's Cut' (2:00:19). Both cuts include 1080p video and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtracks. This two-disc set includes extras on both discs, and it brings over the majority from the original 2008 Sony release. At time of writing, it also ships in exclusive SteelBook packaging.

After accidentally cutting his brother in half with a machete and thereafter losing his sense of smell, young Dewey Cox realizes that he’s not just an accomplished musician, but that he is a bonafide musical prodigy. The first time he picks up a guitar, he’s strumming the Blues with the best of them. At age 14, Cox (John C. Reilly) performs at a high school talent show where the younger generation instantly falls in love with his music and the older rebels against it. A fight ensues and accusations of satanic influence abound, but the stage has literally been set for the next great music sensation in the world.

A year later, Cox is married to his high school sweetheart Edith (Kristen Wiig) and the couple has a baby. At 15, he’s still struggling to find his footing in the music industry, and Edith professes her confidence in…his failure. But Dewey, while working a manual labor job at a night club, fills in for an injured lead singer and blows the crowd away. He quickly records his first single which rises to the top of the charts and sets in motion a career that is, well, just like so many others.

Indeed, the film revels in the opportunity to hit on every last inch of the Music BioPic highlight reel, seeing Dewey take a very linear trajectory towards stardom, destruction, and the various ebbs and flows that follow these sorts of stories. Even at about 17 years old, made at a time when it seems like there wasn't quite the level of Music BioPic saturation that there is today, the film proves to be quite venerable in how it grasps stereotype and never relents in building on one genre trope after another. It's shrewd and capable, and genre fans are going to find it to hit right on the money.

For some additional thoughts on the film, please see the Blu-ray.com review of the original Sony release by clicking here.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As noted above, I did not review, nor do I have access to, a Blu-ray copy of the original Sony release, so this is a straight review of the Mill Creek issue apart from any comparative comments and content. On its own, however, the picture stands tall, offering a nice foundational quality that certainly cannot recreate a perfect Blu-ray image but at least captures a fundamental clarity and definition. The film was shot digitally and holds up nicely, especially in close-up where significant depth to pores and other facial features are in plain abundance (look at the 36:42 mark for one of the most complete examples of skin detailing in the film). But clarity reaches to various period clothing, from worn-down rural attire to flashy show costumes. Likewise, the various set pieces are strikingly complex, from, again, low-class simple dwellings to massive concert venues where everything looks perfectly in order. The film's color palette seems fine within the context, fluctuating between various temperature and contrast adjustments to suit filmmaker mood and need. Still, whether warm or cool or somewhere in between, the palette always semes at least full and accurate to filmmaker desire. Blacks are OK, looking slightly crushed. Whites and skin tones fluctuate through the various temperature and contrast whims evident in the film. Finally, there is some mild banding and occasional examples of light macroblocking, but overall encode and compression issues are not serious hindrances. This is a solid enough transfer from Mill Creek.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unlike the Sony issue, which featured a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack (then that studio's bread-and-butter Blu-ray audio codec), this Mill Creek release features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is fluid and satisfying, offering excellent clarity and nice usage of the full surround complement. The track is fluid and engaging, certainly lacking the tight precision of the best tracks, and those with more channels at their disposal, but all things considered the sense of engagement, married to fine clarity, helps this to serve as a quality listen. Musical clarity is excellent, especially with the "live" songs where instruments and lyrics alike play with excellent harmony and fine stage presence to pull the listener into all of the various venues, from school auditoriums to large concert venues. There are some pleasing support sound elements and environmental elements at work, but certainly most of the material takes a backseat to the music. Dialogue is clear and centered for the duration.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc Blu-ray release of Walk Hard includes extras on both discs. Below is a list of what's included. Full coverage of these extras can be found on the Sony Blu-ray review page here. Note that I do not have access to a copy of the Sony disc, nor did I review it, so I cannot confirm that one new extra is included. Per the original Sony review, several extras (Tyler Nilson: A Coxumentary, Song Demos, and Bull on the Loose) are missing from this release.

Disc One:

• Full Song Performances (1080p, 41:11).
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, 19:25).
• Audio Commentary: Jake Kasdan, Judd Apatow, John C. Reilly, and Lew Morton.
• Line-O-Rama (1080p, 6:22).
• NEW! A Christmas Song from Dewey Cox (1080p, 2:45): "Music Legend" Dewey Cox performs a fun Christmas tune.
• Cox Sausage Commercial with Outtakes (1080p, 2:23).

Disc Two:

• Audio Commentary: Jake Kasdan, Judd Apatow, John C. Reilly, and Lew Morton.
• The Music of Walk Hard (1080i, 16:37).
• The Making of Walk Hard (1080i, 15:05).
• The Real Dewey Cox (108oi, 14:04).
• The Last Word with John Hodgman (1080i, 26:00).

The SteelBook offers familiar artwork on the front, with Cox playing the guitar in an action pose, with his body coming out of the letter "O" in "Cox," which is written in large letters at the bottom. The words "No Legend Is Bigger" is written within the letter "C." The film's title appears above him in red ("Dewey Cox" is white). John C. Reilly's name appears above the title in white. A gold star is behind the title, center, and some flames are filling the bottom half of the panel. The rear panel features a photo of Dewey from the back. He is looking out to the crowd, arms raised (bent at 90 degrees at the elbow), dressed in white, and guitar slung across his back. The spine carries along the design cues from the front with the fire at the bottom and a darker backdrop at the top. The film's title appears in red and white letters, center, accompanied by a gold guitar. An image of Dewey Cox (inspired by Jim Morrison) has been placed at the top. Mill Creek and Blu-ray logos are at the bottom. Inside, there is a disc on a central hub on each interior panel. The left panel features an image of Dewey and his band standing with the letters "Dewey" in different colors. Some music notes line the top. The right panel depicts Dewey bent over with a tear on the backside of his pants. The word "Cox" appears with him.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mill Creek's new two-disc set will satisfy fans, though there doesn't appear to be any serious reason to replace the Sony release with this apart from the SteelBook packaging. Fans will rightly be waiting for a UHD, more than likely, but for newcomers of serious fans of the film this release should satisfy.