7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Tired of following in her family's footsteps of compliance and conformity, Bliss discovers a way to put her life on the fast track...literally. She lands a spot on a rough-and-tumble roller derby team and becomes "Babe Ruthless" - the hottest thing on eight wheels!
Starring: Elliot Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette LewisComedy | 100% |
Teen | 57% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy (on disc)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
As a cultural phenomenon, modern roller derby is just as improbable as pole-sitting or competitive eating. Who’d have thought an obscure sport that peaked in the ‘70s could be resurrected as a grrrl-power subculture that combines the athleticism of speed skating with the camp theatrics of The Rocky Horror Picture Show? The brilliant thing about it is that it works; it’s punk and burlesque, it’s sporty and intense, and it rolls with a particular brand of feminism that’s both self- empowering and unabashedly sexy. It takes confidence to pull on fishnets, lace up a pair of old- school skates, and take to the rink with a bunch of similarly attired hipsters, all hell-bent on taking each other out with a fury normally reserved for hurricanes and Norse gods. If the Olympic committee, by some stroke of hare-brained genius, decided to add roller derby to its roster of otherwise vanilla sports, I guarantee you TV ratings would rocket faster than a she-devil on wheels. So, in many ways, Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut and the first derby-centric feature film, coasts on the sport’s undeniable mystique. The film’s faults—an overly familiar plot, sports movie clichés, and a shaky sense of dramatic tension—are easily overridden by the uniqueness of its subject matter and the sheer joy that Barrymore seems to have invested in the production.
Iron Maven vs. Babe Ruthless
Whip It tears up the track on Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that's as sexy and brassy as the roller girls themselves. The image is supersaturated with the bright, flashy colors of a bright, flashy subculture. See the Hurl Scouts' pine green uniforms, the yellow star that adorns Babe Ruthless' helmet, the pig pink aprons at the Oink Joint, deep purple bruises, Smashley Simpson's crimson nosebleed, and the red, white, and blue of Johnny "Hot Tub" Rocket's LED-light boutonniere. Skin tones too are healthy and natural, tight contrast results in a vivid, dimensional image, and black levels reach oily depths while preserving shadow detail in all but the darkest scenes. Likewise, the texture work is fantastic—note the discernable threading in Earl Cavendar's tri-blend heather gray t-shirt—extra-fine detail is apparent in nearly every shot, and the overall image is as crisp as it is colorful. The transfer also succeeds on a technical level; the film's ultra-thin grain structure is untouched, unwarranted edge enhancement is wholly absent, and banding, macroblocking, and other compression-related anomalies are nowhere to be seen. Quite simply, this is a wonderful transfer from Fox that's sure to please videophiles and roller derby enthusiasts alike.
"Clean, clear, and under control," is the motto for a particular brand of acne medication, but the same could be said for Whip It's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which is clean (absolutely), clear (indelibly), but perhaps a bit too under control considering roller derby's brash punk aesthetic. Don't get me wrong, the mix sounds great as it is, but it's not quite as potent, aggressive, or immersive as it could've been. Before watching the film, I imagined all the sonic possibilities inherent in roller derby's elbow-to-the-face brutality: the sound of skates whooshing through the surround speakers at breakneck speed, bone-crushing tackles, road rash-inducing face plants, and the roar of the crowd commingling with the steady thrum of overdriven guitar. And yes, we do get a bit of that, but this dial doesn't quite go to 11, if you know what I mean. The rear channels are engaged through much of the film, but the track still seems somewhat front-heavy to me, mostly because it plays it safe by keeping the volume of sound effects and ambience fairly low, allowing dialogue to be easily heard. There's nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but a harder hitting track would go a long way in selling the intensity of the sport. That said, when the music kicks in, this track takes off with plenty of low-end and detailed highs. The soundtrack is fantastic too, featuring The Ramones, The Breeders, and Cut Chemist, among many others.
I'm a little disappointed with Whip It's meager supplementary offerings, especially considering the possibilities. I would've been stoked to have a documentary on real life roller girls, a commentary track with first-time director Drew Barrymore and key members of the cast, or even a standard making-of featurette. Unfortunately, our bonus options are quite limited. Deleted Scenes (SD, 16:14) includes an alternate opening and eight other deleted or extended scenes, all of them rightfully trimmed. Fox Movie Channel Presents Writer's Draft: Shauna Cross of Whip It (SD, 3:04) is a brief interview with the screenwriter, who explains the origins of the story in her own past as a derby girl. And finally, Whip It Soundtrack Spot (SD, 00:32) is a short promo for the soundtrack album, which is available on CD or—appropriately enough—on two pink LPs.
Whip It is one of those films that's easy to love despite its flaws—it's got infectious energy, buoyant performances, a killer soundtrack, and if that weren't enough, it's all about roller derby, the kookiest, kitschiest, sexiest sport to ever be ironically revived and then unironically embraced. The film looks and sounds great on Blu-ray too—I'm not sure about the neon green case, though—and despite the unfortunate lack of supplementary features, derby fans will definitely want this one sitting on their shelves. Recommended.
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