Hustle & Flow (Blu-ray)

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Video:
I had made the choice to review Craig Brewer´s "Black Snake Moan" before sitting down to review "Hustle & Flow." The former mentioned film possesses one of the finest transfers I have yet to seen on either the Blu-ray format or the HD-DVD format. Unfortunately, "Hustle & Flow" is not nearly as crisp and awe inspiring as the more recent picture. Formatted with the AVC MPEG-4 code and presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, "Hustle & Flow" is somewhat disappointing. Not possessing the ultra-fine level of detail and riddled with a consistent layer of film grain, "Hustle & Flow" has enough detail to its imagery to prove that it is a high definition release, but it doesn´t look much spiffier than an average standard definition DVD release. Between the relatively low level of detail and obtrusive film grain, "Hustle & Flow" looks flat and overly two dimensional. The film´s colors suffer at the hands of the transfer´s shortcomings and although they are good, the overall feeling of this transfer is unfulfilling.

Sound:
The bass is thumping in "Hustle & Flow" and this modern tale of an underdog and seedy individual working hard to become a musical artist has plenty of oomph in its Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Not only does the .1 LFE channel thump happily along throughout the film, but the films high and midrange sounds are also nicely rendered and capture the timbre of Djay´s voice and lyrics rather nicely. Brewer works hard to include meaningful musical numbers in his film and "Hustle & Flow" is no exception and each selected track sounds great. Scott Bomar has provided scores for each of Brewer´s films and his work here is quite good. Even when the bass is hitting the hardest and music is plentiful through each of the five directional speakers, dialog holds up rather well and easily understood. The film uses the rear surrounds effectively and sound flows from channel to channel cleanly and efficiently. I wouldn´t consider "It´s Hard Out Here for a Pimp" to be Oscar worthy, but it is a good little tune and the soundtrack treats its Oscar winner with respect.

Extras:
I believe the commentary for "Black Snake Moan" had Craig Brewer state something about watching Kevin Smith LaserDiscs and such and being inspiration for his attitude towards special features. Maybe it was somebody else, but it sounds good for this review. If it was another title I recently reviewed, I apologize to all involved. I don´t feel a need to sit down and listen to that disc´s commentary again to find the quote. The various releases of "Hustle & Flow" feature a nice array of supplements, including another Commentary by Writer/Director Craig Brewer. Brewer does a very nice job with his commentary tracks and this one is another good track to sit down and enjoy. The man loves music and has a lot of music knowledge. He tells good anecdotes about the making of the film and gushes over his stars.

After the commentary, a couple hours of extras are contained on the disc. Behind the Hustle (27:19) looks at the making of the film from all angles. Terrence Howard had avoided joining the cast for a year, but he is more than happy to join in on the features and Craig Brewer is present throughout the disc. This was a good documentary and looked at the character of DJay and the film´s themes with additional depth. By Any Means Necessary (14:39) uses a quote from the film for its title and looks at the difficulties that John Singleton and Craig Brewer had in making this film; another good documentary on the four week production. Creatin´ Crunk (13:41) had some very funny musical moments with the film´s gangster lyrics sung by a fat white man with an acoustic guitar. The rest of the time was spent with Craig Brewer getting down with his love of music.

When the making of features end, a number of additional features carry on the quality offerings. Memphis Hometown Premiere (4:52) looks at the July 6th, 2005 debut of the film in Memphis. Although not terribly exciting, it wasn´t a bad way to spend five quick minutes. The Paula Jai Parker Audition (2:46) is short and has Paula wearing a little bikini and cursing like crazy in this odd rehearsal video. The Ludacris and Terrence Howard Rehearsal (2:22) is another short bit and looks at the introduction scene between Djay and Skinny Black. The Scene Extensions (5:31) contain longer versions of the "Djay meets Shelby" scene and also "The Keyboard" scene. They are short, but the Shelby scene was quite good. The final offerings include "It´s Hard Out Here for a Pimp" – Acoustic Version video, 6 Promotional Spots and two Theatrical Trailers.

Closing Comments:
"Hustle & Flow" is a good film and the first of two solid films where music is a strong supporting character by writer and director Craig Brewer. This film tells the story of a pimp and hustler who goes by the name Djay and destines to do something with his life and become a recording star and tell his stories of thuggery and survival on the streets through his flow. He has to resort to any means necessary to make his dream come true, but his heart is filled with lyrics that have a shot at success. This is one of the better rap films to come out of Hollywood in quite some time. The Blu-ray release has a disappointing picture quality that is hindered by excessive film grain. Sound quality, fortunately, is solid and the bass bumps heavily throughout the film. The supplemental materials are nicely done and Craig Brewer comes from the Kevin Smith school of supporting his fan base with wondrous bits of value-added content. This is a film and a disc I have no hesitation in recommending to others, whether or not they are rap fans.

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