I neither disliked nor particularly enjoyed August Rush.
As a film, I neither disliked nor particularly enjoyed "August Rush." It was there. I watched it. I´m not asking for my two hours of my life back, but I´m not feeling any strong desire to ever watch the film again. I have a love of music and between the film´s focal point on music and the performance of "August Rush," I was able to watch the film from beginning to end without too much restlessness. Neither Jonathan Rhys Meyers nor Robin Williams added anything of value to the film and while I thought Keri Russell and Terrence Howard put forth good performances, their characters were uninspiring. Asking a fifteen year old to hold the weight of a film on his shoulders is a large task and Freddie Highmore delivers. However, it typically takes a lot more than one solid performance to make a film something you will want to experience time and time again and "August Rush" doesn´t have much more than Highmore.
Video:
Warner Bros. has provided a good looking 2.40:1 transfer for the Blu-ray release of "August Rush." The film is mastered using the VC-1 codec and utilizes pristine source materials to offer up a clean and visually pleasing digital mastering of the film. All big words aside, "August Rush" looks pretty good on Blu-ray, but it isn´t anything special. The level of detail contained in the title is pretty good. I enjoyed the broken down theater set used as the home of Arthur, Wizard and August and felt the decrepit conditions looked very good in high definition. Some of the grittier sequences in the film lacked that three dimensional feeling associated with 1080p resolution, but the detail was typically strong. Colors are also strong, with sharp hues present throughout the film. There were a few minor instances where flesh tones felt a little overblown, but I was generally pleased with the film´s palette. While this isn´t the most detailed or colorful transfer, it is no worse than average.
Audio:
"August Rush" comes fully equipped with a strong sounding Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack that showcases the film´s musical elements. The disc also contains French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes. Much of the film is centric to music and I was quite happy that the TrueHD mix delivered each musical note with depth and clarity. One particularly good sounding scene involved Evan listening to the sounds of New York City as if it were a full-fledged symphony and I was floored at how the filmmakers managed to make music from mayhem. The usage of the rear surrounds was very apparent during this sequence and both ambience and music were carried smoothly between each channel. The mix nicely utilizes both high and low ends of the sound spectrum. Dialogue is crystal clear. "August Rush" is not an overpowering mix, but it is beautifully done and showed the clarity capable only with TrueHD or other ´next-gen´ sound formats.
Extras:
The Blu-ray (and equivalent DVD release) of "August Moon" is far from being a special edition. The film flew under the radar of most moviegoers and Warner Bros. has not rewarded those faithful to the film with any substantial value added content. One supplement is provided. It is a collection of seven Additional Scenes. Each scene is selected to be played individually and oddly, no ´Play All´ feature is provided. Over half of the scenes involve Robin Williams´ character and while they do add a little more detail to the story, none necessarily need to be re-inserted into the film. With no trailers or even previews, "August Moon" is slim pickings when it comes to extra features.
Closing Comments:
At the end of the day, or at least after I was done watching "August Rush," I felt very little compassion or aggression towards the film. There were some things I enjoyed about the film and a few things I wasn´t particularly excited about. I enjoyed the title character and thought young Freddie Highmore was excellent as Evan Taylor / August Rush. However, those around him were either uninteresting in character or poor casting choices. With Robin Williams and Terrence Howard as supporting actors, you would expect the star power to benefit the film greatly, but it does not. The film plods along at times, but there are some wonderful scenes involving August Rush and his love for music. The Blu-ray release has a good enough looking transfer and the TrueHD mix is a real pleasure. Supplements are thin. This is definitely a title for those with some sort of emotional attachment to the picture. Others may want to simply rent or avoid the film. It isn´t a bad film, but I´m not sure it is worth more than the cost of a rental if you want to put a monetary value towards the Blu-ray release.
Video:
Warner Bros. has provided a good looking 2.40:1 transfer for the Blu-ray release of "August Rush." The film is mastered using the VC-1 codec and utilizes pristine source materials to offer up a clean and visually pleasing digital mastering of the film. All big words aside, "August Rush" looks pretty good on Blu-ray, but it isn´t anything special. The level of detail contained in the title is pretty good. I enjoyed the broken down theater set used as the home of Arthur, Wizard and August and felt the decrepit conditions looked very good in high definition. Some of the grittier sequences in the film lacked that three dimensional feeling associated with 1080p resolution, but the detail was typically strong. Colors are also strong, with sharp hues present throughout the film. There were a few minor instances where flesh tones felt a little overblown, but I was generally pleased with the film´s palette. While this isn´t the most detailed or colorful transfer, it is no worse than average.
Audio:
"August Rush" comes fully equipped with a strong sounding Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack that showcases the film´s musical elements. The disc also contains French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes. Much of the film is centric to music and I was quite happy that the TrueHD mix delivered each musical note with depth and clarity. One particularly good sounding scene involved Evan listening to the sounds of New York City as if it were a full-fledged symphony and I was floored at how the filmmakers managed to make music from mayhem. The usage of the rear surrounds was very apparent during this sequence and both ambience and music were carried smoothly between each channel. The mix nicely utilizes both high and low ends of the sound spectrum. Dialogue is crystal clear. "August Rush" is not an overpowering mix, but it is beautifully done and showed the clarity capable only with TrueHD or other ´next-gen´ sound formats.
Extras:
The Blu-ray (and equivalent DVD release) of "August Moon" is far from being a special edition. The film flew under the radar of most moviegoers and Warner Bros. has not rewarded those faithful to the film with any substantial value added content. One supplement is provided. It is a collection of seven Additional Scenes. Each scene is selected to be played individually and oddly, no ´Play All´ feature is provided. Over half of the scenes involve Robin Williams´ character and while they do add a little more detail to the story, none necessarily need to be re-inserted into the film. With no trailers or even previews, "August Moon" is slim pickings when it comes to extra features.
Closing Comments:
At the end of the day, or at least after I was done watching "August Rush," I felt very little compassion or aggression towards the film. There were some things I enjoyed about the film and a few things I wasn´t particularly excited about. I enjoyed the title character and thought young Freddie Highmore was excellent as Evan Taylor / August Rush. However, those around him were either uninteresting in character or poor casting choices. With Robin Williams and Terrence Howard as supporting actors, you would expect the star power to benefit the film greatly, but it does not. The film plods along at times, but there are some wonderful scenes involving August Rush and his love for music. The Blu-ray release has a good enough looking transfer and the TrueHD mix is a real pleasure. Supplements are thin. This is definitely a title for those with some sort of emotional attachment to the picture. Others may want to simply rent or avoid the film. It isn´t a bad film, but I´m not sure it is worth more than the cost of a rental if you want to put a monetary value towards the Blu-ray release.
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