College Road Trip (Blu-ray)

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Because "Cheetah Girl" Raven stars, of course there's a song, and we get a karaoke bus number with her belting out "Double Dutch Bus" with a busload of Japanese tourists on back-up. That's the big number, and as brief as it is, it still seems more substantial than the comedy--the biggest routines of which we've already seen in early "Brady Bunch" episodes. Simply put, "College Road Trip" isn't a ride worth taking.

Video:
I have no complaints about the MPEG-4 transfer to a BD-50, though. It looks clean, the colors look natural, there's a pleasing-enough 3-dimensionality, and the black levels are strong enough to provide deep contrasts with plenty of visible detail. "College Road Trip" is presented in 2.40:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:
The featured audio is a PCM 5.1 uncompressed (48 kHz/24-bit) soundtrack with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish. There are also audio options in French and English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. The PCM track is like the video: nothing noticeably deficient, and nothing to make you call your friends to come over and check out this amazing soundtrack. All channels get involved, the level of ambient sound is pretty decent, and the dynamics aren't bad. The spread across the front main speakers might be a little narrow, because sound doesn't always fill the room, but that would be the only negative I noticed. All in all, it's a decent soundtrack.

Extras:
It always seems that mediocre movies give you more extras than you care to watch, and "College Road Trip" is no exception. Instead of one commentary there are two. Director Kumble teams up with his young star as they talk us through the film, offering the usual blend of anecdotes and mutual backslapping. The writers of the first screenplay who appear on a second track are the same, more pleased with the final product than the audience. It's tough to watch, given that gap.

Other features? There are two very brief ones that spotlight Raven: "On the Set: Double Dutch Bus" (behind-the-scenes) and "Raven's Video Diary" (a typical tour) both of which were made to air as Disney Channel snippets and teasers. Also included is the "Double Dutch Bus" music video, an under three minute gag reel, less than four minutes of alternate scenes, and 12 minutes of deleted scenes. But as brief as those were, they were still painful to watch, considering how disappointing the film was. When we hear Kumble say "Cute scene, but we didn't need it" on his optional commentary, you can't help but think of dozens more that did make it into the film.

Bottom Line:
If you're looking for characters like Otter and Bluto, you won't find them here. "College Road Trip" is really a sappier, more pedestrian, and unfunny variation of "Father of the Bride."

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