Break-Up, The

Sound:
Matching its bright and sunny picture, "The Break-Up" features a very good Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 multi-channel surround mix. The film has not only pristine sounding dialogue, but a couple very nice scenes with full surround presence and nicely defined environmental effects. Chicago is a busy city and scenes where Vaughn is on the tour bus nicely accentuate the windy city. Dialogue is an important part of every romantic comedy and this one is no exception. Whereas the typical romantic comedy formula features tender moments, sweet nothings and quite moments, this is a loud sounding picture. There are heavy bouts of shouting that put "Moonlighting" to shame, noisy clubs with heavy hitting dance music and plenty of storming around a small apartment. In addition to the English 5.1 mix, there are also French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus mixes. The standard definition side features plain brown bag Dolby Digital and a Dolby Digital 2.0 mix. One benefit of HD-DVD is that an assumption has been made that surround sound is part of any home theater format featuring the format and those 2.0 mixes are becoming a thing of the past. "The Break-Up" is a good sounding film.

Extras:
Universal has been using HD-15/DVD-9 platters for their Combo Format releases. This has resulted in most extras being split between the two sides, with most of the bonus materials being held captive on the standard edition side and requiring those of us using the title for HD-DVD to flip the disc over. This is an uncomfortable task for the first generation of Toshiba players, such as myself. "The Break-Up" is hopefully a turning point and features a HD-30/DVD-9 disc. The result is that the film has a nice collection of extras and includes HD only supplements. The disc contains Universal´s U-Control feature that has been present on films such as "Miami Vice" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift." This incarnation of U-Control includes the Picture-in-Picture and Production Photographs U-Control is a feature is utilized actively. You can sit back and press a button on your remote when an icon appears to view the pictures or video segments. I prefer Warner´s video commentaries, but the U-Control does make for an interesting way of watching a film. Quite interactive. The material included for this title features a lot of behind-the-scenes footage and for those that are hopeful, sorry, no Aniston assets.

The additional features contained on the disc are actually quite nice. An Alternate Ending plus Over 15 Minutes of Deleted and Extended Scenes and Outtakes is exactly what the title states – over a quarter an hour of deleted scenes and outtakes, where a large portion of the deleted scenes were alternate takes. The alternate ending is a slightly different take than what was included in the film and does not allow for the open-ended finale used in the finished product. The scenes are not broken out individually and while some are entertaining, others are certainly forgettable. An Improv with Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau include the two friends hamming it up with improvised lines. The two men have done a number of films together and have a great rapport with one-another and there was some genuinely funny stuff in here.

Not one, but two commentary tracks are included on the disc. The first Feature Commentary with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston is a good track that doesn´t dig into the rumors and stories surrounding the two, but takes a friendly look at their experiences in the making of the film. You can certainly tell that Aniston and Vaughn have good chemistry, but their commentary certainly doesn´t concretely paint them as a couple; sorry for those of you looking for more details on their storied history. The second Feature Commentary with Director Peyton Reed is far more technical than what the romantic duo offered. Reed gushes about his famous actors, but does give many informative tidbits about his film. Spot reviewing this track was entertaining and I listened to a couple lengthy segments.

A few featurettes are thrown in for good measure as well. Three Brothers: A Tour of Chicago is an interactive tour of the Windy City with Vince Vaughn providing an introduction to the feature. Many of the filming locations from "The Break-Up" are covered in greater detail in this nice little extra. It was a bit sluggish with the Toshiba remote, but that is par for the course for that device. My Logitech Harmony performed like a trooper. Not mentioned on the packaging was The Making of The Break-Up, which is your standard press production featuring interviews with cast and crew and overly praising the picture. The video shorts featured in the "U-Control" were far more impressive than what is included here. Finally, Tone Rangers is an additional segment looking at brother Richard and his singing tendencies. I just hope the Tone Rangers are not found singing in my bedroom anytime soon. Give me Pearl Jam please.

Closing Thoughts:
I was pleasantly surprised by "The Break-Up," but found myself not enjoying the film for its comedy, but for vindication that I was not alone in the reasonings behind my most recent personal break-up. Vince loves everything that I do and is a fun guy. He does, however, suffer from poor communication skills and Aniston´s character slams him to the curb and improperly communicates her desires; instead resorts to hurting him even more. The film is funny, but it is a far more realistic romantic comedy in today´s world. Maybe I´m jaded, but this was a film that I could relate to. Vaughn really is today´s "Everyman." Aniston is still cute and perky, though you won´t find out how perky she is in this film. Google can help you out with that search. The video quality was quite good and sound was stellar as well. I was happy to see this was a dual-sided, dual-layered Combo Format and have a warmer feeling towards these overpriced discs. DVD-18 never quite made it, but I´m hoping these HD-30/DVD-9 titles have a future. The supplements are good and entertaining. Of course, they are Vince driven and he helps make them fun. I do not normally recommend a romantic comedy, but for every guy that has been put through relationship hell because of Sega, grab this one fellas.

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