This Blu-ray marks the first time that ALL the bonus features from the DVD release are included, in High Definition and with PCM audio.
Video:
I'd been looking forward to seeing this in Blu-ray, because Coraci shot the film on Hi-Def video—one of the first films to be shot in HD. I wasn't blown away by the picture on SD, and I have to say that I'm not blown away by it in Blu-ray. But in scrutinizing the picture in ways that I wouldn't, as a simple viewer, I came to conclude that much of our overall impression of the picture quality rests with the director's decision to shoot scene-after-scene with a soft-focus background that makes it look ever-so-blurred. But if you focus on the figures in the foreground you'll see a high level of detail, while the colors, meanwhile, are vivid and with good saturation. It's just one of those things that, given everybody's need to be blown away by a Hi-Def picture, you wonder why the studios aren't focusing more on products that offer sharp backgrounds as well. As with the SD release, "Click" is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Audio: The audio options are English or French Dolby Digital 5.1, and PCM (uncompressed) 6-channel sound. Here's where you see a really marked improvement over the SD release. PCM sound just has greater fullness and resonance, with a bolder timbre that isn't just loudness. It's richness.
Extras: "Click" is the first of three 50GB titles to be released on Blu-ray by Sony, and those of you who've been following the HD wars drama unfold know that the shift to dual layer transfer means greater disc capacity—which means more room for extras. The other two titles to get the dual-layer treatment, by the way, is Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" and the new Will Ferrell comedy, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
But this "Click" Blu-ray marks the first time that ALL the bonus features from the DVD release are included, in High Definition and with PCM audio. The special features are a commentary track, seven very short featurettes, and four equally short deleted scenes.
The commentary by Sandler, director Frank Coraci, writer Steve Koren, and executive producer Tim Herlihy is average at best. You get the feeling that they're having more fun than we are listening to them. "Is that real ice cream?" one of them asks, and then they'll talk about mundane minutiae while we're wondering about more significant aspects of a scene or sequence.
Of the seven featurettes, "Make Me Fat" is the most interesting. We see Sandler being tortured for four hours and bleeped when he blurts out the F-word. But lest you think it's all make-up, this feature reveals that a real fat guy was used for the naked sequences with "head replacement." The "Humping Dogs" featurette is also interesting, as we see that those little buggers weren't trained to hump away on that big furry duckie pillow. They were physically moved by a man in green-suit. But like the fat feature, it's pretty much a one-insight extra. Same with others on "Fine Cooking", "Cars of the Future," "Design My Universe," and "FX of 'Click'." The "Director's Take" isn't what it sounds like. Instead, it's the cast's take on Coraci, which amounts to a brief tribute/profile and has nothing to do with the film per se.
The deleted scenes are as short as they come and still qualify to be termed "scenes," with only one of them really interesting. In it, Sandler expresses the same joy upon reentering his old world as George Bailey did when he got all hysterically happy over his cut mouth and Zuzu's petals. It reinforces just how much of an update they wanted to do on "It's a Wonderful Life."
Bottom Line: I like "Click" enough to watch it again from time to time, which is saying something. But I still can't put my finger on what it's missing. "Click" is an entertaining movie, but not a really funny one. "It's a Wonderful Life" didn't wow them at the box office when it first came out. It was only over time that it became a beloved classic. As I said in my initial review, I don't know if "Click" has that potential. What's here seems well done and sincere enough. It's just that there seems to be something missing, something that would have given the film more heart . . . and soul. I'm not sure what that is, frankly, except that when "Click" was over and I clicked off the TV, I didn't feel as emotionally satisfied as I would have thought. Maybe the problem is in the set-up. We don't see nearly enough of Michael's interaction with his family to appreciate what he's truly losing, and for that matter we don't see enough sides of Michael to appreciate him the way we do George Bailey.
I'd been looking forward to seeing this in Blu-ray, because Coraci shot the film on Hi-Def video—one of the first films to be shot in HD. I wasn't blown away by the picture on SD, and I have to say that I'm not blown away by it in Blu-ray. But in scrutinizing the picture in ways that I wouldn't, as a simple viewer, I came to conclude that much of our overall impression of the picture quality rests with the director's decision to shoot scene-after-scene with a soft-focus background that makes it look ever-so-blurred. But if you focus on the figures in the foreground you'll see a high level of detail, while the colors, meanwhile, are vivid and with good saturation. It's just one of those things that, given everybody's need to be blown away by a Hi-Def picture, you wonder why the studios aren't focusing more on products that offer sharp backgrounds as well. As with the SD release, "Click" is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Audio: The audio options are English or French Dolby Digital 5.1, and PCM (uncompressed) 6-channel sound. Here's where you see a really marked improvement over the SD release. PCM sound just has greater fullness and resonance, with a bolder timbre that isn't just loudness. It's richness.
Extras: "Click" is the first of three 50GB titles to be released on Blu-ray by Sony, and those of you who've been following the HD wars drama unfold know that the shift to dual layer transfer means greater disc capacity—which means more room for extras. The other two titles to get the dual-layer treatment, by the way, is Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" and the new Will Ferrell comedy, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
But this "Click" Blu-ray marks the first time that ALL the bonus features from the DVD release are included, in High Definition and with PCM audio. The special features are a commentary track, seven very short featurettes, and four equally short deleted scenes.
The commentary by Sandler, director Frank Coraci, writer Steve Koren, and executive producer Tim Herlihy is average at best. You get the feeling that they're having more fun than we are listening to them. "Is that real ice cream?" one of them asks, and then they'll talk about mundane minutiae while we're wondering about more significant aspects of a scene or sequence.
Of the seven featurettes, "Make Me Fat" is the most interesting. We see Sandler being tortured for four hours and bleeped when he blurts out the F-word. But lest you think it's all make-up, this feature reveals that a real fat guy was used for the naked sequences with "head replacement." The "Humping Dogs" featurette is also interesting, as we see that those little buggers weren't trained to hump away on that big furry duckie pillow. They were physically moved by a man in green-suit. But like the fat feature, it's pretty much a one-insight extra. Same with others on "Fine Cooking", "Cars of the Future," "Design My Universe," and "FX of 'Click'." The "Director's Take" isn't what it sounds like. Instead, it's the cast's take on Coraci, which amounts to a brief tribute/profile and has nothing to do with the film per se.
The deleted scenes are as short as they come and still qualify to be termed "scenes," with only one of them really interesting. In it, Sandler expresses the same joy upon reentering his old world as George Bailey did when he got all hysterically happy over his cut mouth and Zuzu's petals. It reinforces just how much of an update they wanted to do on "It's a Wonderful Life."
Bottom Line: I like "Click" enough to watch it again from time to time, which is saying something. But I still can't put my finger on what it's missing. "Click" is an entertaining movie, but not a really funny one. "It's a Wonderful Life" didn't wow them at the box office when it first came out. It was only over time that it became a beloved classic. As I said in my initial review, I don't know if "Click" has that potential. What's here seems well done and sincere enough. It's just that there seems to be something missing, something that would have given the film more heart . . . and soul. I'm not sure what that is, frankly, except that when "Click" was over and I clicked off the TV, I didn't feel as emotionally satisfied as I would have thought. Maybe the problem is in the set-up. We don't see nearly enough of Michael's interaction with his family to appreciate what he's truly losing, and for that matter we don't see enough sides of Michael to appreciate him the way we do George Bailey.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]19795[/release]