There's nothing here that a five year old couldn't watch. And yet, the target age group will think it's a rockin' good time.
Video:
Like most 3-D releases, there's a 2-D option for casual viewing. Both the concert footage and behind-the-scenes clips that are interspersed throughout were shot with a Hi-Def digital camera, and both versions of the film look very, very good in 1080p (AVC/MPEG-4 codec). Presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the film fills out the entire screen of a 16x9 television. Colors are so bright and fully saturated that they jump out, even in 2-D. Black levels are also strong, and skin tones are extremely natural, which isn't always easy to accomplish with concert lighting. It's not a perfect picture, though. The heaviest of the compression artifacts are a few squiggles, but there's also a little noise in the background of the behind the scenes stuff, with none of the behind-the-scenes clips approaching the quality of the concert footage.
As for the 3-D, the unfortunate thing is that only the concert sequences are in 3-D, which means that the standard scenes look a little weird with those traditional red-and-blue cardboard glasses (four pair of which are provided here, designed for small heads). Since this is Disney, I'll compare it to the 3-D shows at the Disney theme parks. Unlike those films, which extend the illusion of objects going into the audience so that they appear to almost touch you, the illusional extension here is roughly six feet from the TV set, and that occurs when drumsticks, a guitar pick, and confetti appear to be launched in the direction of the crowd. When Hannah/Miley struts her stuff on the runway, those runway shots appear as a roughly four-foot extension from the set. The rest of the concert 3-D effects add an illusion of depth within the television itself, adding about a two-foot depth and creating a diorama effect. Again, this looks fine (kids will say "awesome") when the concert footage is airing, but when the backstage clips come on, either you suffer with inferior picture quality or you take those glasses off. And while the Disney theme park 3-D experiences are full-color 3-D, this film incorporates the old red-and-blue color process that's been around since those early horror films.
My guess is that Hannah Montana fans will watch the concert once in 3-D and again with friends, but for everyday repeat viewing, the 2-D version is more consistently superior.
Audio:
The featured audio is a DTS-HD Lossless Master 7.1 Surround (48kHz/16-bit), the first time I've seen this option in a Disney release. And I have to say that while I'm not a big fan of screaming girls, I had fun watching this next to my daughter with the sound cranked up. The mix really distributes sounds naturally throughout the 7.1 channels without taking anything away from the concert feeling. This audio option does a fantastic job of replicating the way sound flows from the main speakers and stage directly to the audience and then bounces around the arena (or, in this case, your TV room). It's a high-energy concert, and this is a high-energy, dynamic soundtrack. The other options (a PCM uncompressed 2.0 (again, 48kHz/16-bit) is also dynamic, but it doesn't do as complete a job of distributing the ambient concert sounds. Additional options are Spanish and Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0, with subtitles in English SDH, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The concert has a nice overall timbre that seems calibrated to fit Cyrus's natural vocal range, which means that treble is bright and a little dominant, while the bass is used mostly to drive the beat rather than fill the room with rumbling sound.
Extras:
For a big release, the bonus features are a bit skimpy. An "Ultimate Personal Tour" is just an abbreviated day-in-the-life of Miley Cyrus that runs only 11 minutes. But the target audience will enjoy seeing what goes on backstage. Costume change? Quick as an Indy pit-crew, with Cyrus just standing there, arms out, while mom and three others rip off one outfit and put on another and all the hair and accessories, all under a minute's time. The Jonas Brothers talk about how this is their first arena tour, and it's also interesting to see how Kenny Ortega (of "High School Musical" fame, who choreographed this concert) insisted that Miley be scooted in a wheelchair under the concert stage to an elevator that takes her onstage. And if you're wondering about the Cyrus siblings, one of them (Brandi) talks briefly about how the whole Cyrus clan attends each concert and has a prayer-circle/pop-off before she goes onstage. It's all quite wholesome.
But I have to say that for a concert tour that caused such a sensation, with parents bidding thousands of dollars for tickets and men running races in high heels to try to win tickets for their daughters, there could have at least been an extended feature on the whole phenomenon of the Best of Both Worlds Concert.
Aside from that short tour, the only other bonus features are two bonus songs ("S.O.S." performed by Jonas Brothers, and "Good and Broken" performed by Cyrus) and a sing-along option that puts the lyrics onscreen for the film. Six trailers are also included, but I have to say that nothing annoys me more than to have to keep hitting the "next" button to skip those, because it takes SO MUCH LONGER on a Blu-ray. Come on, Disney, lighten up on your buying public. Activate that menu button for a quick by-pass!
Bottom Line:
Miley Cyrus is a talented young woman, and this concert is a high-energy platform for her and her alter-ego, Hanna Montana, to strut their stuff. "Tweens and younger will like this concert as much as the other Disney musicals. And parents will appreciate that Cyrus is a good role model. There's nothing here that a five year old couldn't watch. And yet, the target age group will think it's a rockin' good time.
Like most 3-D releases, there's a 2-D option for casual viewing. Both the concert footage and behind-the-scenes clips that are interspersed throughout were shot with a Hi-Def digital camera, and both versions of the film look very, very good in 1080p (AVC/MPEG-4 codec). Presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the film fills out the entire screen of a 16x9 television. Colors are so bright and fully saturated that they jump out, even in 2-D. Black levels are also strong, and skin tones are extremely natural, which isn't always easy to accomplish with concert lighting. It's not a perfect picture, though. The heaviest of the compression artifacts are a few squiggles, but there's also a little noise in the background of the behind the scenes stuff, with none of the behind-the-scenes clips approaching the quality of the concert footage.
As for the 3-D, the unfortunate thing is that only the concert sequences are in 3-D, which means that the standard scenes look a little weird with those traditional red-and-blue cardboard glasses (four pair of which are provided here, designed for small heads). Since this is Disney, I'll compare it to the 3-D shows at the Disney theme parks. Unlike those films, which extend the illusion of objects going into the audience so that they appear to almost touch you, the illusional extension here is roughly six feet from the TV set, and that occurs when drumsticks, a guitar pick, and confetti appear to be launched in the direction of the crowd. When Hannah/Miley struts her stuff on the runway, those runway shots appear as a roughly four-foot extension from the set. The rest of the concert 3-D effects add an illusion of depth within the television itself, adding about a two-foot depth and creating a diorama effect. Again, this looks fine (kids will say "awesome") when the concert footage is airing, but when the backstage clips come on, either you suffer with inferior picture quality or you take those glasses off. And while the Disney theme park 3-D experiences are full-color 3-D, this film incorporates the old red-and-blue color process that's been around since those early horror films.
My guess is that Hannah Montana fans will watch the concert once in 3-D and again with friends, but for everyday repeat viewing, the 2-D version is more consistently superior.
Audio:
The featured audio is a DTS-HD Lossless Master 7.1 Surround (48kHz/16-bit), the first time I've seen this option in a Disney release. And I have to say that while I'm not a big fan of screaming girls, I had fun watching this next to my daughter with the sound cranked up. The mix really distributes sounds naturally throughout the 7.1 channels without taking anything away from the concert feeling. This audio option does a fantastic job of replicating the way sound flows from the main speakers and stage directly to the audience and then bounces around the arena (or, in this case, your TV room). It's a high-energy concert, and this is a high-energy, dynamic soundtrack. The other options (a PCM uncompressed 2.0 (again, 48kHz/16-bit) is also dynamic, but it doesn't do as complete a job of distributing the ambient concert sounds. Additional options are Spanish and Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0, with subtitles in English SDH, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The concert has a nice overall timbre that seems calibrated to fit Cyrus's natural vocal range, which means that treble is bright and a little dominant, while the bass is used mostly to drive the beat rather than fill the room with rumbling sound.
Extras:
For a big release, the bonus features are a bit skimpy. An "Ultimate Personal Tour" is just an abbreviated day-in-the-life of Miley Cyrus that runs only 11 minutes. But the target audience will enjoy seeing what goes on backstage. Costume change? Quick as an Indy pit-crew, with Cyrus just standing there, arms out, while mom and three others rip off one outfit and put on another and all the hair and accessories, all under a minute's time. The Jonas Brothers talk about how this is their first arena tour, and it's also interesting to see how Kenny Ortega (of "High School Musical" fame, who choreographed this concert) insisted that Miley be scooted in a wheelchair under the concert stage to an elevator that takes her onstage. And if you're wondering about the Cyrus siblings, one of them (Brandi) talks briefly about how the whole Cyrus clan attends each concert and has a prayer-circle/pop-off before she goes onstage. It's all quite wholesome.
But I have to say that for a concert tour that caused such a sensation, with parents bidding thousands of dollars for tickets and men running races in high heels to try to win tickets for their daughters, there could have at least been an extended feature on the whole phenomenon of the Best of Both Worlds Concert.
Aside from that short tour, the only other bonus features are two bonus songs ("S.O.S." performed by Jonas Brothers, and "Good and Broken" performed by Cyrus) and a sing-along option that puts the lyrics onscreen for the film. Six trailers are also included, but I have to say that nothing annoys me more than to have to keep hitting the "next" button to skip those, because it takes SO MUCH LONGER on a Blu-ray. Come on, Disney, lighten up on your buying public. Activate that menu button for a quick by-pass!
Bottom Line:
Miley Cyrus is a talented young woman, and this concert is a high-energy platform for her and her alter-ego, Hanna Montana, to strut their stuff. "Tweens and younger will like this concert as much as the other Disney musicals. And parents will appreciate that Cyrus is a good role model. There's nothing here that a five year old couldn't watch. And yet, the target age group will think it's a rockin' good time.
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[release]23541[/release]