Norbit

Sound:
"Norbit" sounds pretty spiffy with its Dolby Digital 5.1 transfer. The very familiar water slide scene sounds terrific and from the deep booming bass output by the .1 LFE channel as Rasputia climbs to the top of the slide to the enveloping effects as she reaches the sound barrier on the way down, this scene is exemplary of the rest of the film´s solid soundtrack. Intertwined with the various sound effects found in the film, the hip hop and pop soundtrack drives the rear surrounds and subwoofer nicely that complements the busy front channels. Dialogue is quite clear, although some of Murphy´s stereotype driven dialogue as Mr. Wong is lost due to intended comedic dialect. The film sounds far better than it looks and although it is not the most aggressive and dynamic film, it is an above average sounding comedy. The soundtrack of this Blu-ray release is again mostly identical to the higher bit-rate HD-DVD Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix. I would give the HD-DVD a slight edge, as it appears to have a little more "oomph" during the waterslide sequence, but it is minimal.

Extras:
"Norbit" isn´t the most packed disc on the planet, but the supplements provided relieves some of the gas discomfort caused by the poor visual quality and even more depressing script. Paramount has tried to soften the pain by providing nearly all of the value added content in full high definition. First up is The Making of Norbit. This fairly long feature shows how Murphy suited up for each of the characters, although everybody involved in this featured seemed to honestly enjoy the film. I wonder if they even saw the same sludge that I paid witness to. Man of a Thousand Faces was far too short and glosses over the impressive makeup used to help Murphy morph into each character. Power Tap was a mock infomercial with Marlon Wayans and featured the film´s fitness guru. This was more annoying than funny and I would have preferred to see Eddie Griffin give a pimp speech. The Stunts of Norbit showed some of the physical work undertaken by Murphy and company. A number of Deleted Scenes helped carry on the dreadful brand of humor found in the film and were short and forgettable. Finally, a Photo Gallery and the Theatrical Trailer stopped the pain.

Closing Comments:
I remember being pretty excited when I first saw the theatrical trailer for "Norbit." Then the reviews and word of mouth arrived and it seemed quite certain that "Norbit" was indeed dreadful. This film allowed Eddie Murphy to run wild in his performances, but with horrible writing and poor direction, it just isn´t very funny or heartwarming and I found myself eagerly awaiting the closing credits. I even enjoyed "Pluto Nash," but I couldn´t find much value to this mess. It wasn´t the most disastrous film and Murphy´s performance as Mr. Wong and Norbit were both examples of his physical comedy talents. It is just a shame that more time was invested feeling sorry for the title character. The Blu-ray, which is pretty much identical to the HD-DVD release, has a surprisingly weak transfer that just doesn´t look very good. The sound is not bad at all and the supplements are worth taking a quick gander at. This film is a disappointment and thank goodness Paramount sent "Coming to America" and "Trading Places" along with this title.

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