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Gere is surprisingly light on his feet, but the script by Wells is even lighter.
There are some logic problems with the script, but those minor characters plus Richard Jenkins as an affable P.I. are enough to make us smile while we wait for the inevitable to happen. That puts "Shall We Dance?" squarely in the okay category.
Video:
In 1080p (AVC/MPEG-4), "Shall We Dance?" has a nice glossy look, though it's not as three-dimensional as some of the better Blu-rays. The detail level is there, with sharp edges and a clarity that comes across in shadow as well as light. This one is "enhanced," meaning the 1.85:1 picture stretches across the whole 16x9 monitor.
Audio:
It's been awhile since I've reviewed a PCM soundtrack on a Blu-ray release, and I have to say that I still think it's one of the strongest. There's just a gum-popping clarity to it, and PCM does a better job of spreading the sound across the room, driving it beyond the sound source. This uncompressed soundtrack (48kHz/24-bit) does as well with faint sounds as with the robust music. Additional options are English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.
Extras: Director Chelsom spends most of his commentary talking about the acting skills of the cast members. There's not nearly the amount of anecdotes and information that it takes to make one of these entertaining enough to watch the film all over again. A behind-the-scenes making-of featurette comes in around 20 minutes and offers the standard blend of clips and cast interviews, with, again, no earthshaking insights. Five deleted scenes averaging four minutes each are playable with or without commentary, and about all you can do is applaud Chelsom for cutting them. I looked forward to "Beginner's Ballroom," hoping for a mini-lesson (yep, I'm a sensitive guy), but all it turned out to be was another very brief feature on the cast in training, intercut with clips from old Hollywood movies that featured ballroom dancing. Where's Miss Mitzi when you need her?
The only other bonus features are a music video ("Sway") from Pussycat Dolls, and a throwaway on "Behind the Music" that's not much longer than music video, so you can guess how much depth there is. I didn't think much of the bonus features.
Bottom Line:
This fluffy "chick flick" has some funny moments--as when two male co-workers practice their dance position together in the men's room and one has to fake passing out when the door opens. Gere is surprisingly light on his feet, but the script by Wells is even lighter.
Video:
In 1080p (AVC/MPEG-4), "Shall We Dance?" has a nice glossy look, though it's not as three-dimensional as some of the better Blu-rays. The detail level is there, with sharp edges and a clarity that comes across in shadow as well as light. This one is "enhanced," meaning the 1.85:1 picture stretches across the whole 16x9 monitor.
Audio:
It's been awhile since I've reviewed a PCM soundtrack on a Blu-ray release, and I have to say that I still think it's one of the strongest. There's just a gum-popping clarity to it, and PCM does a better job of spreading the sound across the room, driving it beyond the sound source. This uncompressed soundtrack (48kHz/24-bit) does as well with faint sounds as with the robust music. Additional options are English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.
Extras: Director Chelsom spends most of his commentary talking about the acting skills of the cast members. There's not nearly the amount of anecdotes and information that it takes to make one of these entertaining enough to watch the film all over again. A behind-the-scenes making-of featurette comes in around 20 minutes and offers the standard blend of clips and cast interviews, with, again, no earthshaking insights. Five deleted scenes averaging four minutes each are playable with or without commentary, and about all you can do is applaud Chelsom for cutting them. I looked forward to "Beginner's Ballroom," hoping for a mini-lesson (yep, I'm a sensitive guy), but all it turned out to be was another very brief feature on the cast in training, intercut with clips from old Hollywood movies that featured ballroom dancing. Where's Miss Mitzi when you need her?
The only other bonus features are a music video ("Sway") from Pussycat Dolls, and a throwaway on "Behind the Music" that's not much longer than music video, so you can guess how much depth there is. I didn't think much of the bonus features.
Bottom Line:
This fluffy "chick flick" has some funny moments--as when two male co-workers practice their dance position together in the men's room and one has to fake passing out when the door opens. Gere is surprisingly light on his feet, but the script by Wells is even lighter.
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[release]23661[/release]