I have to admit that I was disappointed by the Blu-ray quality.
The unrated/uncut version offers 13 minutes of footage not seen in the theatrical release, but those minutes neither stand out nor make the film seem padded. Though "Talladega Nights" comes in at just a little over 120 minutes, it's the kind of film that you'd just as soon see run a little longer, and those bonus minutes will no doubt be appreciated by fans.
Video:
I have to admit that I was disappointed by the Blu-ray quality. For one thing, this 50GB dual-layered disc registered "no disc" twice, when I popped it into my Samsung Blu-ray player--and this was with the software update. On the third try it occurred to me to rotate the disc before I tried to load it again, and this time it took.
But the picture? The colors seemed slightly washed-out, as if you were watching it in the backseat of a car when bright sun was shining in, and in terms of sharpness, I frankly couldn't tell the difference between the SD version and the Blu-ray. So what's the culprit? The player? The software/firmware? The disc? I have to guess, after watching dozens of Blu-ray discs and watching them react differently as they load, that it's either a compatibility problem or the disc. It's not a bad picture, mind you, but this isn't the one to pop in when you're having the neighbors over to brag about your Blu-ray player. The picture is presented in 2.40:1 1920x1080p High Definition widescreen.
Audio:
The audio, however, is decent, which has been the one consistent thing about the Blu-ray discs. The six-channel uncompressed English PCM 5.1 sound is lively and full of rich bass and bright treble. Then again, the English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 is also pretty decent. Subtitles are in English, English SDH, and French.
Extras:
The good thing about the dual-layered disc is that there's room for all the bonus features from the SD release. But as I wrote in my earlier review, I don't "get" in-character bonus features. Sure, in short bits and done well they can feel like a guest spot at a comedy club, but an entire commentary track that's a tongue-in-cheek put-on? That's pretty much what you get here, with the filmmakers pulling everyone's legs and having a little fun with the film's $145 million budget. With dead seriousness they'll point to an extra in the back and say it's Sean Penn, and it took three million to get him for that shot, but it was worth it. You look and you look but see that, of course, it's not Penn, but that's the kind of shenanigans they pull. Other times one of them will deadpan that they were the last holdout to insist on using asbestos for all the scenes, explain that for one scene they moved the entire production company to Ecuador to shoot, or confess that "in the course of this film, I changed religions four times." It's the kind of thing that might have worked in small measure, but it gets a little pointless (and isn't all that funny) strung out over the course of the full movie.
Much better are the nine deleted scenes, the longest of which shows Ricky Bobby confronting Cal and Carley. You'll wish they had left that one in, it's so funny. There's also a dumb outtake with Ricky Bobby trying to fart phrases and songs, though I'm sure some might think that the plum of the bunch. A better-than-average gag reel is included, along with a few in-character Ricky Bobby and Cal commentaries and promo PSAs. For race fans, there's bonus race car footage. But the extras that I enjoyed the most, aside from the deleted scenes, were three in-character interviews and a return trip to Talladega by Ferrell, who gets to tell everybody to start their engines. A lot of drivers appear, but with no subscript to identify them you'd have to be a NASCAR fan to know who they were. Ricky Bobby, Ferrell tells them, was based on "no one and everyone."
Bottom Line:
Adam McKay and Will Ferrell are turning out to be quite the comic duo, and you can't help but wonder what they'll skewer next. Their inclinations are toward character comedies that satirize an entire culture, so the next film could be about anything. But a lion's share of the credit has to go to the casting director. Though this is Will Ferrell's vehicle, it's a bright and funny ensemble cast that makes it fun.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]20082[/release]