Posted by: Martin
The Video: B
The Audio: B
Extras: B
Pineapple Express
is another in a growing line of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan comedies, others include the great Superbad
, The 40-Year-Old Virgin 
, and Knocked Up
. It got pretty good reviews when it came out in August of 2008.
is another in a growing line of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan comedies, others include the great Superbad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin , and Knocked Up
. It got pretty good reviews when it came out in August of 2008.The Video: B
The video here is encoded in 1080P AVC, and is formatted in 2:35.1. For a comedy this was a well shot film. The opening black and white scene is wonderful in terms of it's visual sharpness. I won't give this one an A though. There were several times when either the transfer was soft and ever-so-slightly out of focus or the film was shot that way. Either way I noticed some eyes were not in focus in a couple of shots. The cinematography was excellent overall though out the film.
The Audio: B
The English audio is done in DoblyTrue HD 5.1. Because this is a stoner film that is also part action film, the audio begins focused on the center dialog channel, and early in the movie I had to turn it up. But with the action ending my speakers were rattling the house.
The Extras: B
This disc comes with BD-Live funcality along with a ton of extras. For true fans of this film they could pour over this for awhile. I give the disc makers credit for adding rehearsal footage and read through footage, good things to see for aspiring actors and filmmakers.
The most half hearted commentary:
The audio commentary for me was disorganized and half-hearted. Ed Begley Jr. literally leaves 15 minutes into the commentary! I have never come across that before. If you have please a note in the comment section. The five minutes later two other actors walk into the room where they are recording the commentary, and to add a cherry on top a producer of the film literally phones in her commentary 25 minutes into the movie. I felt that if the filmmakers weren't going to care about making this commentary, then I shouldn't care to listen to it. Admittedly there are MANY bad commentaries out there, but there are also some great ones as well. This is an example of how NOT to do a commentary.
Good Extras:
You will find good additional material here. The making of Pineapple Express was the most informative piece. It was interesting to learn that the movie was intended to be a mix of a stoner film with an action film, and that combination kept Rogan and Apatow from believing they could ever get the movie made. This concept of the stoner/action film is repeated a lot in the messy audio commentary.
My favorite piece was on the action in Pineapple Express. Normally this sort of wire work is highlighted in a Matrix film, but this teaches that even a simple act as carry a man on person's back in a fight requires wires. I loved how the camera followed the stunt coordinator around the room to show how the actors were going to fight in Red's house. A great five minutes of behind the scenes filmmaking school. I would like to see more of this.
There is a five minute piece on Ed Begley's cleaning company, Begley's Best. When I first saw this I thought it was an inside joke, but then I looked it up and he really does run a small environmentally focuses cleaning products company. Good for him.
Other extras:
- Extended and Deleted Scenes
- Red-Line Trailer
- Marriage Tips from Red
- Raw Footage
- Saul's Apartment
- Line-O-Rame
- Direct-O-Rama
- Gag Reels
- Item 9 Experiments
- Stunt Master Ken
- Injury Report
- Phone Booth
- Comic Con Panel
Overall:
If you are a fan of Seth Rogan and Judd Apatow comedies then you should buy this one, I would recommend adding this one to your Netflix queue.
Check out other Blu-Ray Disc Reviews:
Comments