21 looks Vegas-slick on Blu-ray.
Video:
"21" looks fantastic in 1080p, with vivid colors, natural fleshtones, strong black levels, and an AVC/MPEG-4 transfer to a BD50 that's artifact-free. Presented in 2.40:1 aspect ratio, "21" has rich-looking colors and superb edge delineation. Sometimes, when a DVD looks as good as the "21" release did, it's hard to tell the difference between HD and SD, but the level of detail is even better here. The surface is nice and slick, and there's just a hint of 3-dimensionality that's pleasing.
Audio:
The featured audio is an English, French, or Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix that sounds almost as slick as the picture looks. I say "almost" because the casino scenes are the ones that really spark the rear speakers. Other scenes just don't seem to have the same rear-speaker involvement--or maybe audio Vegas is so full of ambient noise and distractions that it takes a mix like this to replicate it in the TV room. Alternate audio tracks are Spanish and Thai 5.1, with subtitles in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified), Korean, Thai, and Indonesian-though, be warned, the special features subtitle options are limited to Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Spanish. As with the DVD, the sound is nicely balanced, with high notes and lows especially clear, and a generous spread across the front speakers. Tonally, there's a nice rich timbre to the voices, with absolutely no distortion.
Extras:
Digital copy fans will be excited that there's a downloadable copy of the film included.
I've never been a fan of commentaries which find the director joined by one or more producers, so I didn't enjoy this one, which features Luketic and producers Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca. I just don't care enough about their mindset, which is how things come together: when the project began, when each person got involved, which actor they brought onboard first, etc.--you know, the logistics of filmmaking, rather than the art of it, or the anecdotes that reveal screen personalities. But as commentaries of this type go, it's solid in terms of the information it provides. There are also three featurettes, one that's barely over 20 minutes and two that are around 7-10 minutes. The longer making-of extra is "Basic Strategy," which takes you behind the scenes in Boston and Las Vegas to see them filming. A roughly seven-minute feature spotlights production design, while an only slightly longer one shows members of the cast as they try to give viewers a primer on the rules and strategies of Blackjack. But you won't learn enough to break the bank, the next time you board a riverboat casino.
Bottom Line:
"21" is a pretty routine caper film that feels more contrived than the real-life story it apes. But Jim Sturgess elevates the material, and the boy-genius angle makes it entertaining despite the flaws. The source materials were apparently very good for this film, because "21" looks Vegas-slick on Blu-ray.
"21" looks fantastic in 1080p, with vivid colors, natural fleshtones, strong black levels, and an AVC/MPEG-4 transfer to a BD50 that's artifact-free. Presented in 2.40:1 aspect ratio, "21" has rich-looking colors and superb edge delineation. Sometimes, when a DVD looks as good as the "21" release did, it's hard to tell the difference between HD and SD, but the level of detail is even better here. The surface is nice and slick, and there's just a hint of 3-dimensionality that's pleasing.
Audio:
The featured audio is an English, French, or Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix that sounds almost as slick as the picture looks. I say "almost" because the casino scenes are the ones that really spark the rear speakers. Other scenes just don't seem to have the same rear-speaker involvement--or maybe audio Vegas is so full of ambient noise and distractions that it takes a mix like this to replicate it in the TV room. Alternate audio tracks are Spanish and Thai 5.1, with subtitles in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified), Korean, Thai, and Indonesian-though, be warned, the special features subtitle options are limited to Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Spanish. As with the DVD, the sound is nicely balanced, with high notes and lows especially clear, and a generous spread across the front speakers. Tonally, there's a nice rich timbre to the voices, with absolutely no distortion.
Extras:
Digital copy fans will be excited that there's a downloadable copy of the film included.
I've never been a fan of commentaries which find the director joined by one or more producers, so I didn't enjoy this one, which features Luketic and producers Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca. I just don't care enough about their mindset, which is how things come together: when the project began, when each person got involved, which actor they brought onboard first, etc.--you know, the logistics of filmmaking, rather than the art of it, or the anecdotes that reveal screen personalities. But as commentaries of this type go, it's solid in terms of the information it provides. There are also three featurettes, one that's barely over 20 minutes and two that are around 7-10 minutes. The longer making-of extra is "Basic Strategy," which takes you behind the scenes in Boston and Las Vegas to see them filming. A roughly seven-minute feature spotlights production design, while an only slightly longer one shows members of the cast as they try to give viewers a primer on the rules and strategies of Blackjack. But you won't learn enough to break the bank, the next time you board a riverboat casino.
Bottom Line:
"21" is a pretty routine caper film that feels more contrived than the real-life story it apes. But Jim Sturgess elevates the material, and the boy-genius angle makes it entertaining despite the flaws. The source materials were apparently very good for this film, because "21" looks Vegas-slick on Blu-ray.
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[release]23922[/release]