High School Musical 3: Senior Year: Extended Edition (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Musical	Deleted Scenes-8 deleted scenes with director intro Outtakes-Blooper reel Featurette-Collection of featurettes
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	?
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Kenny Ortega
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Zac Efron Vanessa Hudgens Ashley Tisdale Lucas Grabeel Corbin Bleu Monique Coleman Bart Johnson
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	David Lawrence

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English Song Lyrics Hindi	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

   Also consider an over-the-top prom date invitation that smoothly segues into an over-the-top ensemble piece parodying the entire prom experience from the different male/female points of view, and then consider that later our two protagonists Troy and Gabriella (Zac Effron and Vanessa Hudgens, whose acting and singing talents utilized for the first time) don’t even attend, both wrapped up in their genuinely sweet relationship and the looming, realistic threat of growing up and having to separate to follow their separate paths. For the first time, this entry into the series feels like a real musical, complete with reprises and solos and exceptional voice work by the entire cast, who are finally utilized to spectacular fashion. (Even the screeching of harpy Ashley Tisdale, reprising her awful role as Sharpay, isn’t close to the aural assault presented by the previous films courtesy of the catchy and well-written music.) But more so, there is real depth here, as the characters are leaving the safety of childhood, school and the people they grew up with as they blossom into adulthood.

   What prevents HSM3 from being a great film is the lack of subtlety: find a cringe-worthy though catchy tune in which Troy and best friend Chad (Corbin Bleu) reminiscing about the ease of childhood in which they revert to actual children, as well as an insane celebration of insane Sharpay’s insane celebrity ambitions in a musical number that is, again, very enjoyable. The film doesn’t trust its young audience with its themes and ideas enough to avoid being blatant, though much of it is offset with the goodwill earnt from the sweeter moments, such as the suggested relationship between Ryan (Lucas Grabeel, no longer a homophobic joke but an actual character) and Kelsi (Olesya Rulin), and the now wise, developed Ms. Darbus (Alyson Reed) offering sympathetic thoughts to the struggling characters. The unfortunate ending, in which the audience is invited to never forget the series after a contrived musical-graduation ceremony where most of the film’s conflicts are easily resolved just reminds how close HSM3 comes to being a real movie.

   Despite this, the film is very watchable and very enjoyable – the music alone makes any trials in the experience worthwhile. A grand step up from the first two, clearly the Hollywood budget favours someone – High School Musical 3: Senior Year is worth checking out.

Video

   High School Musical 3: Senior Year has a great video transfer, lacking problems with artefacts, interlacing, grain or any of my usual annoyances - it does, however, lack sharpness, with much of the film appearing slightly out of focus. This is an odd problem I haven't seen before, but it isn't too intrusive unless watched on a really, really big screen.

   Dark scenes are appropriately detailed and never suffer from low level noise. Likewise, the colours are very strong and dynamic and look excellent.

   There are subtitles in English and Hindi, as well as animated singalong subtitles in English. All that I sampled were accurate.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

   As a musical, High School Musical 3: Senior Year lives or dies by its audio, and I'm pleased to say it sounds great. The surround isn't utilized as much as I'd like, but what is here sounds excellent.

   The dialogue and effects are all perfectly audible and well mixed, meanwhile the soundtrack by David Lawrence, Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil and Shankar Mahadevan is standout, featuring very memorable, funny, romantic and catchy songs for its young cast and audience to embrace.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Animated Menus with Sound

8 Deleted Scenes (w/ introduction from director Kenny Ortega)

“Out of Sync: HSM 3 Bloopers” blooper reel (2:46)

Featurettes - “Cast Goodbyes” (5:40) “It’s All in the Dress” (2:31) “New Class Profiles” (13:18) “Night of Nights” (7:27) "Senior Awards” (2:15)

Music and More

   The video and audio are both excellent.

   The extras are very good, specifically for young fans of the film.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall