27 Dresses (Blu-ray) (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Romantic Comedy	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Making Of Featurette-Behind The Scenes-2 Featurette Deleted Scenes Web Links
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	110:49
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Anne Fletcher
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Katherine Heigl Charli Barcena James Marsden Malin Akerman Peyton List Judy Greer Jane Pfitsch
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	$44.95	Music	Randy Edelman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 French dts 5.1 German dts 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired French French Titling German German Titling Dutch	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Romantic Comedy is one of those genres that sees many releases but very few great movies. Most fall into the middle ground of being entertaining enough and amusing enough but not memorable or innovative. This one, 27 Dresses, is certainly in that group. It is serviceable but hardly memorable. The plot focuses on a young woman, Jane (Katherine Heigl) who completely fits the old saying 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride'. She has been a bridesmaid at 27 weddings and has developed an unhealthy obsession with them, seeming to develop friendships purely so she can be a bridesmaid. She also loves reading about weddings in the paper and especially enjoys a wedding journalist called Malcolm Doyle. The title refers to the fact that she has collected and kept the 27 dresses she wore at each wedding as a bridesmaid.

     She works as a secretary to the head of a company focused on outdoor pursuits. The boss, George (Ed Burns) is a good looking, nice guy and she is madly in love with him, although he doesn't see her in that light. One night Jane is appearing as a bridesmaid for two different weddings and meets a man who introduces himself as Kevin (James Marsden). He notices her strange behaviour as she rushes from one wedding to the other. They find each other interesting and a tentative relationship begins. Kevin, of course, is not necessarily what he seems. Into this mix comes Jane's younger, prettier sister Tess (Malin Akerman) who comes to visit and captures the attentions of George by misrepresenting herself.

     This film is quite entertaining without setting the world on fire but is probably a bit too long and the story includes all the obvious plot points and clichés such as the kooky best friend in this case played by Judy Greer. Heigl and Marsden are good in their roles but Ed Burns is quite wooden and Malin Akerman is a bit annoying.

     In short, if you enjoy this genre, this film is probably worth a look if you don't go into it expecting anything more than average.

Video

     The video quality is good but a little disappointing for Blu-ray. The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p using AVC encoding.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout but was affected by motion blur from time to time, certainly more than I have seen on other Blu-rays. The shadow detail was very good. The colour is very good with no issues to report. There were no other artefacts.

     There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired and some other European languages. The subtitles were clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good. This disc contains an English DTS HD-MA 5.1 soundtrack, along with an Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and German and French soundtracks in DTS 5.1.

     Dialogue was very clear and easy to hear. The music was mostly well chosen pop songs which suited the film. The surround speakers were used constantly for atmosphere and directional effects such as rain storms and crashes. The subwoofer was used mostly for music support and a few thumps and thuds.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

     The menu was functional but unexciting including music.

The Wedding Party (14:31)

     EPK style making of featurette including interview snippets from cast and crew along with scenes from the film.

You'll Never Wear that Again (6:46)

     Featurette about the 27 dresses, their design and making.

Jane's World (4:38)

     Featurette about the production design including the weddings and Jane's home.

Running of the Brides (5:05)

     Footage from the annual sale at a famous US bridal store. Running, fighting & swapping.

Deleted Scenes (4:00) SD

     These are worth watching including a nice extra scene with the dog.

Weblinks

    The Blu-ray release of this film seems to be the same globally.

     An entertaining but unoriginal romantic comedy.

     The video quality is good. The audio quality is very good. The extras are decent.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall