Baby Boy (2001) |
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Baby Boy (2001) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Drama |
Main Menu Introduction Audio Commentary-John Singleton - Writer/Director Featurette-Making Of-Cinemax Making Of Storyboard Comparisons Deleted Scenes-x14 Outtakes Featurette-The Kiki and Boo Show Music Video-Just a Baby Boy, Baby Mama TV Spots-x7 Trailer-Baby Boy, Boyz N The Hood, Black and White Trailer-Brothers, Blue Streak Filmographies-Cast & Crew |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
| Running Time | 124:32 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (85:21) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | John Singleton |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Tyrese Gibson Taraji P. Henson Omar Gooding Ving Rhames Snoop Dogg Adrienne-Joi Johnson |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $36.95 | Music | David Arnold |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0  (192Kb/s)
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English German Dutch Arabic Bulgarian Croatian Czech Danish Finnish Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Norwegian Polish Swedish Turkish German Audio Commentary Dutch Audio Commentary |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Baby Boy is a film about a young single man with two children growing up in South Central Los Angeles.
Jody (Tyrese Gibson) is a young man growing up in South Central L.A. He still lives with his single mother and does not have a job. He has a young son with girlfriend Yvette and a daughter with another young woman, Peanut. His comfortable pattern of life is suddenly disrupted when his mother begins to date Melvin (Ving Rhames), a hardened ex-con who has tried to turn his life around. There is instantly tension between the two men and Melvin quickly moves into Jody's home. These changes in his home life force Jody to examine his life and re-evaluate his relationships with the two mothers of his children. His relationship with Yvette is also tested when her ex-boyfriend (Snoop Dogg) is released from jail and he moves in with her.
This is the sixth film from writer/director John Singleton who is best known for his feature Boyz N The Hood and his recent remake of Shaft. This film returns to the familiar setting of South Central L.A. ten years after Boyz N The Hood was released. The lead role of Jody was originally written by Singleton for rap artist Tupac Shakur, but after he turned the role down Singleton shelved the project until he met Tyrese Gibson whom he felt would be able to carry to role.
This film is arguably Singleton's best film to date with a tightly-written script and excellent performances by all actors. If you enjoyed Singleton's earlier films then you should definitely enjoy Baby Boy.
The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.
The transfer is consistently sharp throughout and high levels of detail are always visible. No low-level noise was detected at any time during the transfer. During the numerous darkly lit scenes, excellent levels of shadow detail are always visible.
The transfer displays a natural colour palette throughout and is always vibrant and well saturated. During scenes set during the early morning or evening, an orange tint in the image is visible as a result of the lighting design for these scenes.
No MPEG artefacts were detected at any time during the transfer.
Some minor instances of aliasing may be seen during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 5:31, 6:36, 9:08, 24:17, 32:29, 44:56, 76:26 and 78:48. All of these artefacts are very minor and are only minimally distracting to the viewer.
A small number of minor film artefacts may be seen during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 1:55, 9:50, 16:37, 36:58 and 86:41. Each of these artefacts are very minor and they are only minimally distracting to the viewer.
Twenty sets of white subtitles are included on this disc. I extensively sampled the English stream and found it to be consistently accurate.
The layer change occurs at 85:21 during a scene change part way through Chapter 21. Due to its placement, this layer break is only very minimally distracting.
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The dialogue is consistently clear and easy to understand. No dropouts or problems with audio sync were detected at any time during the transfer.
The original score by David Arnold always fits the on-screen action but never draws attention to itself. In addition to this score, a number of hip-hop and R&B tracks are used effectively during the film.
The surround channels are used effectively throughout the transfer and during the action scenes they are used to create an effective soundstage.
The subwoofer channel is used extensively throughout the transfer to support the hip-hop tracks and various effects such as gunshots.
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The minimally animated menus are presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 or 1.33:1 depending upon player setup.
During this scene-specific feature length commentary, writer/director John Singleton discusses casting for the film, the various locations, improvisations by the actors and shot composition. This commentary does contain some interesting information but due to John's softly spoken voice I found it a little difficult to maintain my attention during the track.
This is a standard Making-Of featurette containing interviews with director John Singleton and various cast members discussing their roles within the film, but it does contains some interesting comments by the cast. This extra is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.
This is a split screen comparison of three scenes showing the completed scene and the original storyboards. Each scene is presented with a short introduction by storyboard artist Warren Drummond. This extra is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.70:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
This is a collection of fourteen deleted and alternate scenes from the film. All scenes are presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with visible time codes and they are not 16x9 enhanced. A Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and German and Dutch subtitles are also provided. The following scenes are included:
This is a collection of outtakes and bloopers from the film. All scenes are presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with visible time codes and a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack and German and Dutch subtitles.
This is a short segment that was created as a television talk show to be used within the film. This segment is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and German and Dutch subtitles.
This music video is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
This music video is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
This is a collection of thirty second television commercials presented at a non 16x9 enhanced aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack and German and Dutch subtitles.
This trailer is presented at a non-16x9 enhanced aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and includes German and Dutch subtitles.
This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and includes German and Dutch subtitles.
This trailer is presented at a non-16x9 enhanced aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and includes German and Dutch subtitles.
This trailer is presented at a 16x9 enhanced aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and includes German and Dutch subtitles.
This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and includes German and Dutch subtitles.
Selected filmographies are provided for John Singleton, Tyrese Gibson, Snoop Dogg, Ving Rhames, A. J. Johnson and Omar Gooding.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Both versions of this film appear to be identical and I therefore would have no preference for either version.
Baby Boy is an entertaining feature from John Singleton that should appeal to any fans of Boyz N The Hood and his other early works.
The film is presented with an excellent transfer that is only let down by the occasional minor aliasing artefact.
The impressive 5.1 audio mix works very well with the action presented.
The extensive collection of extras should appeal to any fans of the movie.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Toshiba 2109, using S-Video output |
| Display | Sony KP-E41SN11. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Front left/right: ME75b; Center: DA50ES; rear left/right: DA50ES; subwoofer: NAD 2600 (Bridged) |
| Speakers | Front left/right: VAF DC-X; Center: VAF DC-6; rear left/right: VAF DC-7; subwoofer: Custom NHT-1259 |