Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

TV: Fox (July 21st, 2009)

Video: Twentieth Century Fox

 

Disc:

Region: FREE! (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:29:06.382

Disc Size: 22,244,164,271 bytes

Feature Size: 20,839,243,776 bytes

Video Bitrate: 26.97 Mbps

Chapters: 24

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: July 20th, 2009

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 2272 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2272 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

 

Subtitles:

English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, none

 

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: The federal government can’t touch Michael Scofield, so they’re going after the woman he loves. When Sara is arrested for murder, only Michael can rescue her — and their unborn child — from an impenetrable women’s prison. With a price on Sara’s head and time running out, Michael must rely on his deadliest enemies to help attempt the most daring breakout ever.

 

 

The Film:

I usually like a prison drama but I just never took to this series - getting through the first season only. I liked it but not enough, I guess, to continue with the series. Prison Break - The Final Break seems much more suitable to those ensconced in the show - aware of the characters, past conflicts and loyalties etc. Because it was essentially a two-part affair this joined 1.5 hour segment starts with a never-ending series of opening credits - including dozens of producers. This set me off on the wrong foot right away.  As a less familar 'outsider' I'm afraid I wasn't impressed at all with this 'Final Break'. The plot was rushed - even for TV and the actors seemed quite stilted - appearing especially unemotional near the finale - almost as if they were tired and desired the thing to just end. The infrequent bursts of emotion like Scofield yelling at the warden - seem very forced and unnatural. Frankly, I thought this was more like a poor quality Made-for-TV movie of 2 decades ago. Perhaps those strongly familiar with the series will appreciate it more that I did.

Gary Tooze

 

 

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.
 

Image quality on this Blu-ray was quite unremarkable for HD. It definitely looked better than standard definition but contained some heavy gloss at times.  This produced an image that looked like it had some DNR applied but I'd find it hard to believe they would bother in regards to this title. Colors seem artificially boosted and strong detail is not overly apparent. This Blu-ray has a plastic feel with some noise and visuals are not as crisp as some may have hoped for. It's a flatter, unresponsive transfer that seems to mirror the complaints of Season One on Blu-ray. Technically all the ducks seem in-line with the 90 minute segment taking up over 20 Gig and my complaints about the image may be a result of the way it was shot. It's hard to know for sure but most people will be slighted if they are expecting the Blu-ray definition found on most modern feature films put to 1080P.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

The DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 2272 kbps fares a shade better than the video. There isn't a plethora of action sequences - so the track doesn't have an aggressive edge and separation is more limited but the lossless DTS does the job - and then some. This is the only track offered but there are a host of subtitle options and my Momitsu tells me this Blu-ray disc is region FREE!

 

 

 

Extras :

The only extra is two uneventful deleted scenes that run less than 5 minutes.

 

BOTTOM LINE:
This just seemed to smell of a money-grab - one last chance to entice the following to spring for more. It's not a particularly special Blu-ray in content, transfer or extras. I'd say you would have to be a pretty big fan of the series to appreciate this Blu-ray at the proposed price. We say - pass!! 

Gary Tooze

July 22nd, 2009