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Whip It [Blu-ray]
(Drew Barrymore, 2009)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: 20th Century Fox Video: 20th Century Fox
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:50:55.690 Disc Size: 39,124,544,409 bytes Feature Size: 35,063,549,952 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.17 Mbps Chapters: 28 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: January 26th, 2010
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 3847 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3847 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Spanish, none
Extras:
• Starting Trailers for Amelia, (500) Days of Summer,
AFI Membership plug
Bitrate:
Description: Hang onto your helmet and get ready to break away from the pack! Ellen Page scores huge laughs as Bliss Cavendar, a small-town teenager with a big dream: to find her own path in the world. Tired of following in her family’s footsteps of compliance and conformity, Bliss discovers a way to put her life on the fast track...literally. She lands a spot on a rough-and-tumble roller derby team and becomes “Babe Ruthless” — the hottest thing on eight wheels! Co-starring Drew Barrymore (in her feature film directorial debut), Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis, Daniel Stern and Jimmy Fallon, Whip It is a triumphant, free-spirited comedy loaded with high-speed action and nonstop fun!
The Film: "Whip It" is an unreasonably entertaining movie, causing you perhaps to revise your notions about women's Roller Derby, assuming you have any. The movie is a coming-together of two free spirits, Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page, and while it may not reflect the kind of female empowerment Gloria Steinem had in mind, it has guts, charm, and a black-and-blue sweetness. Yes, it faithfully follows the age-old structure of the sports movie, but what a sport, and how much the Derby girls love it.
Page plays Bliss Cavendar, a small-town Texas girl who shares the rebelliousness of Juno but not the steam-of-consciousness verbal pyrotechnics. She's being coached by her smothering mother (Marcia Gay Harden) to compete in a Miss Bluebonnet beauty pageant that squeezes Texas girls into a ghastly caricature of Southern womanhood. Bliss despises it. One day she sees an ad for the Roller Derby in Austin, the nearest town of consequence, and with a friend, sneaks off to see a game. She is electrified. She was born to be a Derby girl. Excerpt from Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun Times located HERE
Whip It looks solid on Blu-ray from Fox. I can't find anything wrong with the image quality. There are occasionally brilliant colors and a fine sheen of grain is visible. It can look quite striking at times. This is dual-layered, with a very strong bitrate and the, less than 2-hour, feature takes up over 35 Gig. I see no digital manipulations and there is no excessive gloss. Skin tones seem realistic - contrast exhibits healthy, sturdy black levels. This Blu-ray probably replicates the theatrical appearance of Whip It very well. Most notable are the vibrant colors like the funky pastel greens of the Hurl Scout uniforms. Love it!
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :The DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 3847 kbps is extremely pleasing. Like the video it is basically flawless with plenty of separation and aggression in the very physical Derby sequences. Augmenting the fabulous songs from groups like Hymnal Cut Chemist, The Raveonettes and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is original music by The Section Quartet. A fabulous selection of music and it sounds very robust and bouncy with steady bass and crisp high ends - WONDERFUL. There are optional subtitles and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.
Extras :I felt a bit short-changed on the supplements as I recall a commentary was announced somewhere but one obviously didn't surface. We start with theatrical trailers for Amelia, (500) Days of Summer, and a super AFI Membership plug. There are eight deleted scenes and 1 alternate opening running over 15-minutes in HD. Some amusement here and worth indulging if you couldn't get enough of the film (moi). The Soundtrack Spot was only 1/2 a minute but cool nonetheless and I will indulge in this CD! We also get 3-minutes with the writer of Whip It Shauna Cross. There is a second disc Digital Copy available.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze January 15th, 2010
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be
it, but film will always be my first love and I list my
favorites on the old YMdb site now accessible
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