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Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief [Blu-ray]
(Chris Columbus, 2010)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: 1492 Pictures Video: Fox 2000 Pictures
Disc: Region: 'A'-locked (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:58:37.902 Disc Size: 46,589,116,952 bytes Feature Size: 35,179,364,352 bytes Video Bitrate: 31.65 Mbps Chapters: 28 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: June 29th, 2010
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 3897 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3897 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Portuguese 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), Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, none
Extras:
Disc 1
Bitrate:
Description: Modern and mythical worlds collide in this thunderous fantasy-adventure starring Pierce Brosnan, Kevin McKidd and Uma Thurman as you’ve never seen them before! Percy Jackson is no ordinary teenager...he’s just learned he’s the son of Poseidon and is accused of stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt – the most powerful weapon ever created! With storm clouds brewing, Percy embarks on an incredible cross-country journey to prove his innocence, recover the bolt and prevent a war amongst the gods that could destroy our world!
The Film:
Every movie involving superheroes requires an origin story, and "Percy
Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief" has a doozy. The Greek
gods on Mount Olympus sometimes descend to earth to have children, you
see, and these half god, half humans are demigods. They live among us.
One is Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), who is the teenage son of Poseidon
and Sally Jackson (Catherine Keener). But he doesn't know this. I wonder
if his mom noticed. Kind of a letdown to discover Greek gods are runaway
dads.
The movie, based on a novel by Rick Riordan, has fun working out modern parallels for Greek mythology. Percy, for example, thinks he is dyslexic, but it's only that his eyes instinctively turn English into Greek letters. That's no help in class. After learning of his real identity, he goes off to Chiron's demigod training camp with Grover, and he becomes friends with Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), a demi-goddess if ever I've seen one. Excerpt from Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times located HERE
Aside from the expected, quick-cut haze of CG monsters this Fox Blu-ray it gives a solid presentation in 1080P. The feature takes up over 35 Gig on the dual-layered disc with a high bitrate. There is a lot of darkness in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and the transfer carries it very well. Grain gives the image a thick appearance but it remains consistent throughout. Turquoise, fire reds and blues come to the surface looking exuberant. Contrast exhibits very healthy, rich black levels. I like this look very much - detail is supplanted at times by texture - but it works very well in the overall. To me this video renddering looks quite pristine.
Audio :Audio is just as good as the video with an active DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 3897 kbps. Predictably the film is filled with effects sounds and separations are deftly exported to the rear channels. Monster like The Hydra give the track some real aggression and bass response can reach scary levels that make you attentively sit-up. There is a good score by Christophe Beck supporting the action and heroic exploits and the lossless track gives it subtlety and crispiness. Optional subtitles are offered and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked although is available in region 'B' supported editions.
Extras :If you can't get enough of the film (you mean like me?) you're likely to indulge in the 10 Deleted Scenes running shy of 15-minutes. As well as some smaller video features (all in HD) - about 20-minutes worth - there are two educational segments on the Secrets of the Gods and a quiz on discovering your 'powers'. Some effort went into these and they are good - especially for the kids - but no commentary is available. The mythology indulgences are appreciated though.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze June 23rd, 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
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