Review by Brian Montgomery

 

Production:

Theatrical: Columbia Pictures

Blu-ray: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

 

Disc:

Region: FREE!

Runtime: 1:27:42.257

Disc Size: 39,094,066,051 bytes

Feature Size: 24,330,958,848 bytes

Video Bitrate: 36.99 Mbps

Chapters: 16

Case: Standard Blu-Ray Case

Release date: February 2nd, 2010

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080P / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

 

Audio:

English (DTS-HD Master Audio 3613 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3613 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit))
French (DTS-HD Master Audio 2989 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2989 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit))
English (Dolby Digital Audio 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
English (Dolby Digital Audio 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround)
English (* DTS Express 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / 24-bit)

 

Subtitles:

English, French, None

 

Extras:

• Beyond the Graveyard: Picture-in-Picture Track

• Commentary with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Ruben Fliescher, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick

• In Search of Zombieland (15:57)

• Zombieland is Your Land (11:59)

• Deleted Scenes (5:28)

• Visual Effects: Progession Sequences (2:08)

• Theatrical Promo Trailer (6:04)

• Previews

 

Description: Nerdy college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has survived the plague that has turned mankind into flesh-devouring zombies because he's scared of just about everything. Gun-toting, Twinkie-loving Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) has no fears. Together, they are about to stare down their most horrifying challenge yet: each other's company. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin co-star in this double-hitting, head-smashing comedy.

 

 

The Film:

Because bonhomie is the true subject of "Zombieland." Fleischer has made a movie that comes off as easygoing, but actually shows a remarkable amount of discipline: The picture is beautifully paced, with an exhilarating, comically violent opening, a halcyon middle section where, in what could be viewed as a sideways homage to "Rebel Without a Cause," our rootless wanderers share a brief respite in an empty, lavish mansion (I won't tell you whom it belongs to), and a finale filled with light and color and movement (as well as piles of vanquished zombies). "Zombieland" is wickedly funny in places: In the opening sequence, Columbus outlines, in voice-over, the chief rules for surviving in this dangerous new world. To illustrate one of his maxims, a vehicle driven by a friendly-looking mom type is besieged by a troupe of little zombie girls in pink princess costumes, their mouths dripping with outrageously exaggerated black, bloody goo. It's every parent's nightmare kiddie birthday party.

Excerpt of review from Stephanie Zacharek located HERE

 

 

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

It's hard to imagine how the image on this MPEG-4 AVC encoded release could have been much better. Colors are extraordinarily rich throughout the film and fine object detail is about as sharp as some of the best releases this year. Granted, much of this results from picture perfect CGI, but what is there is simply gorgeous. Minute objects shine with the sort of detail that one might expect only to be found in larger objects in the foreground. See for instance the shattered glass in the title sequence or the spilled beads in the eight capture. In each case, every shred of glass (or bead) can be seen falling with precise clarity. When you couple this with the fact that the image has no discernable weakness (i.e. artifacts, damage, etc.) and perfect grain structure, you have one damn fine looking film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio & Music:

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack is one impressive mix. Although you can choose to listen to the film with lesser audio accompaniments, you'd be crazy to pass on this one if your system can handle it. The track is crystal clear, with even the tiniest of sounds receiving just enough detail to put you right in the picture. There's no conceivable complaint that I have about it. It's just that good. There are also optional English and French subtitles.

 

 

Extras:

The disc comes with a plethora of extras that do the film justice. Let's take them one by one. First, there's a picture-in-picture track that the studio dubs "Beyond the Graveyard". The track plays in a small box on the lower right side of the picture that contains a variety of different footage, from raw shots without special effects, to cast and crew interviews, to storyboards. Next, there's an audio commentary featuring the film's director, two male leads, and two writers. Given the different participants in the track, it is predictably varied, with them discussing the development of the script to the shooting of the film. There's also a series of deleted scenes that are fairly short. While a few of them are amusing, once you see them, you'll understand why they were cut. Up next are a pair of behind scenes "making of..." documentaries called "In Search of Zombieland" and "Zombieland is Your Land". Both are fairly standard fare and don't offer much more than the other extras do. Next, there's another fairly standard series of short special effects documentaries called "Visual Effects Progression Scenes", but again, there isn't much new here. Finally, in addition to a number of unrelated trailers, there's a series of short and amusing teasers for the film featuring the film's zombie survival rules.

 

Bottom line:

While I don't think that I enjoyed the film as much as some of its more rabid fans, it was still an entertaining and enjoyable comedy, and one that I wouldn't be surprised if I chose to revisit again in the near future. The set also comes with positively superb AV, so it is an easy recommendation. For anyone whose even mildly interested in the film, this comes very highly recommended.

Brian Montgomery
August 7th, 2010