Blu-Ray Review Duo-Zac and Miley
Are you a Hannah/Miley or Zac fan? Then this month is a bonanza for you! Hannah Montana: The Movie and 17 Again are out on Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital combo packs and we've got the details.
From Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Hannah Montana: The Movie - Combo Pack
Story goes: When Miley Stewart (aka pop-star Hannah Montana aka Miley Cyrus) is turning all diva/snobby in her celeb lifestyle, daddy sends her back home to the Tennessee family farm in the hope that she'll get real. With the help of a hot ranch hand played by cute Lucas Till, her pal from back in Hollywood Lilly (Emily Osment) and her dad and family, Hannah figures out that it's not the destination but "The Climb" that counts and ya gotta be true to your roots. Helping her along with the realization are guest stars Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts and Vanessa Williams.
Special Features: Pretty packed but not all memorable, the extras on the Blu-Ray include:
"Audio Commentary" - Director Peter Chelsom tells you about his casting decisions, all about production, what the Cyrus family provided, some dance info and stuff about the plot. Interesting if not very sparkling or energetic.
The usual "Backstage Disney" section offers three pretty good featurettes that you or your younger sibling will get into. "The Hoedown Throwdown Home Experience" offers the cast talking about the dances in the film and gives you a chance to learn them yourself. "Find Your Way Back Home" presents the cast talking about their own home towns. Kinda cool. "I Should Have Gone to Film School" is the behind-the-scenes featurette in which co-star Jason Earles shows us what went on during production.
"Deleted Scenes" has director Chelsom talking about four deleted sections and why he cut them. Some are cute, others you can see why they are out. "Outtakes" are the usual bloopers, flubbed lines etc. Short but entertaining.
Notable is the "Music Videos" featurette; a Blu-Ray exclusive section packed with seven music videos. They include Billy Ray Cyrus' "Back to Tennessee," Hannah Montana's "You'll Always Find Your Way Home" and "Let's Get Crazy," Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road," Taylor Swift's "Crazier," and two different performances of Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." This is a bonanza for fans of any of the above musical artists.
You also get Disney's "BD-Live" that lets you connect with family and friends while watching the film and you can download more.
Wrapping Up: Miley spends a lot of time in the film either pouting or as a diva and that's not all that attractive. However, the dance/song/performance numbers and her interaction with her dad, Lilly and Lucas Till are all very believable and watchable. It would have been nice to sit Miley and the cast down to watch the movie for some silly or juicy commentary but it's fun to finally see the cast away from their TV sets and out in the world and all the actors do a good job. There is quite a lot of fun loaded into the Blu-Ray combo pack so I'd say well worth a buy for Hannah/Miley fans and worth a rental for the curious.
From New Line Home Entertainment
17 Again - Combo Pack (Blu-Ray and Digital DVD)
This fantasy/comedy features Zac Efron as Mike O'Donnell a 30-something who feels like his life is a failure. He makes a wish to be young again and "poof", a kind of spirit guide makes him 17 again. Using his geeky fanboy pal Ned (Thomas Lennon) to pose as his dad, Mike enrolls in the same high school as his teen kids (Sterling Knight and Michelle Trachtenberg) hoping to save his daughter from a bad first hook up and give his son some macho advice all while re-living his own glory days. Of course Mike sees his life differently after encounters with his kids and wife Scarlett (Leslie Mann) and realizes what's really important in life.
Special Features: Exclusively on Blu-Ray: "Zac Goes Back" is the behind-the-scenes extra with on-set interviews with the actors and filmmakers on the development of the story and featuring Zac and Matthew Perry, who briefly plays the adult Mike, talking about trying to portray the same person at different times in life. Of course Zac is very cute so the watchable factor goes up even if this isn't the most comprehensive look at production.
You can choose to play the "Tell-All Trivia Track" during the film but I just found this annoying. You get little asides about goof ups, '80's trivia etc. "Going Back to 17" briefly has cast and crew talking about what it was like for them in high school back in the day. Only one guy would like to go back! Kinda fun but, for Zac this was what? Two years ago at time of filming?
"Breakin' Character Outtakes" lets you watch Zac crack up a lot at Tom Lennon's ad-libs and we learn that Zac hates sweet pickles when he spits them out in an eating scene. Zac teaches co-star Lennon video game terminology and he and Lennon have a light saber fight. Cute but short. "Additional Footage" includes deleted and extended scenes and these are actually very good. Some include more character and story development as Zac as Mike, gets to know his kids better and there is more with Zac doing '80's dances and taking off his shirt to show how buff he is.. nice feature and well worth a watch.
"Zac's Dance Flashback" is a little more on the deleted party dance scene with Zac and gang learning and re-creating dance moves by 80's icon M.C. Hammer etc. Fun. Internet digital extras as BD-Live contain Zac's Commentary, more on the sci-fi and fantasy weapon fight between Zac and Lennon and more with the funny Melora Hardin and Lennon.
Wrapping Up: 17 Again is a fun, back-to-the-future style comedy that showcases Zac as an actor, comedian and leading man. The rest of the cast is very good and Tom Lennon cracks both Zac and the audience up constantly. The extras aren't amazing but all are fun and easily watchable quickly. If you are a Zac fan, the film is certainly his movie and this combo pack with its gorgeous, colorful and sharp high def picture and sound is the way to go.
