High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Disney Blu-ray Deluxe Edition + DVD) + High School Musical: Remix Edition
(Disney Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+/B-/B Sound: B+/B-/B Extras: C Films: C+/C+
As if two
trips down the halls of East High weren’t enough (or should I say profitable
enough) Disney gives us another chance to sing and dance with those Wild Cats;
not to mention the opportunity to stare into Zac Efron’s dreamy eyes once
more. The High School Musical film series at this point is something you either
get or don’t get; there seems to be no in between. On one hand there are people like this
reviewer who could not care less if the films existed and then there are people
like this reviewer’s sister and her sorority sisters (yes, they are 21) who can’t
get enough of the High School Musical craze.
The fact that 21 year old girls enjoy the film does interestingly show
that the films are not reserved for young or simple minded, but rather that
High School Musical must have something more appealing that others just don’t
get. Is it the gorgeous teeny-bopper
cast? Is it the bright colors? Is it the
catchy musical numbers? Who knows!? But one thing is for sure, the films are
insanely popular, profitable, and there (at this moment) is no slowing them down.
High School Musical 3 starts off where High School Musical 2 left off (as if
we all remember); but essentially you can boil it down to more singing and
dancing. We are lead to believe that High School Musical was the kids
freshman year and now High School
Musical 3 is their senior year; hence the title High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
The story behind the third High School installment is simple and to the
point, giving loose structure to a film that basically is just biding time
until the next musical number. It is
insanely predictable when a music number is about to occur, like a runner
waiting for the gunshot to go off; but nevertheless that is why people are
watching anyhow. The plot follows Troy
(Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) as they struggle with their future
college plans and the possibility of life without each other. The musical evolves into a tale of the same
old musical woes of lies, deceit, love, and puberty infused drama. Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) spends her time
plotting to become the star of the show with her ambiguously ummm… fun brother,
Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), by her side. The
film also once again stars Chad (Corbin Bleu) as Troy’s bff and ‘future college
basketball buddy.’ All in all the film
has little substance at all as it is mainly a loose love story with a high
school musical production and sports thrown in (just the same as the other two
films); the only difference is this time Troy and the other kiddies have to
make college choices (Scary!).
Now with
the sarcasm and cruelty set aside, the High
School Musical film series is nicely done in many ways. Disney’s marketing is exquisite and the cast
is young, talented, and likeable. The
films have managed to capture the hearts and minds of young and old alike with
its solid blend of choreography, cast, and songs. Whereas the films can seem cheesy at times
(come on what musicals don’t), they hardly ever seem forced. High
School Musical 3: Senior Year is definitely the best of the three films
with the cast finally coming into their own as they know their characters from
top to bottom; not to mention the film’s considerable budget increase as it hit
the big screen. HSM3 may be nauseatingly chipper, but it has its merits as it
utilizes a very talented cast to highlight upbeat song and dance numbers.
Weaving
our way through the hallways of technical features on these two Blu-rays and
DVD, we find a mix between good and adequate with the picture, sound and
extras. The picture on the Blu-ray of HSM 3 is presented in a 1080p/AVC
MPEG-4 demonstrating brilliant and vibrant colors throughout the film, but at
the same time those colors manage to be distracting as the red hues bleed as
the image pans from scene to scene. The
colors overall can be evaluated as vivid, but if anything whatever Disney did
to the image makes it seem as though they were trying too hard. The image does remain bright, crisp and clear
from beginning to end with deep blacks, but nothing existed at any point in the
presentation that wowed this reviewer. The
presentation was nice, but still needs work.
The sound is presented as a 5.1 DTS Master Audio Track that is even
throughout with solid ambient noises, crisp dialogue and fluid background
scores; the problem with the audio, however, is the film’s most prominent
feature, the musical numbers. The
musical numbers are on the same level as the rest of the film as far as
crispness and fluidity, but there is no boost or pop to the audio to capture
the film’s musical enthusiasm. Being
balanced and even for the most part is a good thing, but musicals are suppose
to have an extra ‘umph’ to add power behind a script that relies heavily on the
numbers to propel the storyline.
Overall, the picture and sound on HSM3’s
Blu-ray were just adequate and the DVD release was an even bigger downgrade
from that. The DVD features a 1.85 X 1 Anamorphic Widescreen that also has
vivid colors that aren’t quite as bright as the Blu-ray, but still bleed. The picture’s image is also not as clear, but
that once again should be obvious when comparing DVD to Blu-ray. The sound is a 5.1 Dolby Digital Mix that
lacks the crispness of the Blu-ray and has even less of an ‘umph’ for the
musical numbers than the Blu-ray.
The
extras are pretty much the same on the Blu-ray and DVD; with a few special
extras that are only available via Blu-ray.
The Deluxe Blu-ray Edition also ensures that you never have to be
without your ‘precious’ High School Musical 3 as it features the Blu-ray
version, the DVD version, and even a digital copy for your computer. It may seem like overkill, but Disney is
doing an excellent job of getting its product out there and maybe even
persuading those who don’t own Blu-ray players yet to upgrade ahead of time. The extras on both the DVD and Blu-ray
includes:
- Deleted Scenes [7 nonsense
scenes that do not add anything to the film]
- ‘Out of Synch: HSM3 Bloopers’
[3 minutes of unfunny bloopers]
- Night of Nights [Mainly the
cast discussing the film’s many difficult dance numbers]
- It’s all in the Dress [2
minutes of the costume designers discussing the prom dresses]
- Cast Goodbyes [Efron,
Hudgens, and others reflect on their experiences throughout the HSM
Trilogy]
- Sing-A-Long with the Movie
[Karaoke for those who just can’t get enough]
- Theatrical Trailer
Available
only on Blu-ray are such features as BD-Live and two featurettes entitled “New
Cast Profiles” and “Senior Awards.” “New
Cast Profiles” dances its way into introducing HSM’s newest cast members
through audition tapes, video diaries, and clips of the film’s world premiere. “Senior Awards” is a very short (2 minute)
featurette that gives out random awards to the senior with the “best hair,”
“best clothes,” and so on. Overall, the
Blu-ray features nothing overwhelmingly important as far as additional material
over the DVD. It should be mentioned,
however, that all the extras that are available only in standard definition on
DVD are in HD on Blu-ray; which is a nice perk.
In terms
of High School Musical: Remix Edition on Blu-ray there is nothing new as far as
content, but the HD presentation is a SLIGHT upgrade over the DVD release.
For more
on the content of High School Musical: Remix Edition look to our previous
review at the link below:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4774/High+School+Musical
The
picture on the Blu-ray release of High
School Musical: Remix Edition is presented in a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4, 1.78 X 1
Widescreen that is nice, but in the end suffers because it was initially a low
budget, Disney TV movie. The colors are
bright and the image is crisp, but nothing seems quite perfect enough. The film never truly ‘pops’ as it lacks the
vivid colors of the other HSM films on Blu-ray and often times feels softer
than it should. The audio also lacks the
‘pop’ one would expect from as musical in its PCM 5.1 Surround Track. The musical numbers are amped up fine, but
the dialogue for the most part is ‘blah’ and uninspiring with little ambient
noise to give the film a solid atmosphere.
The
extras are the same as those found on the standard edition DVD with no added
features or upgraded HD quality.
In the
end, if you or your kids (or your 21 year old sister in my case) are fans of
the other High School Musical films
now is not the time to stop watching or singing along. High
School Musical 3: Senior Year is probably the best of the three films and
had the most amount of money put into it.
Where as the films are not everyone’s cup of tea, this reviewer can
still see the appeal and whereas these Blu-ray releases are not perfect, they
are the best the films have looked yet; even with Disney trying to place a
pseudo-Technicolor spin on the overly digitally charged film. If nothing else the films are fun and
slightly mind numbing.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
