- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
- Rating: PG-13
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Discs: 1
- Studio: Lionsgate
- Blu-ray Release Date: November 23, 2010
- List Price: $19.99
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase Madea’s Family Reunion on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
The ante on melodrama is upped in this Madea outing from Tyler Perry. Fortunately enough, it works better than most of Perry’s so-called “dramatic” films, perhaps the specter of Madea hanging over the proceedings allowing Perry to feel a bit freer.
Dysfunctional family relationships, a frequent go-to for Perry, dominate this film’s story as Madea (Perry) prepares to hold her big family reunion. Not only must the slightly off-kilter family matriarch deal with a new foster child placed in her care, but she must see to her two nieces, Vanessa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson) and Lisa (Rochelle Aytes) who are dealing with the most terrible of family peccadilloes — domestic and sexual abuse.
Blair Underwood puts on a chilling portrayal as Lisa’s fiancé (who knew the guy could be so despicable) and Lynn Whitfield plays the mother of the two sisters by different fathers, Vanessa and Lisa, a woman sorely lacking in motherly love. She does one of the best jobs in the film as well.
As per usual with Tyler Perry, he loses site of what he is trying to say a bit in Madea’s Family Reunion, introducing too many twists, but unlike his lukewarm soap of a flick The Family that Preys, at least in Madea’s Family Reunion he is willing to hit on touchy subjects rather than just glide over the rough stuff.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The 1.85:1 AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 encoding of Madea’s Family Reunion arrives on Blu-ray looking a much more solid effort than Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Detail extends much farther into the backgrounds, grain is more consistent, and colors look a little more natural. With that being said, it is still not a reference-quality release, but it is quite good for material of this nature.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
With such a dialogue-driven film, it’s difficult for the soundtrack to standout, and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix on Family Reunion hardly does. It only comes alive when the urban-inspired soundtrack kicks in a bit, otherwise its dry and front-heavy but offers up clean and intelligible dialogue.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
It seems Tyler Perry or his production company is rather fond of the feel-good promo featurette, because all of his Blu-ray release are loaded with them. They do serve to fill the space, but they don’t provide much entertainment value beyond the first viewing, if that.
The supplements provided on this release are:
- Audio Commentary with Tyler Perry
- The Making of Madea’s Family Reunion (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:22.05)
- Marriage Madea Style (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:07.33)
- Gaither Plantation (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:04.21)
- Making the Music (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:05.04)
- Madea Mania (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:07.06)
- From Stage to Screen (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:04.55)
- Transforming Tyler (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:03.16)
- Photo Gallery (1080p)
- Deleted Scenes (1.78:1; 480i/60)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
I don’t now that Tyler Perry will ever reach the level of, what is in my opinion, a great filmmaker, but with Madea’s Family Reunion he put together a more tolerable than usual piece of drama, poorly marketed as an ethnic comedy, that stretches across boundaries. It’s worth at least a rental on this solidly rendered Blu-ray edition.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B0041H55SK[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Madea’s Family Reunion on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
