• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  
• Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
  
• Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit), French, Portuguese, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
  
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
  
• Subtitles Color: White
  
• Region: ABC (Region-Free)
• Rating: PG-13
  
• Run Time: 141 Mins.
  
• Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
• Digital Copies: N/A
  
• Studio: Paramount Home Media Distribution
  
• Blu-ray Release Date: December 4, 2012
  
• List Price: $22.98
  

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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

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The Film

[Rating:4.5/5]

Director Steven Spielberg eschewed his usual sci-fi and fantasy inclinations with this generally light, cat-and-mouse yarn, Catch Me If You Can. Based on true events, even if some facts are warmed over in favor of Hollywood storytelling, Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar; Inception; Titanic), in one of his best big screen roles up to that point, played Frank Abagnale. He’s teenaged confidence man and forger who, following in his father’s (Christopher Walken; Kill the Irishman; $5 a Day; King of New York) footsteps, finds himself on a path of crime, imitating an airline pilot, a surgeon, and a lawyer, while leaving a trail of bounced checks and brokenhearted women behind him. Eventually, his crimes would escalate to serious counterfeiting. Tom Hanks (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close; Toy Story 3), in a role completely made up for the film, is the forthright G-man Carl Hanratty, an FBI Agent tasked to chase Frank down and bring him in to face justice. Making the film so enjoyable is the outwardly insouciant way in which Frank conducts his crimes and the banter over the telephone between Abagnale and Hanratty. It makes for some of the film’s best comedic moments and an ease to whatever tension may be building. At the same time, there is an undercurrent of a wayward teen looking to find himself and save his family that has fallen apart because if his father’s poor choices. Abagnale isn’t doing these things out of pure greed, but some misguided form of altruism. He thinks he can bring his parents back together and repair his broken home. Meanwhile, Hanratty takes on an air of an almost father figure and confidante, rather than relentless pursuer. Spielberg’s atmosphere of ’60s chic is prominent in making Catch Me If You Can a cool, hip, and breezy-feeling romp as well. One wonders how much of this style was referred to for television’s Mad Men.

Video Quality

[Rating:4.5/5]

The transfer of Catch Me If You Can looks about what one would expect from a production done on the relatively medium-speed 35mm Kodak Vision 320T 5277 stock. There’s some slight natural softness, extended and nuanced details in the darker scenes, but low noise levels. The imagery isn’t quite crisp, but there is lots of detail nonetheless. Grain structure looks natural, but it is just a little heavy.

Audio Quality

[Rating:4/5]

The sound is fairly straightforward with a front-heavy mix, but the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) track does have a good breadth of dynamic range for its John Williams score, and spacious panning of atmospherics that capture the clatter of the FBI offices and other miscellaneous noises.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:2.5/5]

Nothing new here, it’s all ported-over standard definition material form the previous DVD releases.

The supplements:

• Catch Me If You Can: Behind the Camera (1.33:1; SD; 00:17:09)
• Cast Me If You Can: The Casting of the Film (1.33:1; SD):
  • Leonardo DiCaprio as “Frank Abagnale Jr.”
  • Tom Hanks as “Carl Hanratty”
  • Frank’s Parents: Christopher Walken and Nathalie Baye
  • The Strong Family: Martin Sheen and Amy Adams
  • Jennifer Garner as “Cheryl Ann”
• Scoring: Catch Me If You Can (1.33:1; SD; 00:05:25)
• Frank Abagnale: Between Reality and Fiction (1.33:1; SD):
  • Meet Frank Abagnale
  • Frank Becomes a Pilot
  • Frank’s Careers
  • Frank Gets Caught and Turns His Life Around
• The FBI Perspective (1.33:1; SD; 00:07:07)
• Catch Me If You Can: In Closing (1.33:1; SD; 00:04:59)
• Photo Galleries (1080p/24):
  • Cast
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Costume Gallery

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:4/5]

DiCaprio and Hanks are superb foils for each other in this thoroughly enjoyable cat-and-mouse crime caper from Steven Spielberg. Stylistically satisfying, rich in detail, charm, humor, and emotional weight, the well acted and directed film offers high entertainment value for its over two-hour runtime, making it shoot by like a breeze.

Additional Screen Captures

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Purchase Catch me If You Can on Blu-ray at CD Universe

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[amazon-product]B00962QYVC[/amazon-product]

Purchase Catch me If You Can on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]

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