- Aspect Ratio: 2:35:1
- Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: English
- Subtitles Color: Yellow
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: PG-13
- Run Time: 85 Mins
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: N/A
- Studio: Well Go USA Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: October 2nd, 2012
- List Price: $29.98
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Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1/5]
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:2/5]
General Education tells the story of Levi Collins (Chris Sheffield), your regular teenager set to attend college on a tennis scholarship. While this sounds great on paper, it turns out Levi has one issue – he never graduated high school. Racing to finish high school over the summer before his parents find out, he soon finds himself entangled in a romance with Katie (Maiara Walsh). Now it’s up to Levi to figure out if his career is truly about education, or perhaps there’s more to life. What results is a rather average film that has a few decent moments, but ultimately fails to live up to the message it’s trying to convey.
While the initial message that comes out of General Education may be promising, the film ultimately fails at conveying said message. The big problem is that even though we clearly understand the problem Levi is dealing with, we never truly believe in what he’s trying to do. This really isn’t a fault of Sheffield’s acting, but more of the writing of the film via the movie’s three writers in Elliot Feld, Jaz Kalkat and Director Tom Morris. They easily lay out the plot and where they want to go with it, but never actually end up going there. It’s this sole aspect that really makes General Education something that just isn’t all that solid.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
General Education debuts on Blu-ray with a 2:35:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer, which is mostly solid. The palette used here focuses more on a subdued use of colors, like those of yellows and fall greens. It’s not to say that these don’t look impressive, as contrast levels are accurate throughout the film. Facial closeups also result in fine detail, while wide exterior shots held equally good detail. Issue-wise, my only slight gripe here was that some of the lower-lit shots (and there really aren’t that many) can be a bit hard to make out. Minus that, this transfer suits the film well.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Featuring an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, I found this lossless offering from Well Go USA to be serviceable for the genre at hand. Dialogue, as one might expect, is well reproduced via the center channel. Dynamics impressed me, particularly how active the surrounds were. Discrete effects like that of a tennis ball being hit, zips by us, while LFE (during a few heightened moments) was deep at times. No, this isn’t a demo disc. Moreover, it’s rather one that will leave you satisfied.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1/5]
The included supplements are featured in High Definition:
- Audio Commentary with Director Tom Morris, Producers Elliot Feld, Jax Kalkat, Kevin Liang, and Sound Editor Tim Hoogenakker
- Outtakes – These outtakes run 5:39 and do offer up a few laughs.
- Making Of – Running 10:56, this is a behind-the-scenes look into the film via some cast interviews.
- Trailer – The film’s trailer (1:44) is shown.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2.5/5]
While General Education tries to tell us there’s more to life than grades, its ending message just doesn’t hit the right note. Well Go USA’s Blu-ray does feature serviceable V/A for the genre at hand. I suppose if you’re interested, give this one a rent. Otherwise, I’d say skip this one.
Additional Screen Captures
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Purchase General Education on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B008OTTTLA[/amazon-product]
Purchase General Education on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1/5]
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