- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Audio Description, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Region: A (B? C?)
- Rating: G
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD + Digital Copy)
- Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: May 17, 2011
- List Price: $39.99
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Purchase Justin Bieber on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
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)
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The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Never mind whether you love or hate his music or can’t stand the deafening sound of screaming young girls that he provokes, it is hard to deny the inspiring story that is Justin Bieber. I, in particular, have a soft spot for any young child of a single mother who makes good, being raised by a single mother myself. Kudos to Justin’s mom. Never Say Never is less a concert film and more a documentary of the story of Justin Bieber’s rise from an unknown, but talented young boy in small town Canada, to YouTube sensation and, eventually, worldwide phenomenon that makes little girls and young women scream and cry like it’s the second coming of The Beatles.
The movie splices together footage of “the Bieber” on tour, while offering up behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with his management, family and friends, and the folks responsible for helping him break through, like Usher and producer L.A. Reid. At the same time, it counts down the time to what is to be his debut at “the world’s most famous arena”, New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Any fans looking for lengthy live performances will be disappointed, but something tells me that the screaming crowds of teary-eyed girls won’t mind a bit. Never Say Never, while not as bad as I thought it would be going in, is nevertheless, a self-congratulatory ego stroking look at a fascinating social networking phenomenon.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Since the AVC 1080p transfer of Never Say Never is a really cluttered mix of sources from YouTube footage and home videos to HD captured live concert performances, video quality is all over the place.There aren’t any compression or encodement issues that get in the way, and the live concert footage looks about as good as these sorts of videos usually get given the many different cameras, lighting levels, and frenetic camera movements.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The various live performance segments are big with booming low frequencies, just as one would expect from a concert performance like this. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is filled with lots of ambience and balances the sound of the music and screaming girls quite well. During the numerous behind-the-scenes documentary clips, the dialogue is clean as well.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
While the most rabid Bieber fans will surely eat up every bit of extra footage they can get their hands on, and there is some supplied here, the extra are disappointingly light. There should have at least been a few songs provided in their entirety given the lack of such in the movie itself.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Concert Dance Off (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.55) – Justin’s dancers get a chance to strut their stuff during the show.
- Favorite Girl (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.00) – A bonus acoustic performance of “Favorite Girl” inits entirety.
- R.I.P. Hair Flip (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.55) – Have a chance to see the Bieber get his hair cut.
- Giving Back (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:07.50) – Justin Bieber’s staff give some some ecstatic fans tickets to get in to see their favorite performer.
- BD-Live – Commentary by director Jon M. Chu
- DVD
- Digital Copy
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
Congratulations are definitely in order to the young Mr. Bieber. He has done what many people twice his age have only ever dreamed of. It’s heartening and inspiring to young folks everywhere. One can only hope that his family and friends keep him grounded and that he doesn’t go the way of so many child stars, falling into a life of self-destruction.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product align=”right”]B004A8ZX1Y[/amazon-product]
Purchase Justin Bieber on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
