- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: R
- Discs: 2
- Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: May 10, 2011
- List Price: $39.99
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase No Strings Attached on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
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]
Natalie Portman is unarguably a great actress, and now she even has an Oscar for her riveting performance in Black Swan to prove it. Now, not only is she hot, but she is hot, as in, she seems to be on an unstoppable streak of high quality moviemaking. Even when she appears in an apparently middling rom-com, sex romp like No Strings Attached, it is better than most of the drivel that comes out of Hollywood. Perhaps she as an innate ability to pick quality scripts, or maybe she is just able to elevate the standard of any production with her savant-like skills. Certainly she even makes Ashton Kutcher seem better in this film.
No Strings Attached is way less clever than it thinks it is as far as adult romantic comedies are concerned. The premise of this one being that two acquaintances, Emma (Portman) and Adam (Kutcher) who keep crossing paths from their childhood at camp straight through to their adulthood finally decide that they are going to try their hand at being sex friends, you know, friends with benefits, but without all that relationship crap.
Emma is a doctor who went to MIT and Adam, a guy with a famous TV actor for a dad (Kevin Kline) who, by the way, has just started up a relationship with his ex-girlfriend, is a production assistant on a teen musical TV show. The two seem an unlikely pairing by anyone’s standards, given Emma’s inability to open up to any sort of emotional entanglements, made even more obvious by Portman’s more cold than usual for a rom-com acting, and Adam’s stunted maturity. Of course, with these films, we already know what’s in store for us; somebody’s going to fall in love and somebody’s going to get hurt. Then there’s the sex. It’s okay, but nowhere near as hot or raunchy as one would be made to believe. So where does that leave No Strings Attached? It’s a likable, far less annoying than usual romantic comedy that is made much more intelligent by Portman’s acting skills, some truly humorous moments on screen from Kevin Kline, and that’s about it.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The 1080p transfer of No Strings Attached looks as beautiful as Natalie Portman herself. The film has a high production value look about it that translates well to high definition. The source looks immaculately clean, there are inky blacks, superb flesh tones and sharp details that extend well into the backgrounds. There are also no signs of mucking about in the post-processing.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The audio mix is a typically bland rom-com mix that’s rather front-heavy, but the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 comes across well nevertheless. It provides an open soundstage with clean dialogue, good dynamic range, punchy midrange, and solid bass when the numerous songs from the soundtrack kick in. The surround channels also offer ample atmospherics to hold everything together.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
While the supplements are hardly overwhelming, they are all in 1080p HD, and Paramount was even kind enough to include a special offer in the package for three free months to PerfectMatch.com just in case you think you’re ready to jump in to the online dating game.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Commentary with Director Ivan Reitman
- Sex Friends: Getting Together (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:20.46) – The filmmakers discuss the evolution of the screenplay and the production of the film.
- Inside the Sassy Halls of Secret High (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:11.22) – A funny look at the film’s parody of the “High School Musical” type show, Secret High.
- Modern Love: The Dos and Don’ts (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:08.47)
- Deleted Scenes (2.35:1; 1080p/24; 0:11.04) – Six deleted and extended scenes from No Strings Attached.
- Alternate Storyline Scenes (2.35:1; 1080p/24; 0:03.44) – Two alternate scenes from the film.
- DVD
- Digital Copy
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
Natalie Portman is wonderful as usual, even elevating the level of Ashton Kutcher’s skills here, and a role for Kevin Kline brings genuine humour to an otherwise typical and less-than-steamy “grownup” rom-com. Only worth a rental for Portman fans.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product align=”right”]B004RC8NXI[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase No Strings Attached on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
