(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG and thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Performance
In August 2007, ventriloquist and impressionist Terry Fator became the Season 2 winner of America’s Got Talent winning a million-dollar prize and going on to become a Las Vegas star. In 2008, Fator signed a $100 million deal to bring his act to The Mirage, with an option to extend his stay for an additional five years making it one of the largest deals in Vegas history.
Terry Fator: Live From Las Vegas on Blu-ray brings the showman’s act to home video in high definition for everyone to see without even having to travel to Sin City. Having never seen Fator perform, I have to admit that, like David Hasselhoff on Fator’s first appearance on America’s Got Talent, the first thought that popped into my head when I saw the disc show up at my door was, “oh, no, a ventriloquist.”
When I popped the disc in and started watching, however, Fator quickly won me over. More than just a ventriloquist, Fator is a talented impressionist and singer with a great voice and obvious musical talent. Over the course of his show, Fator does impersonations of Elvis, Michael Jackson, Cher, and Armstrong. He yodels, dances, and cracks some quiet funny jokes. Most of all, he engages the audience and is completely at ease on stage. When Fator flubs one of his routines by mixing up the voices Fator smooths it over with ease. I recommend anyone who is hesitant at checking out Fator’s act give him a try, he just may win you over.
Video Quality
Originally captured in 1080p/24 HD, Terry Fator: Live From Las Vegas arrives in an AVC/MPEG-4 encoding from Image Entertainment. The picture is sufficiently lifelike and free from any noticeable compression artifacts, but it suffers from some obvious video noise and detail is soft in darker areas. Blacks are not very deep, being more greyish than anything, and contrast is very hot. The picture also suffers from some slight color bleeding on occasion. On the positive side, flesh tones are very natural.
Audio Quality
The sole audio option provided on Terry Fator: Live From Las Vegas is an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless mix. Mixed from an audience perspective, the sound is open and lively with good dynamic range and smooth high frequencies. Vocals and dialogue are clean and well balanced into the mix and low frequencies extend down into the upper low range. The surround channels have a blend of ambience and crowd noise helping to lend a live feel to the sound.
Supplemental Materials
Feature Commentary with Terry Fator, Writer Rick Kerns and Director Mark Goffman
Feature Commentary with Director with Terry Fator and His Cast of Thousands — Fator does the commentary with the voices of his many characters.
The Terry Fator Story with Optional Commentary by Terry Fator, Writer Rick Kerns and Director Mark Goffman (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:45.34) — This mini-documentary tells the story about Fator’s rise from a poor child in Texas, through the years paying his dues in a band until finally winning America’s Got Talent.
Behind the Puppets Featurette (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:18.14) — Terry Fator discusses the inspiration behind the creation of some of his puppet characters.
Exclusive Book Preview – Terry Fator: Who’s the Dummy Now? — The booklet included with the disc included a preview of Chapter 1 of Fator’s forthcoming book, Terry Fator: Who’s the Dummy Now?
The Definitive Word
Overall:
Just as he won over the judges on America’s Got Talent, Fator won me over with this fun performance. I’m positive that Fator will be around a long time entertaining visitors in Las Vegas. Recommended.
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