- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- 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 2.0
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: R
- Run Time: 92 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Touchstone Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: August 7, 2012
- List Price: $20.00
–
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
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)
–
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
The dimwitted buddy film is a permanent fixture in theaters it seems. What isn’t quite common is to see those roles filled by women rather than men, so in 1997 when the talented and comically adept Mira Sorvino (Mimic; The Mighty Aphrodite) and Lisa Kudrow (TV’s Web Therapy; The Other Woman; TV’s Friends) took on the task, it was a pleasant surprise with reasonably pleasing results. A story of two friends from childhood who learn of the impending 10th high school reunion, Romy (Sorvino) and Michele (Kudrow), who have been stuck in a suspended sense of reality since graduating high school realize their lives aren’t as great as they thought they were. Romy concocts a plan to impress their former classmates by claiming they invented Post-Its, but it goes awry when former classmate and still cantankerous, but actual inventor Heather (Janeane Garofalo) spoils the rouse. The duo then find themselves in the same position they were in in high school, being ridiculed by all of their peers.
A colorfully rendered affair in shocking primaries and glorious pastels of pink and baby blues, the film is as goofy as one might expect from a buddy comedy about two ditzy twenty-somethings in a suspended mode of the late-teen experience. Sorvino and Kudrow do well to impart a wonderful sense of heart to their roles that helps to make this otherwise lightweight comedy more palatable than it would otherwise be. Meanwhile, the 80s retro soundtrack is a boon to those who lived through the actual decade, with popular hits from Cyndi Lauper, Howard Jones, The Smithereens and others.
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Another disappointing effort from this recent crop of Touchstone releases hitting the market on August 7, 2012, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion is soft, lacking in detail, and terribly dull in contrast most of the time. Some close-up shots look good and show off the vibrant primaries and pastels of Romy and Michele’s audacious outfits or, quite noticeably, the shocking hazel color of Janeane Garofalo’s eyes, but they are few and far between. Mostly, there is a lot of video noise and compression issues.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Thankfully, the audio soundtrack, provided here in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit), fares much better than the lackluster video encodement. The 80s-heavy musical soundtrack is well produced with a good amount of ambience and nice heavy low frequencies. Dialogue is clear and intelligible as well.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
I’d like to officially request that studios stop labeling releases “anniversary editions” if they don’t intend on at least adding something new to it in the form of a high definition featurette, new audio commentary, interviews – something! This release, like the others in this latest grouping of underwhelming releases from Touchstone has just been padded with a brief port-over “production” featurette (read: promotional feature) and the theatrical trailer, both in standard definition.
The supplements:
- Original Promotional Features:
- Production Featurette (1.33:1; SD; 00:03:34)
- Trailer (1.33:1; SD)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2.5/5]
An enjoyable even of silly buddy comedy with female leads, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion will probably be most memorable for its 80s soundtrack and outrageous outfits than it will be for its story, but that’s no reason to avoid this zany bit of 90s camp.
Additional Screen Captures
[amazon-product]B0080BFWE0[/amazon-product]
Purchase Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
–
[amazon-product]B0080BFWE0[/amazon-product]
Purchase Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
–
