• Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1
• Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
• Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, French DTS 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Subtitles Color: White
• Region: ABC (Region-Free)
• Rating: R & Not Rated
• Run Time: 107 (Rated) & 114 (Not Rated)Mins
• Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD)
• Digital Copies: UltraViolet/iTunes
• Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
  
• Blu-ray Release Date: December 11, 2012
• List Price: $34.98

–

Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]

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:4/5]

Ted tells the story of John Bennett (played as a younger child by Bretton Manley), your typical young kid who wants nothing more than a friend who can share his everyday life with. After his parents give him a new Teddy Bear for Christmas, John wishes that his teddy bear could speak, that way he could have a new friend. Much to the surprise of John, he awakes the following morning to discover that Ted can now very much speak! The film soon flashes forward and we meet John (now played by Mark Wahlberg), who still lives, drinks, and smokes with Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) on a daily basis, much to the dismay of John’s girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis). With the important four-year mark coming up, Lori gives John the ultimatum of choosing her or asking Ted to move out. With this decision looming, John must figure out how his life can exist without his best friend. What results is a downright hilarious, charming, sometimes emotional, movie that really anyone can find something in – especially those who love MacFarlane’s Family Guy.

For those, like myself, who tune into Family Guy on a weekly basis (and repeatedly watch the random repeats on TBS/Netflix), you’re bound to find a lot to like in Ted. The real enjoyment comes not only from John and his daily interactions with Ted and the general public, but moreover the actual jokes. I could go on for quite sometime listing the laugh-out-loud jokes found here, but I won’t. Instead I’ll just say this – imagine Ted as a 2-hour uncensored version of Family Guy. The end result is just a funny, charming movie that will certainly be remembered for years to come.

Video Quality

[Rating:4.5/5]

Ted debuts with a 1:85:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer, which continues Universal’s day-and-date quality. Shot using Panavision’s Genesis HD camera system, Ted features a fine transfer that captures the Boston locale well. While the film’s color palette can tend to vary from scene to scene, a majority of the film was shot with a kind of dark tone to it. All of these dark sequences don’t every lose clarity, with accurate black levels. With the film being shot digitally, the overall image has a very natural, clean look and feel to it. Contrast levels are spot on, as are flesh tones. Noise levels are kept to a minimum, while the mix of the CG Ted with live-action actors doesn’t ever result in an awkward looking image. All in all, this is a fine effort from Universal.

Audio Quality

[Rating:4.5/5]

Featuring an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, I found this lossless offering to be quite solid. Dialogue is well reproduced throughout via the center channel, while a majority of the film’s atmosphere comes from the film’s score by Walter Murphy. Murphy helps to set the tone for each and every scene, whether the somber scenes towards the end or the high octane party moments. LFE is a bit reserved at times, but still does offer up solid low-end, in particular during the flashback club sequence and the karaoke scene with Ted. Discrete effects add up to a bit of background chatter, while pans between rears were seamless. All in all, I was quite pleased with this effort from Universal.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:3/5]

The included supplements are featured in High Definition:

• Deleted Scenes – Roughly 14:54 minutes of deleted scenes, spanning from the beginning of the film, to the very end, are shown. The scenes themselves are mostly funny and are certainly worth a watch.
• Alternate Takes – A few different alternate takes, totaling 10:32, are shown.
• Teddy Bear Scuffle – This runs 5:37 and details the hotel room scuffle between John and Ted. Pre-visualization and final post production is shown.
• Hilarious Gag Reel – 6:24 worth of gags are shown, some of which just re-worked scenes with different dialogue.
• Audio Commentary with Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin & Mark Whalberg –
• Making of – This is broken down into 3 different parts, all of which run 24:42. The 3 parts cover how the production team dealt with inserting Ted into scenes and how the scenes were actually shot.
• Digital Copy – An UltraViolet Digital Copy and an iTunes playable Digital Copy are included.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:4/5]

Ted is just a charming, funny, well made film from the creative mind by the hit series Family Guy. While the jokes may not be groundbreaking, the real enjoyment comes from Ted’s interactions with the world. Universal’s Blu-ray, as one might expect, is excellent with a faithful technical presentation and a few solid features. Highly Recommended for fans and newcomers alike.

Additional Screen Captures

[amazon-product]B00A2IUHM6[/amazon-product]

[amazon-product]B005LAII1C[/amazon-product]

Purchase Ted on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

–

[amazon-product]B00A2IUHM6[/amazon-product]

[amazon-product]B005LAII1C[/amazon-product]

Purchase Ted on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]

–