• Aspect Ratio: 2:35:1
• Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
• Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Subtitles Color: White
• Region: A (Region-Locked)
• Rating: R
• Run Time: 102 Mins
• Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray, 1 x DVD)
• Digital Copies: UltraViolet
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Blu-ray Release Date: November 13th, 2012
• List Price: $39.99

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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]

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)

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The Film

[Rating:2/5]

The Watch tells the story of four civic-minded civilians in Evan (Ben Stiller), Bob (Vince Vaughn), Franklin (Jonah Hill) and Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade). After a security guard is murdered at his job, and with the police essentially refusing to do anything about it, Evan decides to form a neighborhood watch group consisting of Bob, Franklin and Jamarcus. Like any other group of guys hanging out, the three (outside of Evan – who pretty much disapproves of everything they do) love to drink and just have a good time. That is until they hit a mysterious silver orb in the middle of the street. Soon random people start dying, making the four deduce that the orb is of alien nature. Now it’s up these four bumbling folks to figure out how to get rid of this and, more importantly, save the town they all love. What results is a film that has capable leads in the four main stars, but ultimately end up failing due to many, many awkward, out of place jokes.

It’s not that the actual plot of The Watch doesn’t sound funny on paper, as it does. Nor is it the actors themselves, as all turn in solid performances (particularly the typically funny Jonah Hill). Moreover it’s the lack of quality jokes that ultimately end up hurting this one past any sense of recovery. The jokes themselves feel awkward, with one being able to easily see the tense look on Hill, Stiller, Vaughn or Ayoade’s faces as they act out the line. I’m not even sure if it’s the fault of any of the more than capable writers. Personally I feel that with the original title being ‘The Neighborhood Watch’ and the studio having to change  (apparently) the title after the Trayvon Martin shooting, that the film ended up dropping more than just the title — as evident by the less than inspiring, less than funny jokes contained here.

Video Quality

[Rating:4.5/5]

The Watch hits the neighborhood with a 2:35:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer. Shot using the Arri Alexa Camera, this is yet another excellent day-and-date release from Fox. The film’s color palette has a very clean, natural look and feel to it. Blues (particularly dark blues) tend to dominate a majority of the darker sequences; however, the brighter moments have the standard yellows of the sun and greens of grass. Clarity is top notch, especially that of facial close-ups that result in accurate contrast levels/flesh tones. There is a slight layer of film grain during some of the darker scenes, but never does this become an issue. All in all, this is a fine effort from Fox.

Audio Quality

[Rating:4/5]

Featuring an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, I found this lossless offering to be solid for the genre. Dialogue, with most of it being bland and lacking any real solid humor, is well reproduced via the center channel. LFE hits hard, giving us deep, immersive bass when varying explosions occur. Atmosphere is great with different effects (noises, lasers, buzzes) ringing throughout the room. Quieter moments, like dialogue chatter, do offer up a sense of ambience with background chatter. Even though the mix doesn’t offer up all the high end effects that other sci-fi mixes offer, I was still pleased with this effort from Fox.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:2/5]

The provided supplements are featured in High Definition:

• Unrated Deleted Scenes – 24:39 worth of deleted scenes are shown, totaling 12 scenes, most of which aren’t that funny (kind of like the movie – odd huh?)
• Outrageous Gag Reel – Well, 3:41 worth of actual, real laughs.
• Jonah Alternate Takes – 5:39 worth of Jonah Hill ad-libbing lines.
• Watchmakers – A 12:16 behind-the-scenes look into the film with a few cast and crew interviews.
• Alien Invasions & You -A brief 1:48 conversation on how the cast and crew would handle an alien invasion.
• Casting The Alien – A 5:24 “fake” interview with the “alien.”
• DVD – A DVD of the film is included.
• Digital Copy – An UltraViolet Digital Copy has been included with this release.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:3/5]

Even though the film may sound funny, The Watch fails due to a lack of quality humor. Fox’s Blu-ray, on the other hand, features a fine technical presentation. So, I suppose if you enjoyed this one, add it to your collection. Personally, I’d recommend just skipping this one.

Additional Screen Captures

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Purchase The Watch on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

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[amazon-product]B005LAII30[/amazon-product]

Purchase The Watch on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]

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