Starring: Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Craig T. Nelson
Directed by: Will Speck and Josh Gordon
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Video: 1.85:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9, 1080p HD
Audio: English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
Extras: Seven featurettes (“Return to Glory: The Making of Blades,” “Celebrities on Thin Ice,” “Cooler Than Ice: The Super-Sexy Costumes of Skating,” “Arnett and Poehler- A Family Affair,” “20 Questions with Scott Hamilton,” “Hector: Portrait of a Psychofan” and “Moviephone Unscripted”); deleted scenes; alternate takes; gag reel; photo gallery; MTV interstitials; Bo Bice “Blades of Glory” music video
Length: 93 minutes
Movie Rating: **** AV Quality Rating: ****
Having recently satirized NASCAR in the movie ‘Talladega Nights,’ Will Ferrell now sets his sights on doing the same to the world of professional figure skating in ‘Blades of Glory.’ Rival figure skaters Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) brawl after tying for the gold medal at the world championships. Their actions subsequently cause them to get banned for life from the men’s competition. However, a loophole is discovered in the system that enables them to skate again, albeit as a team in the pairs’ competition. When it comes to Will Ferrell movies, I have found that people either love them or hate them. Personally, I am a fan of Ferrell’s work and really enjoyed this movie. The film is more than just a one-joke premise and is consistently funny throughout. To his credit, (and much in the same way that he did in ‘Elf’ and ‘Stranger Than Fiction’) Ferrell is able to evoke genuine emotion for his character and will have you rooting in the end for his success. Recommended.
In terms of high definition video quality, this HD DVD is very good. Images are clean with sharp detail. Blacks are uniformly dark throughout the film. Colors are crisp and bright with saturated hues. Picture defect mastering is well done with no major flaws aside from some occasional film grain. The audio quality is also very good with the English 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus surround track. The soundtrack, especially for a comedy film, does a fine job of incorporating all of the discrete channels into its mix. Dialogue is intelligible and securely anchored in the center channel. The surround channels are surprisingly active and used for ambient sound effects, such as crowd noise, and the pop/rock music soundtrack. The low frequency effects channel is tight and punchy.
– Calvin Harding Jr.
