Mamma Mia! The Movie, Blu-ray (2008)
Starring: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgaard, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, Christine Baranski
Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment [Release date: Dec. 16, 08]
Video: 2.40:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9 color; 1080p HD
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Spanish and French DTS Surround 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: Audio commentary with Director Phyllida Lloyd; four featurettes (“The Making of Mamma Mia!”, “Becoming a Singer”, “Anatomy of a Musical Number” and “A Look Inside Mamma Mia!”); Deleted scenes; Deleted musical number “The Name of the Game”; outtakes; “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” music video; Bjorn Ulvaeus cameo; U-Control features (Picture-in-Picture and “Behind the Hits”); BD-Live features (My Scenes Sharing, My Chat and My Movie Commentary); Sing Along lyrics; Digital copy
Feature Length: 109 minutes
Movie Rating: ***1/2 Video Rating: **** Audio Rating: ***1/2
Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) lives on an isolated island with her mom Donna (Meryl Streep), who is the owner of a bed and breakfast inn. Sophie dearly wants her father to walk her down the aisle at her wedding to make this special day perfect. The only problem is that Sophie doesn’t know who her father is as Donna has kept this information hidden from her. Sophie devises a plan to invite the three most likely men to be her father (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgaard) to the festivities in hopes that one might reveal himself to be her dad. Building up to the big wedding, her family and friends contribute to even more schemes being hatched and additional secrets divulged. “Mamma Mia! The Movie” is a light-hearted romp set to the infectious pop music of ABBA. The movie has a lot going for it with an all-star cast that genuinely looks as though they are enjoying themselves. My only major reservation about the film is that a couple of the actors’ singing voices were a little rough (to put it kindly), especially those of Brosnan and Skarsgaard. Taken as a whole though, this was an enjoyable movie that has repeat viewing quality, particularly for those who enjoy musicals. [You can sing along with it – one of the prime extras! And probably sound at least as bad as Brosnan…Ed.] Recommended. [Now we know Streep can do absolutely anything she sets her mind to!…Ed.]
The high definition video quality of this Blu-ray DVD is very good. Images are clean with fine detail. Blacks are consistently dark throughout the movie. Colors are vibrant and bold with fully-saturated hues. Other than some occasional film grain, picture defect mastering is solid with no major flaws or compression artifacts. The overall audio quality is above-average on the English DTS 5.1 track. The music-laden soundtrack tends to favor the forward soundstage. Dialogue is natural sounding and securely anchored in the center channel. The surround channels are used sparingly utilized for ambient sound effects and the music score. The low frequency effects channel is tight and punchy.
– Calvin Harding Jr.
