Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Based on the best-selling book by H. G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights chronicles the 1988 season of the Permian High School Panthers of Odessa, Texas, the most successful football team in the state's history. For Coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton), it's a season filled with immense pressure as he tries to drive his team to the championship after failing to do so the previous two years.

Many consider this the best depiction of high-school football from Hollywood, and I'm not sure I would disagree. It paints a vivid portrait of many small towns that come together once a week on Friday nights to watch their young men battle on the gridiron. The acting is first-rate, not only by Thornton, but also by country singer Tim McGraw, who plays an abusive father. The script is very engaging with dramatic elements on and off the football field.

The VC-1 encode is a strong effort for a catalog title, boasting impressive black levels, strong color saturation, and above-average detail. Close-ups are well defined, but the longer shots get a bit fuzzy on occasion. Flesh tones are accurate with every bead of sweat visible on the actor's faces. The print is worn in a few scenes and the grain is a bit on the heavy side in low-light situations, which is common on 35mm film stock.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is loaded toward the front soundstage, with the rear speakers used mainly for ambience and crowd noise during the football games. The track is robust and livens up the action with some impressive dynamics and deep bass. The dialog is generally clear, although there are a few scenes with some strained intelligibility.

Unfortunately, all of the supplements are presented in SD, but they're at least entertaining and informative. Included are some deleted scenes, a feature commentary with director Peter Berg and novelist H.G. Bissinger, and some behind-the-scenes featurettes. The highlight for me was "The Story of the 1988 Permian Panthers," a look at the team that inspired the movie with thoughts from the cast and crew.

If you're a sucker for sports dramas, you'll dig Friday Night Lights with its compelling story, extraordinary acting, and notable audio and video. Recommended.

Release Date: January 6, 2009

Movie: 8/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 8/10

Review System

Source
Panasonic DMP-BD55

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 Amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics