Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Meryl Streep leads an all-star cast in this musical celebration of mothers, daughters and fathers, true love's lost and new one's found. Based on the Broadway smash-hit and filled with ABBA Songs you know and love, it's the feel-good experience that will have you singing and dancing over and over again.

This is one of those films that looks like it was probably a lot of fun to make. The Broadway hit makes its big-screen debut and Universal has done an outstanding job with the production. Filmed on a beautiful island in Greece and full of striking color and fun ABBA tunes, Mamma Mia! is one of those rare somewhat cheesy films that can’t help but make you smile and tap your feet to. I honestly didn’t think I would like this one much but we had a great time with it.

More than anything else the color is absolutely striking in this HD presentation. Hues are quite vivid and the contrast of colors makes for some phenomenal eye candy. Primaries lean a bit toward the golds at times but I’ve seen this a lot from films recently. Detail is wonderful in close ups but the photography style is a bit chaotic with backgrounds looking a bit diffused at times and obvious blurring and digital backdrops creeping in. While this was noticeable from time to time, it never distracted too much. Depth of image is incredible at times and the image has a great sense of dimension. Lots of eye candy here.

The DTS-HD Master Audio mix makes the most of this musical and really amps it up for the musical numbers. Low bass is impressive at times during the songs and the front soundstage really opens up. Sure it is obvious that a lot of dubbing is going on, but I loved the presence of the songs. The surround soundstage is used nicely for picking up ambiance and some of the presence of the scene, but don’t expect a lot of discrete use. Dialogue is balanced nicely within the mix and timbre is very natural.

Universal stacks the deck again when it comes to extras and includes full BD-Live and Bonus View features. Using BD-Live you can chat during the film with friends or you can actually record a video commentary for the film to share! On the Bonus View side there is a full video picture-in-picture feature with interviews and behind the scenes production footage. There is also a trivia track pop-up for the music numbers giving you details on the songs and albums they were on.

Other extras include some deleted scenes, production features and a look at getting ready for the musical roles with the actors. Music videos, a sing-along and a cameo with the original songwriter are also included along with a feature audio commentary. Quite the load of extras here! Disc two even features a digital copy.

Universal has delivered a great presentation for this hit and if you’re a fan of musicals you definitely shouldn’t miss it. Highly recommended.