Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Adam Sandler is back as The Zohan, the finest counterterrorist agent the Israeli army has. That is, until he fakes his death and travels to Manhattan to live his dream...as a hairdresser. Now this skilled fighting machine that used to clip bad guys is out to prove he can make the cut as a top stylist. All goes silky smooth until his cover is blown when he's recognized by a Palestinian cab driver. Now, The Zohan must fight to live a peaceful new life in New York.

It is starting to look like Adam Sandler is getting desperate for fun comedies. I’ve always been hit or miss when it comes to his material, but this one was just outright dumb. Sandler plays a super soldier that seems to be unstoppable all the while yearning for a chance to go to America and cut hair for Paul Mitchell. If this sounds ridiculous, you should watch the film. Sure it has its funny moments, but the level of sheer stupidity is astounding.

Sony delivers a strong HD presentation with great color fidelity and depth of image. Detail is also quite good but I did notice a slight haze to the image at times. The bright cityscape of New York serves up plenty of great detail and depth and the warm color palette gives up plenty of eye candy throughout. If only the movie was as good as it looked!

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is quite dynamic given the genre and the opening action sequences are pretty cool in their use of sound design. The score adds a lot of atmosphere to the mix and surround use is heavier than I’m used to for a comedy. Dialogue is clear and balanced perfectly within the mix. A solid lossless presentation from Sony.

Sony has included two cuts of this film along with a nice set of supplements. You get two separate audio commentaries and a collection of deleted scenes. There is also a wealth of production snippets that look at various areas of the film and are themed to the production. A graphic pop-up track also helps those who need some translation help with the film. This title is also BD-Live enabled.

Sony has delivered a strong A/V presentation for a film that is one of Sandler’s weakest. Fans of the film will be more than happy with the package but if you haven’t seen this one yet I’d recommend a rental at best.