Blu-ray Movie Reviews

An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna (Meryl Streep) is about to see her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) get married. Hoping to have her father walk her down the aisle—but not knowing which of Donna's three lovers from 20 years ago it might be—Sophie secretly invites all three: American businessman Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), English banker Harry Bright (Colin Firth), and free-spirited author Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgard).

Mamma Mia! has excellent writing, wonderful songs (that is, if you like the music of Abba), an all-star cast, and a beautiful location, but it's missing that one ingredient necessary in a musical—singers. With the exception of Amanda Seyfried, who can actually carry a tune, the rest of the cast range from mediocre (Streep) to outright painful (Brosnan). The acting is exemplary, but the casting by Priscilla John could have been so much more. Given the popularity of Abba and the stage production of Mamma Mia!, there was no need to have A-list actors to line the billboard.

With location shooting in the Greek Isles, I expected to be visually pleased with Mama Mia!, but unfortunately, it isn't that great for a new release. The print is pristine—as you would expect—but the color is oversaturated to the point of giving the actors a jaundiced and sickly complexion. Detail wavers from outstanding to mediocre, especially in the longer shots, and the blue-screen work is atrocious, blatantly obvious, and constantly out of focus. The beachside settings are amazing in their detail. Can water really look that blue?

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack doesn't disappoint with strong bass, a full midrange, and crisp highs widely dispersed around the entire soundstage, especially during the musical numbers. Dialog is always intelligible, and the surround speakers provide decent ambience. Unfortunately, the best audio encode in the world can't make Pierce Brosnan sound any better!

Not even a year after its debut on Blu-ray, Universal goes for the double-dip. Like the first release last December, this one includes a boatload of extras with both BD-Live and BonusView offerings. The BD-Live features include a text-chat function and the ability to record your own audio commentary on a computer and upload it for others to hear your thoughts on the film. The BonusView elements include a PIP track with the stars and behind-the-scenes footage. Rounding out the Blu-ray-exclusive supplements is a "Behind the Hits" trivia game, asking questions about Abba songs during the musical performances.

Additional features include a "making of" feature, a deleted musical number called "The Name of the Game," and a behind-the-scenes look at training the actors to sing (all in HD). Standard-definition features include some deleted scenes, outtakes, a music video, and a commentary by the director. In lieu of a digital copy, there's a CD soundtrack featuring 18 memorable Abba songs and a 32-page collectors book.

While the story translates well to the silver screen, the casting choices are still perplexing. Meryl Streep is a wonderful actress, but she's approaching 60, and it was hard to believe her playing a character in her 40s. Given the box-office take, I'm certainly in the minority here, but if you want a better experience, catch the live show. If you own it already on Blu-ray, I'm not sure a double-dip is worth it unless you can't live without the collector's book or bonus CD (which is available separately for under $15 at Amazon).

Release Date: November 10, 2009
Studio: Universal

Movie: 5/10
Picture: 7/10
Sound: 9/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

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

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power 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