Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews

In Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, the king of musical parody has created a masterful parody of the celebrity biography. The film, which premiered as a Roku Channel exclusive, is also the story of a boy with a dream and an accordion who makes it big swapping his own hilarious lyrics into other people’s songs. But that’s where any similarity to actual fact ends, as the plot veers unapologetically into blatant fabrication with a gleeful middle finger aimed at VH1 Behind the Music clichés. Those shifts might be the one weakness here, though, as the film’s mostly absurd tone varies quite a bit; another is the time between laughs. Still, if you’re a Weird Al fan, this film is a must-see.

Down-converted from a 6K capture to yield a true 4K release, Weird has a soft look that, while never razor sharp, proffers more than adequate detail and above-average black levels. Al’s colorful Hawaiian shirts are ably reproduced and many scenes — especially childhood sequences — possess a nostalgic golden glow. Most of the movie is presented in cinematic 2.39:1, but when Al begins appearing on TV, the clips are pillarboxed 4:3 with an image that extends from the top of the screen to the bottom.

Dolby Vision HDR brings a little extra zazz to the stage lighting when Al and his band perform in darkened arenas, and the Ultra HD resolution makes it easy to spot the many fun cameos sprinkled throughout.

Despite what the packaging says, the 4K and HD Blu-ray discs each carry a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, which delivers clear dialogue, well-placed sound effects, and a soundstage that opens up during musical performances. Though overhead channels are used sparingly, the overall presentation is fine. It’s worth noting that the real Al Yankovic provides vocals, while Daniel Radcliffe mouths along with some sweet gyrations. A DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is also included.

Director Eric Appel and Al Yankovic appear in an audio commentary — the only extra on the 4K disc — but the HD Blu-ray comes through with 20-plus minutes of deleted/extended/alternate scenes hosted by the same affable duo and a few brief featurettes and interviews.

ULTRA HD 4K BLU-RAY
STUDIO: Shout! Studios, 2022
ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1/1.33:1
HDR FORMAT: Dolby Vision
AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with True-HD 7.1 core
LENGTH: 108 mins., TV-14
DIRECTOR: Eric Appel
STARRING: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Julianne Nicholson, Toby Huss, Al Yankovic