Blu-ray Movie Reviews

When his TV-star girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), leaves him for a famous British rock star (Russell Brand), Peter Bretter (Jason Segal) sees his life fall to pieces. He decides to take a trip to Hawaii to forget about his troubles and runs into Sarah, who is on vacation with her new beau. Peter splits his time between stalking her and hanging out with the hot hotel receptionist (Mila Kunis), who, for some unknown reason, is attracted to him.

Judd Apatow is Hollywood's reigning king of vulgar comedy, producing this movie as well as The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad. Are my wife and I the only two people in America who don't find his movies funny? Using his formula of an average-looking guy attracting hot women with his sophomoric sexual behavior, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a tired production that barely generated a laugh in my home theater.

The uninspiring 1080p AVC encode does nothing to enhance the viewing experience, which, given the poor screenplay, is badly needed. Colors lack the pop associated with Blu-ray, offering a dull and lackluster appearance. The over-processed picture is lacking in detail, and there is ringing in a number of scenes, providing a very standard-definition look.

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack doesn't add much to the production. Dialog is clear and lucid, but the remaining elements are rather lifeless. The limited soundstage is centered across the front three speakers, and the surround channels are relegated to some sparse ambience. The music score is decent enough, but like the movie, it isn't all that entertaining.

As much as I reviled the movie, I have to hand it to Universal for the abundant supplements. Not only is a digital copy of the movie included, but the disc sports U-Control functionality with PIP, a visual commentary, and a karaoke feature with six songs that you can sing along to. In addition, there is a horde of other features pertaining to the production, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a music video, and this only scratches the surface.

If you like Apatow's other productions, you will most likely enjoy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But if you're like me and find little humor in his work, I would certainly avoid it. The A/V quality is nothing to brag about, but the supplements have a lot to offer for fans.

Release Date: September 30, 2008

Movie: 4 out of 10
Picture: 6 out of 10
Sound: 6 out of 10

Review System

Source
Panasonic DMP-BD30

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

Electronics
Onkyo 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