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Like Crazy (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (16th October 2013). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Like Crazy beautifully illustrates how your first real love is as thrilling and blissful as it is devastating. When a British college student (Felicity Jones) falls for her American classmate (Anton Yelchin), they embark on a passionate and life-changing journey only to be separated when she violates the terms of her visa. Like Crazy explores how a couple faces the real challenges of being together and of being apart.
Video
Paramount Home Entertainment release "Like Crazy" in America in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer is 1080p and uses an AVC MPEG-4 codec, but is overall a little underwhelming considering it's a release from a major studio, despite being an indie feature. Before talking about the transfer though, it should be noted that the film was not shot with high end cameras, but rather using the Canon EOS 7D, a digital camera/camcorder hybrid which can be bought for as little as £1250 (~$2000). Whilst this may be a high end camera for the average consumer, when it comes to shooting a film, it doesn't quite cut the mustard. Although the picture is certainly better than what DVD can provide, there are a few faults. Detail is quite low, especially shadow detail, aliasing is prominent throughout, and there is occasional crushing and banding. But is this the fault of the transfer, or the equipment used? I noticed no dirt, artifacts or scratches, and there was also no sign of edge enhancement or digital noise reduction. I imagine we will be hard pressed to ever see Like Crazy look any better than what this transfer provides. The disc is a BD50 and region free. The film runs 90:03.
Audio
There are two audio options available here: - English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 - English Dolby Digital 5.1 For my viewing, I obviously opted for the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio track. Being a dialogue heavy drama, there was not much chance for the surrounds to shine outside of the score, though one scene set in a nightclub does manage to get the adrenaline going by making good use of the LFE. Other than that, most of the channel separation happens with the front speakers, depending where the characters are standing when delivering their dialogue. There is no damage present on the track, with no dropouts or scratches. Dialogue is sometimes a little low volume wise, but not enough to require remote use during the viewing. Overall, it more than adequately does the job, and is slightly better than average for an indie drama. Subtitles are available in English, English HoH, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
Extras
The main extra is an audio commentary by director Drake Doremus, editor Jonathan Alberts and cinematographer John Guleserian. The track is an interesting one, though sometimes a little monotonous. The three participants obviously had passion for the project and talk about the usual topics such as the story, the locations and the cast members. Interesting to hear is how some of the dialogue came about, because all the dialogue is improvised based around certain plot points. It might not be the most exciting track, but it is worth a listen for fans of the feature. Next up are a series of deleted and alternate scenes which have optional audio commentary by director Drake Doremus, editor Jonathan Alberts and cinematographer John Guleserian. Deleted scenes: - Play All (7:57) - "Boat to Catalina (1:07) - "Phone Call" (1:23) - "Cemetary" (2:00) - "Simon Goodbye" (1:33) - "Hotel" (1:52) Alternate scenes: - Play All (3:55) - "Campus Walk" (1:09) - "London Walk" (1:16) - "Goodbye" (1:30) Most were removed for pacing or because they didn't quite fit the direction of certain plot points in the story. The commentary is a welcome addition to the proceedings as it allows us to find out what the filmmakers thought of particular scenes that were cut or edited down, and whether they think they would've preferred to keep them in hindsight.
Overall
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