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Love Guru: Special Edition (The)
Blu-ray ALL - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (21st October 2008). |
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The Film
 One of the first things in the movie is Guru Pitka (Mike Myers) singing a song during the opening credits, telling the audience that Mike Myers, for some reason, repeats himself. The movie seems to be essentially Austin Powers without the spy angle. The mobile rug, and the parking valet in the third Austin Powers, the 'Electric Company' gag comes from 'Family Guy', the gnome/name gag mirrors the mole wordplay in the third Austin Powers movie, and the list goes on. I don't think Mike Myers has run out of ideas, I just think he was still in 'Austin Powers' mode doing this movie. There are still some good jokes in here, as well. Justin Timberlake plays a French-Canadian hockey star, and has the best character (and best accent) in the movie. The scenes with Verne Troyer are also enjoyable. There are also small bits and pieces here and there that are quite funny. The Mike Myers/Kanye West moment near the end of the movie is actually very funny, showing that both of them have a nice sense of humour. In the movie, Guru Pitka's dream is to be on 'Oprah', and he gets his chance when the Toronto Maple Leafs star player (Romany Malco) breaks up with his wife and the Leafs' manager (Jessica Alba) hires him to get them back together, because the player can't concentrate on his game. If Guru Pitka can get the player and his wife back togeher again, it'll be something great, and he can be on 'Oprah'. Guru Pitka has to retrain the player, and learn a few things himself. The movie has an impressive list of people in it. John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Ben Kingsley, Jessica Simpson, Val Kilmer and Deepak Chopra in addition to all the people I've already mentioned have small parts in the movie, creating some nice surprises. What ensues has really little to do with the main plot, as Mike Myers goofs his way through this movie, making silly joke after silly joke. It's nothing different from his previous movies, and people who enjoyed his other work will more than likely enjoy this also. The movie is ultimately nothing special and is pretty easily forgettable. After all is said and done, Mike Myers still has a sense of humour. The biggest indication of this is that he actually thinks the Toronto Maple Leafs will get to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Video
2.35:1 widescreen, using the MPEG4/AVC codec. The movie has a very nice, clean picture. It's free of artifacts of any kind. The transfer doesn't reveal any bad DNR or shoddy authoring. The edges are clean without revealing edge enhancement. The colours are bright without blooming, and the skin tones have the right hues. The black levels are strong, though there aren't too many dark scenes. The level of detail is also very nice, though the picture is slightly soft, but this is not a problem. It's a good transfer.
Audio
The movie comes with English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. The lossless track is very good, though a bit lost in this type of movie. There's nothing wrong with the track, it’s very open with very good volume levels, but the movie isn't too dynamic. The dialogue is always clear. The music is also clear, though mostly comes from the front. The effects are more or less the same, in that the rear speakers are pretty much forgotten. They do get a few sounds here and there, especially during the hockey games, but they’re mostly silent. The movie isn't about being dynamic, though, so the sound is adequate. English, English (HoH), French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles are provided.
Extras
Thankfully, there are no start-up trailers here, and the Blu-ray goes straight to the main menu. As far as extras go, the first you'll see is Mike Myers and The Love Guru – An Inside Look (9:35). This is the basic making-of on the disc. Mike Myers, director Marco Schnabel and the various actors in the movie talk about the movie. They go through the motions, talking about their characters and their involvement in the movie. Mr. Myers talks about the origin and development of the character, as well. It's got some funny stories. One Hellava Elephant (5:44) is the second featurette, and you are here in the effects shop that created the practical elephant and ostrich puppets for the movie. They explain how they created them and show you how they work. The last featurette is Hockey Training for Actors (8:03). It has the 2nd unit director, who shot all the hockey scenes, talking about working with Romany Malco and Justin Timberlake. He heaps tons of praise on the actors, which is somewhat unnecessary. He also explains what he wanted to accomplish with the scenes, which is a bit more interesting. You also get to see some interesting behind the scenes footage. The rest of the extras consist of footage that wasn't used for the movie. First up are a 11 Deleted and Extended Scenes. Most of them bridge small gaps in the movie. They're not necessary and don't really show things that need explaining. They also show more goofing off from the cast. 'Bill Ford with Very Special Guests'is by far the funniest of the bunch. The scenes are: 'Jane's Office/Grande Interview #1' (1:20), 'Cherkov on Ice' (0:33), 'Darren's Performance Anxiety' (1:21), 'Stink Mop' (3:06), 'Happy Pack' (0:36), 'More Fun at the Old Log Inn' (2:18), 'Grande Interview #2' (0:47), 'Bill Ford with Very Special Guests' (0:47), 'Nuts' (0:38), 'Cabbie Fight' (1:45) and 'Alternate Ending' (0:41). Bloopers (3:48), Back in the Booth with Trent and Jay (5:08) and Outtakes & More (10:14) finish out the real extras. The bloopers are pretty funny, with everybody messing up their lines or cracking up for no reason. The funniest bit is the 'What is it you can't face?' section. The Trent and Jay bits are moments that weren't used in the movie and are pretty funny. The second Outtakes reel has a ton of goofing off and various actors (especially Mr. Myers) hamming it up for the camera. There are some nice moments, and you’ll probably laugh. The movie's Theatrical Trailer is the last extra on this disc. Disc two also has a Digital Copy of the movie for your computer and/or Ipod or other media player (though it won't work with the Sony PSP or Zune).
Overall
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