Bride Wars on Blu-ray Disc Review
By Rachel Cericola
The Film
Bride Wars may as well be rated R, NC-17 or even XX, because for a guy, it plays exactly like a horror movie. In fact, most males would probably opt for an eternity of getting jabbed in the eye with a hot poker than sit through one viewing of this movie. For the giddiest of girly girls, however, there is still something hard to stomach about this comedy from the director of one of our favorite chick flicks,
13 Going on 30.
Maybe it's because Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) give new meaning to the overused, extremely appropriate term, "bridezilla." Both have been dreaming about that big day since they were childhood friends. As BFFs, the two gab about the perfect venue, the perfect dress, and the perfect June date. Unfortunately, that date turns out to be exactly the same. It was a mistake -- like much of this movie.
What ensues is a vicious catfight between the brides-to-be. Some weapons of choice include a spray tan, blue hair dye and a cookie bouquet. Is nothing sacred? Talk about taking women (and Anne Hathaway's career) down a notch.
The Picture
Of course, even the nastiest bride looks beautiful on Blu-ray. This 1.85:1 transfer is filled with flowers and frilly outfits. Not every scene takes advantage of the technology, but there still is a lot of great detail; from the dresses to the outdoor scenes to Hathaway's Oompa-Loompa-like tan.
The Sound
Fox has given this release a nice DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track. However, as with most comedies (and we use that term loosely here),
Bride Wars relies heavily on the front speakers to deliver action and dialogue. It sounds nice and all, but there's very few scenes to exercise your entire system. In other words, don't expect those surrounds to catch the occasional fistful of hair being ripped; instead, they will just catch the film's pop-heavy background track.
The Extras
The one worthy featurette is the 7-minute infomercial advertising Manhattan's The Plaza as a wedding venue. No wonder these girls went so wild; the place is gorgeous. Only budding brides-to-be would appreciate some of the other extras on the dress or the trivia track. The Improvisations, however, actually managed to make the movie look more annoying, with snippets that should have remained on the cutting room floor. Still, even if you find The Plaza and Vera Wang to be a bit pricey, you'll certainly get your money's worth with this purchase, which comes with both a standard-def DVD and digital copy.
Final Thoughts
If the idea of women shrieking and scratching sounds like a pleasant viewing experience,
Bride Wars may be the movie for you. However, we can't imagine that even the biggest bridezilla would appreciate this drivel. Me-ouch!
Where to Buy:
Product Details
- Actors: Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Kristen Johnston, Bryan Greenberg, Chris Pratt, Candice Bergen
- Director: Gary Winick
- Audio/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (French, Spanish)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Region: A
- Number of Discs: 3
- Rating: PG
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: April 28, 2009
- Run Time: 89 minutes
- List Price: $39.99
- Extras:
- Something Old, Something New and What That’s Going to Cost You Pop-Up Trivia Track
- Deleted Scenes
- Improvisations
- Meet Me at the Plaza
- The Perfect White Dress
- In Character with Kate Hudson
- In Character with Anne Hathaway
- Man Den
- Maid of Honor
- Amanda-Cam
- Standard-Definition DVD
- Digital Copy
