The Film
The phenomenal success of 2006's made-for-TV movie High School Musical led to record-breaking ratings for High School Musical 2 a year later, inspiring someone to ask, "Why continue to give it away on The Disney Channel when we can charge twelve bucks a head in the theater?" And so these further singing, dancing, melodramatic antics of Troy, Gabriella and the rest of the gang explore their twilight weeks at East High, facing the final game, their final show, and of course, the prom. Obviously this movie, like the first two, is aimed squarely at the 'tween set, but it's all very sweet and safe and well-intentioned, if a bit corny by Mom and Dad's standards. This "Deluxe Extended Edition" delivers more than seen in theaters, playable in Sing-Along mode with onscreen lyrics, as well as a Song Selection that lets us skip to songs only, with the lyrics again.
More on this in the Extras section, but this package is really quite a generous collection that brings together every popular medium: Blu-ray, which is a perfect fit for the young PS3 crowd; a DVD for the TV/DVD combo in the kids' bedroom; and a Digital Copy for them to watch on the way to middle school.
The Picture
The 1.85:1 frame is a cornucopia of color, particularly the fire of Wildcat red. None of these too-perfect shenanigans takes place in the real world (despite mention of "Albuquerque") and so the video is often extremely lush. Blacks as a rule are solid, clean and stable, until one of a surprising number of green/blue-screen shots occurs, and then the mismatched lighting leads to some weird brightness issues and a synthetic look. There is a whisper of grain in some scenes, a full-blown shout in others, and a recurring softness, likely a consequence of the original photography. Compression artifacting can compromise backgrounds.
Aggressive rears are often employed in the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, but only as needed, as for the roar of the crowd at the big game, and never excessively so. There is a fullness, a carefully constructed "realism" to the audio here: Rain and thunder in one scene for example feel like "movie weather," like we've heard so many times before, and deliberately dialed down so as not to step on the vocals. Sonically the proceedings are anchored by the extensive 5.1 music mix, flaunting high fidelity and solid bass. The many, many songs exhibit that highly processed edge commonly found in modern Pop.
The Extras
Most of the bonuses seem tailor-made for fans of the HSM franchise, with a strong emphasis on the young ensemble. "Cast Goodbyes" (six minutes) puts the profundity of this final chapter into perspective, "Out of Sync: HSM 3 Bloopers" (three minutes) shows the gang cracking up, "It's All in the Dress" and "Night of Nights" (ten minutes total) shows them prepping for prom, while the eight deleted scenes (seven minutes with director intro) give us still more of them in action. Assorted brief behind-the-scenes Easter eggs can also be discovered. Exclusive to Blu-ray are the two-minute "Senior Awards" shared between cast and crew, plus "New Cast Profiles," 13 minutes up-close with the recently arrived actors, possibly the next generation of East High…? All of the above are presented in high definition.
Disney BD-Live includes the BD-Live Photo Feature which allows us to upload ourselves into the virtual HSM yearbook, in addition to chat, trivia, Movie Mail and Disney Movie Rewards Live, an interactive version of their popular incentive program. Disc Two is a DVD version of the movie, with "Cast Goodbyes," "It's All in the Dress," "Night of Nights," the bloopers, deleted scenes, and sing-along viewing features, this time in standard-def. Disc 3, another DVD, carries a DisneyFile Digital Copy for iTunes or Windows Media Player.
Final Thoughts
By this point in the High School Musical trilogy, audiences know what to expect, and this movie delivers. The extras add a healthy dose of sentiment to the farewell, while the multi-format presentation is all things to all players.
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Product Details
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