Blu-ray Review #75: American Hustle

4.1 Stars (out of 5) - Rated R Synopsis

American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man, who along with his equally cunning British partner and lover are forced to work for a wild unhinged FBI agent who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting.

Starring:

Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Jack Huston

Director:

David O. Russell

Blu-ray Release Date:

March 18, 2014

Subtitles:

English, English SDH

Rating

Overall rating weighted as follows:

Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%, Movie - its just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio 4.1 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

● Subwoofer – 2.5 Stars

● Dialog – 5.0 Stars

● Surround Effects – 4.0 Stars

● Dynamic Range – 5.0 Stars

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

The audio performance suits the movie but it’s still nothing to show off to your friends. The subwoofer is only active when music is being played in the score and in a club scene. You are treated to a slight rumble during a tiny kitchen incident. Surround effects see a little more action and are active with sounds of dry cleaner machines, club music, an exploding microwave, and music from the score. The star of the audio presentation is the dialog. In fact, it’s was so good I didn’t need to strain to hear when characters were whispering.

Video 4.9 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison

● Color Accuracy - 4.8 Stars

● Shadow detail – 5.0 Stars

● Clarity – 5.0 Stars

● Skin tones – 5.0 Stars

● Compression – 5.0 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1, Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

There’s a good amount of film grain, to give it a nostalgic 70’s look. The film grain does not affect the clarity, it’s easy to see the wiry hairs in beards and mustaches, details in tacky hotel wallpaper, and patterns in wild colorful clothing. There are a few dark scenes and details don’t get lost in the inky blackness. Colors are very warm and make blue eyes look dreamy, loud colored walls look stylish, and bright red lipstick and nails look luscious.

Bonus Features 2.5 Stars (out of 5)

● Deleted and Extended Scenes (HD): Cry British (4:51), Brick (0:57), Carmine On Stage Singing (1:24), Backhand Like a Whip (2:48), Bad Sign (1:30), Stoop to Conquer (1:34), Live and Let Die (3:26), Evil Ways (4:01), Carmine on the Street (1:11), Richie is Duped (0:47), and Carmine Returns Home (0:54).

● The Making of American Hustle (HD, 16:35): An examination of the character complexity and the life they exude, David O. Russell's vision for the film, and the core love story/love triangle.

● Previews: Additional Sony titles.

Movie – 3.8 Stars (out of 5) Review

American Hustle is a well make entertaining film that tries to imitate some of the spirit of Goodfellas, but falls short of the mark. The story itself is slow moving and dragged in some parts, but it always did a great job of building the characters. If the first half of this film was not narrated I would have not been able to pick up the plot. All of the performances are stellar and the director did a decent putting together this meandering story. I feel like people like this movie because it was designed for us to. It’s full of today’s biggest actors, has a popular director, and is about corruption. When you add all those things together it makes a good movie, but not one that I’ll watch all the way through again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST7a1aK_lG0