Blu-ray Review: August Rush - BigScreen Journal: The BigScreen Cinema Guide

Front Cover Artwork August Rush

Warner Home Video
113 Minutes

List Price: $35.99 (Check Price at Amazon.com)

Available 3/11/2008

	Theatrical	This Disc
Video Format:	35mm	1080p VC-1
Aspect Ratio:	2.35:1	2.35:1
Audio:
Other:		BD-25 BDMV

Disc Contents

Movie
Extras
- Deleted Scenes

About the Movie

A young boy in an orphanage believes that his parents are still out there looking for him, and if he can follow the music he hears in everything, it will lead him to them, and them to him. Can fate, serendipity, and their mutual love of music bring this family back together?

How Does it Look?

Freddie Highmore plays guitar in August Rush

The video was good, but not spectacular. I didn't notice any artifacts such as noise or edge enhancement, but the image was not as pristine as other movies. This look may have been intentional, so while this isn't going to be good for video demos, it's a very enjoyable picture to watch.

How Does it Sound?

I thought that the audio mix performed very well, which is important in a movie where music is the central theme. When August hears music from common scenes, the musical notes come from every direction -- a very effective use of surrounds in advancing the story. The dialogue is always understandable and the music very pleasing to listen to.

Extras

I like to see the theatrical trailer included with movies, so I was disappointed to find that none was included here.

The deleted scenes are all in standard definition and none of them do much to add to the enjoyment of the movie. Kudos to the editors for cutting them out.

Other Aspects

Like so many other Blu-ray discs that I have watched, this disc does not support bookmarking, which allows you to mark particular scenes for future reference. This feature is also convenient when watching a movie in multiple sittings, so that you can come back to where you left off. Most Blu-ray players (and HD DVD players before them) do not auto-resume a movie if you turn it off and/or eject the disc, but fortunately the auto-resume feature on the PlayStation 3 does work properly with this BDMV-formatted disc.

Conclusion

If you approach this movie as a fictional drama with a requirement that everything be ordered and completely believable, you may not like this movie. If you go into it expecting the likes of a fairy tale, where fate and destiny brings the major characters together so they can live happily ever after, you'll be much happier with the result of spending more than two hours with August Rush. I liked the movie, but it's only worth a rental.

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