Blu-ray Review: Mr. & Mrs. Smith
By
Jon Liu
Video Format: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio Formats: English DTS HD Master Audio, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughan, Adam Brody, Kerry Washington, Keith David
Directed by: Doug Liman
Release Date: December 4, 2007
General
Two trained assassins working for two different companies are married to each other and don’t know the truth about one another. John and Jane Smith, played by Brad and Angelina, are unsuspectingly ordered to hit the same target. When both of them fail, the two of them seek to find out the identity of the other hitter and take them out.
Tech Specs
Video: I was a little surprised by the video. I was actually expecting it to be more impressive. There are times that the video looks great, but compared to a lot of the newer releases it’s slightly underwhelming. Most of the film is over-saturated and I think this is where the main problem is. The over-saturation leads to loss of detail and things don’t seem as crisp as they could possibly be. This may be due to the way it was filmed, but regardless, I expected more. There is a good amount of resolution and it helps give it a nice transfer, but I think overall it just lacks some of the extra punch of more recent released titles.
Audio: Where the video slightly lacked, the audio made up in spades. There are plenty of instances with bombastic action that utilize all speakers and will indeed give them a workout. Generally speaking, what really strikes me is a soundtrack’s ability to create nuances during the quieter passages of a movie. For an action movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith pulls this off very well. There is also a lot of hard-hitting, chest-thumping bass throughout the movie which make the action sequences just that much more exciting. Dialog remains clear and intelligible throughout the movie, which is sometimes sacrificed with action movies. Overall, the DTS-HD MA track produces a very pleasing aural experience.
Extras
There’s not much in terms of extras. Included are 3 sets of commentaries, a couple of deleted scenes, a brief 8-minute featurette, and theatrical trailers.
Menus/Navigation
The menus are very straightforward and easy to use. Not much out of the norm here.
Overall Impressions
I looked forward to this Blu-ray release because this is an action movie that even my wife thoroughly enjoyed. I found this movie a notch above other action movies and it’s a definite must-own for us. Even though I have some gripes about the video transfer on this disc, it generally is still is a decent transfer. The bombastic audio track makes up for the video’s flaws.
Linear Mode
