HighDefDiscNews
06-09-07, 08:21 PM
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (HD DVD) Review (http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/?p=46)
5 out of 5 stars - The Movie Itself (has an average rating of 7.4 on IMDb)
4 1/2 out of 5 stars - Video Quality (1080p in VC-1 on a 30gb disc)
4 out of 5 stars - Audio Quality (Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 @ 1.5Mbps)
4 out of 5 stars - Bonus Materials (include U-Control and new material)
Rated: - UNRATED
Year: - 2005
Length: - 133 minutes
Studio: - Universal
The Movie Itself stars Steve Carell as Andy who is as you probably guessed from the title if you haven’t already seen this one before is a 40-Year-Old Virgin. Yes this movie’s title at first may leave the skeptic a little confused, as I remember going to see the film when it was released theatrically and there was only a hand full of people in the theater with me as it was. Well there was this woman in front of me that had to be in her 50’s or 60’s at least. Well long story short and to prove my point here… this woman walks out of the movie almost 15 minutes in. What did she expect that she wasn’t seeing from the title of the movie she had purchased a ticket for? What’s funny hysterically and literally is that this movie is pure romantic comedy brilliance with a twist no one has ever tried before. The genius behind this film is writer, producer and director Judd Apatow. This proves to really be a great movie all around and by so I mean that it’s not all about him being a 40-year-old virgin and finding true love and finally having sex. You laugh and learn to like Andy’s group of friends from work at “Smart Tech” (an obvious Circuit City parody type store) with him. The main three friends Andy has that he works with are Cal (played by Seth Rogen), David (played by Paul Rudd) and Jay (played by Romany Malco). These three friends are out to get this virgin laid one way or another, be it speed dating, setting him up with a transvestite… Whatever it takes! This movie is absolutely full of laughs and quotes you’ll be saying to friends for years and years. “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” is well written, well directed and just a Great Film in my own opinion.
Video Quality on this release is VC-1 encoded on a 30gb Dual-Layered HD DVD. The video in this transfer is absolutely jaw dropping to me (someone who saw it in it’s theatrical run) as to how much this is as close to “reference material” you can get for your home theater. This movie is great as it is but thats not why I’m giving it the marks I am for Video Quality. See for yourself a great video transfer from Universal.
Audio Quality on this release is in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 at 1.5Mbps. The sound mix seems to be really obviously quiet a bit better than the original DVD release Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The music in this film really translates into a wonderful rear channel presence throughout the entire film. This movie is at times very dialog driven and uses primarily the center channel in those occasions when there isn’t a lot of background noise or soundtrack. This being said don’t worry about having to adjust the sound volume on your receiver back and forth to go with the changes of pace in the movies sound. This sound mix is just as impressive as this releases video transfer.
Bonus Materials are Standard Definition but jam packed with some new exclusives to this release that the original DVD didn’t have. Including “Directing the Virgin” which is the director’s video diary of life on the set, the Comedy Central Reel Comedy special on the film as well as a Cinemax “finalcut” inside look at the film’s most memorable and outrageous scenes. This Universal HD DVD features their U-Control feature with picture in picture interactive bonus features all without interruption during playback of the film. The cardboard box cover that goes over the HD DVD Elite red case is the coolest case I have seen yet (and yes that includes The Matrix Trilogy). Here’s why this got some of it’s stars for Bonus Materials…
http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/images/the40yearoldvirginbox.gif
http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/images/the40yearoldvirginbox2.gif (http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/images/the40yearoldvirginbox2.jpg)
— Review written by Justin Sluss
5 out of 5 stars - The Movie Itself (has an average rating of 7.4 on IMDb)
4 1/2 out of 5 stars - Video Quality (1080p in VC-1 on a 30gb disc)
4 out of 5 stars - Audio Quality (Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 @ 1.5Mbps)
4 out of 5 stars - Bonus Materials (include U-Control and new material)
Rated: - UNRATED
Year: - 2005
Length: - 133 minutes
Studio: - Universal
The Movie Itself stars Steve Carell as Andy who is as you probably guessed from the title if you haven’t already seen this one before is a 40-Year-Old Virgin. Yes this movie’s title at first may leave the skeptic a little confused, as I remember going to see the film when it was released theatrically and there was only a hand full of people in the theater with me as it was. Well there was this woman in front of me that had to be in her 50’s or 60’s at least. Well long story short and to prove my point here… this woman walks out of the movie almost 15 minutes in. What did she expect that she wasn’t seeing from the title of the movie she had purchased a ticket for? What’s funny hysterically and literally is that this movie is pure romantic comedy brilliance with a twist no one has ever tried before. The genius behind this film is writer, producer and director Judd Apatow. This proves to really be a great movie all around and by so I mean that it’s not all about him being a 40-year-old virgin and finding true love and finally having sex. You laugh and learn to like Andy’s group of friends from work at “Smart Tech” (an obvious Circuit City parody type store) with him. The main three friends Andy has that he works with are Cal (played by Seth Rogen), David (played by Paul Rudd) and Jay (played by Romany Malco). These three friends are out to get this virgin laid one way or another, be it speed dating, setting him up with a transvestite… Whatever it takes! This movie is absolutely full of laughs and quotes you’ll be saying to friends for years and years. “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” is well written, well directed and just a Great Film in my own opinion.
Video Quality on this release is VC-1 encoded on a 30gb Dual-Layered HD DVD. The video in this transfer is absolutely jaw dropping to me (someone who saw it in it’s theatrical run) as to how much this is as close to “reference material” you can get for your home theater. This movie is great as it is but thats not why I’m giving it the marks I am for Video Quality. See for yourself a great video transfer from Universal.
Audio Quality on this release is in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 at 1.5Mbps. The sound mix seems to be really obviously quiet a bit better than the original DVD release Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The music in this film really translates into a wonderful rear channel presence throughout the entire film. This movie is at times very dialog driven and uses primarily the center channel in those occasions when there isn’t a lot of background noise or soundtrack. This being said don’t worry about having to adjust the sound volume on your receiver back and forth to go with the changes of pace in the movies sound. This sound mix is just as impressive as this releases video transfer.
Bonus Materials are Standard Definition but jam packed with some new exclusives to this release that the original DVD didn’t have. Including “Directing the Virgin” which is the director’s video diary of life on the set, the Comedy Central Reel Comedy special on the film as well as a Cinemax “finalcut” inside look at the film’s most memorable and outrageous scenes. This Universal HD DVD features their U-Control feature with picture in picture interactive bonus features all without interruption during playback of the film. The cardboard box cover that goes over the HD DVD Elite red case is the coolest case I have seen yet (and yes that includes The Matrix Trilogy). Here’s why this got some of it’s stars for Bonus Materials…
http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/images/the40yearoldvirginbox.gif
http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/images/the40yearoldvirginbox2.gif (http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/images/the40yearoldvirginbox2.jpg)
— Review written by Justin Sluss