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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Leatherheads

    Featured In Issue 136, November 2008

    Picture3.5
    SoundNR
    WSR Score3
    Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
    (Studio/Distributor):
    Universal Studios Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    61105036
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG-13
    (Rating Reason):
    Brief strong languagea
    (Retail Price):
    $39.98
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    114
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    Not Indicated
    (Theatrical Year):
    2008
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    09/23/08
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    George Clooney
    (Screenplay/Written By):
    (Story):
    (Music):
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer):
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor):
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers):
    (Co-Producers):
    (Producers):
    (Academy Awards):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    DTS HD Lossless 5.1
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    Dodge Connelly (Clooney) is a brash, charming football hero in the 1920's when players are referred to as Leatherheads. When Dodge's team loses their sponsor, threatening the collapse of the entire league, he decides to sign Carter Rutherford (Krasinski) to his team. Rutherford is America's favorite son and golden-boy war hero, who allegedly was responsible for capturing a German platoon single-handedly in WWI. But the new star is almost too good to be true—enter reporter Lexie Littleton (Zellweger), who suspects there are a few holes in Carter's story. As Lexie sets out to uncover the truth about the new star player, Dodge and Carter become serious off-field rivals as they compete for Lexie's erratic affections. (Stacey Pendry)

    Special features include a commentary track by Director George Clooney and Producer Grant Heslov; a My Scenes feature to make a montage of your favorite scenes; and a U Control feature, which contains a picture-in-picture visual commentary track by George Clooney and Grant Heslov.

    The anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 DVD is damaged by elevated black levels, but the details in the shadows are still maintained. Fleshtones are garish, with a subtly green hue. Resolution is nicely rendered, with excellent definition in textures, like the caked-on mud during games. The color scheme appears dated, matching the time frame well, but bright colors are naturally saturated when shown. Contrast is balanced well, and while minor compression artifacts and edge enhancement can be noticed, they aren't overly distracting. The VC-1-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows decent resolution, but it isn't quite as good as the best high-definition releases are. The color scheme still appears dated, and bright colors are bold when there. (Danny Richelieu)

    With an articulate midrange and natural, always-intelligible dialogue, the Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack is enjoyable. The surround channels are used well at times, but generally, the soundtrack is limited to the front three screen channels. Phantom imaging is limited around the room, but the front stage can sound deep with good dynamic range. The LFE channel is not used often, but deep bass isn't a big part of this mix. The front stage's mix is nicely defined, with good localization of effects. An underlying level of noise can be heard throughout, but at low relative levels. The Blu-ray DIsc's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio™ encoding provides better fidelity, sounding more natural with better articulation. The mix is the same, which can be distractingly dimensionless. (Danny Richelieu)

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