BLU-RAY REVIEW

Hangover, The: Part III

Featured In Issue 182, December 2013

Picture4
Sound4
WSR Score2.5
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):
Warner Home Video
(Catalog Number):
3000053038
(MPAA Rating):
R
(Rating Reason):
Pervasive language including sexual references, some violence and drug content, and brief graphic nudity
(Retail Price):
$35.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
100
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
2013
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
10/08/13
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Todd Phillips
(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):
Dolby Digital 5.1, 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):

In "The Hangover: Part III," for the past two years, Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms), and Doug (Bartha) have been living uneventful lives at home. Tattoos have been lasered off, files purged. The last they heard from disaster-magnet Leslie Chow (Jeong), he'd been tossed into a Thai prison and, with him out of the way, the guys have very nearly recovered from their nights prowling the seamy side of Las Vegas in a roofie'd haze, and being kidnapped, shot at, and chased by drug-dealing mobsters in Bangkok. The only member of the Wolfpack who's not content is Alan (Galifianakis). Still lacking a sense of purpose, the group's black sheep has ditched his meds and given in to his natural impulses in a big way—which, for Alan, means no boundaries, no filters and no judgment—until a personal crisis forces him to finally seek the help he needs. And who better than his three best friends to make sure he takes the first step. This time, there's no bachelor party, and no wedding. What could possibly go wrong? But when the Wolfpack hits the road, all bets are off. (Gary Reber)

Special features include outtakes (HD 07:51); six featurettes: "Replacing Zach: The Secret Auditions (HD 06:09), "The Wolfpack's Wildest Stunts" (HD -5:10), "Zach Galifianakis In His Own Words" (HD 02:32), "Pushing The Limits" (HD 03:36), "Action Mash-Up" (HD 01:09), and "Inside Focus: The Real Chow" (HD 05:24); extended scenes (HD 02:03); and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 1080p AVC picture is densely rendered with a gritty appearance and a darkly saturated color palette. Contrast appears over the top, with undefined blacks and poor shadow delineation. Hues are stylistically pushed and look unnatural, often with a yellowish cast. Resolution is generally good during close-ups but hindered otherwise. Overall, this is an exaggerated picture that is rendered to push the color palette and contrast. Still some scenes are visually engaging. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is hectic, with a fast-paced, in-and-out, bass-heavy music score presence, punctuated with sound effects that extend to the surrounds. Deep bass punctuates the .1 LFE channel during music sequences and provides energy for the atmospherics and sound effects. Dialogue is often wanting in spatial integration, with ADR prevalent throughout. Overall, the sonics often sound "produced." (Gary Reber)