BLU-RAY REVIEW

Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, The

Featured In Issue 187, June 2014

Picture5
Sound4.5
WSR Score4
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):
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
2289947
(MPAA Rating):
PG
(Rating Reason):
Some crude comments, language and action violence
(Retail Price):
$39.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
114
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
2013
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
04/01/14
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Ben Stiller
(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 7.1
(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):

Based on the short story by James Thurber, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty tells the story of a timid LIFE magazine photo manager (Stiller) who lives life vicariously through daydreams, and when a negative goes missing, must embark on an incredible true-life adventure. (Gary Reber)

Special features include five deleted scenes (HD 07:30); two extended scenes (HD 04:33); two alternate scenes (HD 03:42); nine featurettes: The History Of Walter Mitty (HD 03:39), The Look Of Life (HD 05:01), That's A Shark (HD 05:57), The Music Of Walter Mitty (HD 04:01), Icelandic Adventure (HD 03:26), Nordic Casting (HD 03:51), Titles Of Walter Mitty (HD 02:49), Sight And Sounds Of Production (HD 05:10), and Pre-Vix (HD 04:15); a gallery of reference photography; the music video Stay Alive by José Gonzalez (HD 04:22); the theatrical trailer; and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture was photographed anamorphically on the Hawke and Panavision film formats. The picture is cinematic, with a warm, colorful palette with strongly saturated hues. Primaries are strongly toned and vibrant throughout. Contrasting colors are often intense and exaggerated. City interiors and Greenland locations are presented with an impressive naturalness. Fleshtones are healthy in appearance, with natural tones. Contrast is nicely executed with deep revealing blacks and shadow delineation. Resolution is excellent, with fine detail appearing in facial features, hair, clothing, and object texture. The cinematography during the Greenland, Iceland, and the Himalayas' scenes are beautifully captured. This is a visually exciting adventure that is engaging throughout. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 7.1-channel soundtrack features a driving, dynamic music score that nicely complements the various scenes. Atmospherics and sound effects are varied as well and extend to the surrounds. Explosions and action sound effects are aggressively delivered and enhance the excitement. Generally, though, the focus is frontal, even with the added two surround channels, except for the more intense segments and music. Fidelity is excellent. Deep bass extension to sub-25 Hz frequencies occurs during the action segments. Dialogue is intelligible throughout, with decent spatial integration. This is a varied sonic adventure that effectively complements the wild and exciting adventure. (Gary Reber)