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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    National Lampoon's Van Wilder

    Featured In Issue 124, October 2007

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    SoundNR
    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):
    Lionsgate Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    21691
    (MPAA Rating):
    Unrated
    (Rating Reason):
    (Retail Price):
    $29.99
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    94
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    Not Indicated
    (Theatrical Year):
    2001
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    08/21/07
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Walt Becker
    (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+ Surround EX
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
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    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
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    (German Language):
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    Gross-out sex comedies are going to have to work hard to parallel the smut in this one. "National Lampoon's Van Wilder" revolves around its title character (Reynolds), as does everyone at Coolidge College. He is a seventh-year senior who's finally facing the end of his college career when daddy pulls the plug on Van's tuition. But the big man on campus has big plans for pajama parties, puff pastries, prurient pooches, and payment plans for one more year. Teck Holmes of MTV's "Real World" stars as Hutch. (Suzanne Hodges)

    New special features for the Blu-ray Disc include Drunken Idiot kommentary; the 16-minute "Party Legends Pledges And 'Bull'-ies," five-minute "Ultimate College Party Guide," and eight-minute "Gwen-ezuma's Revenge" featurettes; a Testicles Of The Animal Kingdom game; Write That Down, which are quotes from and inspired by the film; and a Blu-Book exam. The special features that are the same as on the DVDs reviewed in Issue 65 include Sugarcult's "Bouncing Off The Walls" music video; nine deleted scenes (one is a "Topless Tutors" Unrated exclusive); 12 outtakes; three Burly TV specials: Half Baked (13 minutes), Impostor (17 minutes), and Movie Junkie (15 minutes); Comedy Central's 21-minute Reel Comedy special; and previews.

    The H.264 AVC-encoded 1.85:1 Blu-ray Disc looks flat, with relatively high black levels and less-than-ideal contrast balance. The entire presentation has a reddish hue that can be distracting. Details are not captured and delivered as well as in the best releases, and pixilation and edge enhancement is noticeable. (Danny Richelieu)

    The Dolby® Digital Surround EX™ 5.1-channel and uncompressed linear PCM 7.1-channel soundtracks are mixed at differing levels in the surround channels, with the Dolby encoding providing slightly more surround distinction. While the LPCM encoding is directed more towards the screen, resulting in a less dimensional sound, fidelity is improved with dialogue that sounds smooth and natural. Both encodings are overly bright and an edginess can be heard from time to time. (Danny Richelieu)

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