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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Mr. Brooks

    Featured In Issue 126, December 2007

    Picture3
    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):
    MGM Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    M109031
    (MPAA Rating):
    R
    (Rating Reason):
    For strong bloody violence, some graphic sexual content, nudity, and language
    (Retail Price):
    $39.98
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    120
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    Not Indicated
    (Theatrical Year):
    2007
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    10/23/07
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Bruce A. Evans
    (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):

    A successful businessman, a generous philanthropist, and a fine family man—no one would imagine Mr. Brooks (Costner) has a dark, disturbing secret. This seemingly perfect pillar of society is a prolific serial killer who is so clever that no one has ever suspected him...until now. (Stacey Pendry)

    There is one special feature that is in addition to those found on the DVD (a Cat And Mouse: Inside The Mr. Brooks Case Files" trivia track). The rest of the special features are the same and include commentary with Writers Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon, six deleted scenes (including an alternate opening title), the original theatrical trailer, additional trailers, and the following featurettes: "The Birth Of A Serial Killer: The Writing Of Mr. Brooks" (seven minutes), "On The Set With Mr. Brooks" (nine minutes) and "Murder On Their Minds: Mr. Brooks, Marshall And Mr. Smith"(nine minutes).

    The anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 DVD can be hampered by relatively poor black levels, which makes the image look flat and lifeless, but details in the shadows are delivered nicely. Fleshtones can have a slightly sickly, green hue. The picture generally has a harsh look, and pixilation and edge enhancement is noticeable. The HD.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray disc shows the same problems as the DVD, and details are not as well resolved as in the better high-definition releases. (Danny Richelieu)

    The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack can collapse to the front three screen channels, with the surround channels' participation generally underwhelming. While fidelity is good in general, dialogue is not as articulate as in in the best recordings, sounding somewhat smeared and dull. Music can also sound slightly harsh. The DTS® Digital Surround™ encoding sounds more full, with better tightness in the bass and more natural-sounding dialogue. Unfortunately, we do not have the hardware to decode the Blu-ray Disc's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio encoding, but the core DTS encoding that is extracted sounds very similar to the DVD's DTS encoding, although a slight increase in fidelity can be recognized. (Danny Richelieu)

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