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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Hot Rod

    Featured In Issue 127, January 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):
    Paramount Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    13167
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG-13
    (Rating Reason):
    For crude humor, language, some comic drug-related and violent conten
    (Retail Price):
    $39.99
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (HD-30)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    87
    (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):
    11/27/07
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Akiva Schaffer
    (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 TrueHD 5.1, Dolby Digital+ 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):

    Rod Kimble (Samberg) is a would-be stuntman who believes his biological father once worked for the daredevil, Evil Knievel. Rod is now being raised by his mother (Spacek) and an abusive stepfather named Frank (McShane). Frank tosses Rod around like a rag doll during their weekly sparring sessions and generally doesn't miss a chance to abuse and humiliate his stepson. But when Frank becomes gravely ill, it is up to Hot Rod Kimble to save him. Rod has a brilliant idea to pull off a stunt more dangerous than any Knievel ever attempted in order to raise enough money to cure his stepdad...just so he can exact revenge and finally kick his rear! (Stacey Pendry)

    Special features include commentary from cast and crew, Ancestors Protect Me: Behind The Scenes Of Hot Rod (eight minutes), 15 deleted/extended scenes, an outtakes reel (three minutes), eight short videos in Kevin's Videos, a two-minute short Punch-Dance, Home Video Footage Of Orchestra Recording Session (one minute), the original theatrical trailer, and previews.

    The anamorphically enhanced 2.34:1 DVD shows fairly well-captured details, and colors show good saturation, but the image often has a pale appearance. Black levels are adequately deep, and shadow delineation is decent. Fleshtones generally look natural, but they occasionally have an orange, "fake tan" glow. Source element artifacts are not overly obtrusive, but edge enhancement is noticeable throughout. The VC-1-encoded HD DVD shows the requisite improvement in resolution, with fine textures presented nicely. Colors are also bolder, but fleshtones can still have an orangish hue. The picture can still look somewhat pale and doesn't have the apparent depth that the best high-definition releases show. (Danny Richelieu)

    The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack is rather basic, with little true surround envelopment. While the surround channels are incorporated into the mix often, they are at very low levels compared to the front channels, limiting their effectiveness. Dialogue sounds natural for the most part, but the noise floor is relatively high, with a shuffling distortion audible throughout the majority of the presentation. The HD DVD's Dolby Digital Plus encoding provides a subtle improvement in fidelity over the DVD's encoding, but the HD DVD's lossless Dolby TrueHD encoding provides noticeably improved fidelity, with a more smooth, articulate character. (Danny Richelieu)

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    Moira Joblan
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