Scary Movie V Blu-ray Review

The high definition presentation of "Scary Movie V" on Blu Ray offers a mixed bag of visual fidelity, oscillating between mediocrity and excellence. While the 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode impressively captures the nuances of the film’s varied texture—be it the fine detailing on clothing and household items like kitchen appliances and wooden floors or the consistent sharpness in close-ups—the video quality occasionally dips into less flattering territories. Certain scenes are plagued by a murky and uninspired aesthetic, characterized by soft details, dull colors, and an overall flatness that detracts from the viewing experience. Despite these lapses, the image generally remains well-defined, though it seldom achieves a truly vibrant chromatic brilliance.

Interestingly, the film’s digital cinematography, designed to mimic the visual styles of the movies it parodies, maintains a fairly stable and coherent look throughout. This results in an image characterized by crisp, steady contrast, clean bright whites, and a color palette that, while never reaching peak vibrancy, showcases certain hues—especially reds and greens—with commendable saturation. The video handling of black levels is mostly competent, with adequate depth and satisfactory shadow delineation in most scenes, though there are moments where brightness levels falter slightly. Flesh tones stay true to a realistic spectrum, avoiding any significant deviation towards unnatural coloration.

Overall, despite its occasional visual shortcomings, "Scary Movie V's" Blu Ray presentation delivers a surprisingly decent quality that surpasses expectations for a film of its calibre. The technical prowess evident in its HD digital camera work ensures that most of the film is presented with clarity and a detailed visual texture that enhances the viewing experience. While not without its flaws—most notably in consistency and color vibrancy—the video quality is a testament to the capabilities of modern encoding techniques to polish and present even the most critically panned content in an appreciable light.

Scary Movie V's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack stands out with its high-quality execution, encapsulating a balance of musical clarity, hefty sound effects, and seamless dialogue delivery. The audio track excels in spreading a wide array of tones across the soundscape, managing to capture the essence of both the film's comedic and horror elements with precision. It handles the musical segments with distinguishable sharpness, allowing each note to resonate clearly, while the heavier horror sound effects - from the ominous bumps in the night to the realistic clanking of kitchenware - are given a robust presentation with an appreciable low end. Furthermore, the soundtrack navigates exterior and interior atmospherics adeptly, making the ambient noises feel part of the viewer's own environment.

The soundtrack’s dynamic range is remarkable, effortlessly transitioning between the mids and highs and ensuring even the subtlest of sounds are heard with crystal clarity. Its handling of dialogue showcases an unblemished consistency, ensuring characters' lines are intelligible throughout the comedic turmoil and sudden scares. The lively and energetic imaging adds a layer of quality to the film's attempt at humor and horror, with sounds fluidly moving across the soundstage, enhancing the experience with well-placed directional audio cues. The bass is deeply powerful and responsive, particularly in sequences filled with hip-hop music or action-packed moments, providing an immersive low-end presence that fills the room.

Incorporating some discrete effects into the rears, the audio design successfully creates a satisfying ambiance, making up for what it lacks in complexity with well-executed fundamentals. Despite being part of a film that may not have won accolades for its overall quality, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack for Scary Movie V is undeniably a technical success. It leverages its lively imaging and wide dynamic range to deliver an audio experience that surpasses expectations, making it a commendable aspect of the Blu-ray presentation.

The Blu-ray of "Scary Movie V" offers a singular but noteworthy extra feature that caters to fans looking to delve deeper into the comedic horror film’s cutting-room-floor material. This exclusive supplement comprises a concise yet substantial collection of eight deleted and extended scenes, providing viewers a glimpse into the additional content that didn't make the final cut. With options to view these scenes either sequentially or individually, fans can enjoy an enhanced understanding of character development and plot dynamics that were initially considered. The inclusion of both a DVD and an UltraViolet digital copy voucher in the package further enhances its value for collectors and digital enthusiasts alike, ensuring that this edition of "Scary Movie V" can be enjoyed across multiple platforms.

Extras included in this disc:

• Deleted and Extended Scenes: A compilation of scenes including “Kathy Plays with Tito”, “Ballet Flashback Extended”, “Artie Humps Baby”, “Heather vs. Truck”, “Live Mommy Dead Mommy”, “Almost Gave Birth”, “Newspaper”, and “50 Shades Extended”.

In an era where parody and spoof cinema can either hit the mark of brilliance or fall into the depths of cinematic oblivion, "Scary Movie 5" firmly plants itself in the latter category. Despite being attached to a franchise that has had its moments of comedic breakthrough, this installment fails to resurrect the dying art of parody, choosing instead to meander through a maze of outdated pop culture references and forced humor. The film attempts to stitch together a narrative involving Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, and a demonic presence, but this thinly-veiled plot merely serves as a shaky scaffold for an array of gags that seldom elicit more than a forced smirk. Notable appearances by Snoop Dogg and assorted cameos offer brief interludes of amusement, yet they are far from saving the movie from its tedious and uninspired execution.

Technical aspects like cinematography and editing, spearheaded by Steven Douglas Smith and Sam Seig respectively, do what they can to polish the inherent lackluster quality of "Scary Movie 5". However, even their commendable efforts cannot divert attention from the film's core issues—namely, its reliance on lowbrow humor and shock value over genuine comedy. The film's visual presentation on Blu-ray is one of the few areas where it doesn’t completely disappoint, offering clarity and detail amidst the chaos. Yet, with a runtime that feels excessively long despite its actual brevity, viewers might find themselves checking the clock more often than they’d like.

It’s particularly disheartening to witness what has become of the parody genre—a field once ripe with potential for social commentary and clever retelling. Under the guidance of David Zucker, a name synonymous with classics such as "Airplane!", expectations would naturally be high. Unfortunately, "Scary Movie 5" deviates significantly from the witty, nuanced humor that defined earlier successes. Instead, it opts for a scattergun approach to comedy, targeting everything in sight but hitting nothing with the finesse or sharp satire required. This installment not only signifies a drastic decline in the series' quality but also exemplifies the challenges modern parodies face in staying relevant and engaging amidst rapidly changing pop culture landscapes.

Scary Movie V" proves to be a disappointing entry in the franchise, marred by its attempt to push the envelope of comedy into realms that fall short of humor and into the territory of the absurd and uninspired. Critics and audiences alike seem to concur that this installment lacks the charm, wit, and originality that could salvage its otherwise insipid content. However, from a technical standpoint, the Blu-ray edition provided by Anchor Bay garners some praise. It showcases commendable video quality and audio fidelity, aspects that stand in stark contrast to the film's overall reception. The supplements offered are rather sparse, limited primarily to deleted and extended scenes, which does little to enhance the appeal of this release.

Despite its stellar technical presentation, including solid video and excellent audio quality that should be acknowledged, "Scary Movie V" on Blu-ray struggles to justify its place in perhaps both the franchise's legacy and one's home collection. The content's lackluster execution and failed humor considerably overshadow the physical product's merits. This dichotomy presents a peculiar scenario wherein the physical medium outshines its content, a rare occurrence that underscores the gap between technical prowess and creative success.

In conclusion, while Anchor Bay delivers "Scary Movie V" with an undeniably high-quality physical release featuring robust video and audio capabilities, it is ultimately let down by the film itself. This Blu-ray might appeal to completists or fans of the franchise for its technical merits or perhaps as a cautionary artifact of how not to extend a film series. However, for the majority, it serves as a stark reminder that not all sequels merit the light of day. The cons far outweigh the pros, recommending potential viewers approach with low expectations or steer clear altogether.