Video
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC (21.38 Mbps) Resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1 Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1 (more)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1 Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1 Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1 Turkish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (less)
The Heat Blu-ray delivers stunning video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Uptight FBI special agent Sarah Ashburn is paired with testy Boston cop Shannon Mullins in order to take down a ruthless drug lord. The hitch: neither woman has ever had a partner -- or a friend for that matter.
For more about The Heat and the The Heat Blu-ray release, see the The Heat Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on October 15, 2013 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.
Sandra Bullock both brought the house down and up to its feet into a standing ovation when she started off her
acceptance speech for having won the Best Actress Academy Award for The Blind Side with her wonderfully self-deprecating query, "Did I really earn this,
or did I just wear you all down?" Many pundits, including Variety, the so-called "Bible of showbiz", are now
touting Bullock as the frontrunner for another Best Actress Oscar for her stunning work in Gravity, a virtual one
woman tour de force show for much of that film's excruciating running time. But 2013 also saw Bullock take on a
decidedly less ambitious role while simultaneously proving how well she plays with others, in the raucous, foul mouthed
and often hilarious Paul Feig comedy The Heat. Paired with Melissa McCarthy, Feig's Oscar nominated actress
from his recent Bridesmaids, Bullock
in fact takes something akin to a back seat to McCarthy's over the top antics, becoming the straight woman for an
unending series of insults and physical comedy aimed at her by her zaftig counterpart. First time screenwriter
Katie Dippold, a veteran of television's Parks and Recreation, had decided she wanted to reinvent the "buddy
cop" genre in gynocentric form, and rather surprisingly, while her script was very quickly picked up by Peter
Chernin, a studio deal took some wheeling and dealing, since there was a rather dunderheaded fear that two females
headlining a cop comedy wouldn't be an easy sell. McCarthy has become one of the more unlikely superstars of the past
few years, and her presence, especially after her Bridesmaids triumph, may have at least whetted the appetites
of the Hollywood bean counters who more often than not make the "important" decisions, but without the tamped down
presence of Bullock, the fact is The Heat might have seriously run off the rails. It's the interplay between these
two very different characters that generates most of the comedic—yes—heat in this film, with Bullock's by the numbers
FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn repeatedly running smack dab into the force of nature of the much less structured
Boston police detective Shannon Mullins, portrayed by McCarthy.
Dippold and Feig give us two introductory vignettes which quickly summarize the vast differences between the two focal
women. First up is Bullock's Ashburn, who is commanding an FBI raid of some suspected drug and gun runners.
Surrounded by a coterie of male agents, Ashburn quickly demonstrates in a somewhat arrogant manner just how stupid
they've all been (this conclusion branching out to the drug sniffing dog accompanying the team as well). She's obviously
highly efficient and well intentioned, but she also has zero people skills. McCarthy's Mullins on the other hand
has
people skills decidedly in the negative territory, as evidenced by her hilarious yet completely inappropriate
takedown of a would be john (a fantastic cameo by Tony Hale). Mullins is an obscenity spewing ball of combustible
vitriol,
but she, rather like Ashburn, is obviously well intentioned if in possession of even fewer social graces than her FBI
counterpart.
Ashburn, who's angling for a promotion which her boss is reticent to grant her since her colleagues all hate her guts, is
sent to Boston to help bring in a drug kingpin, while at almost the same moment Mullins is collaring a smaller fish in the
Boston drug network who nonetheless may have information on the ringleader whom Ashburn is after. That brings
these two "oil and water" souls together, with Ashburn initially trying to just work around Mullins' violent, foul mouthed
presence, but with Mullins, who actually steals a top secret FBI file to get an inside track on the investigation, not taking
"no" for an answer. When Ashburn's boss
indicates that her ability to work with a local policewoman might mean all the difference between getting her promotion
or not, the die is cast and these two are thrust together as unwilling competitive collaborators and nemeses, attempting
to ferret out who the mysterious kingpin is. The investigation ultimately involves Mullins' ex-con brother (Michael
Rappaport), as well as a couple of misogynistic DEA agents (Dan Bakkedahl and Taran Killam).
Dippold has fine comedic sensibilities when it comes to character, even if the overarching plot of The Heat is only
too familiar, with nary a surprise along the way. That doesn't mean the film isn't hugely enjoyable, for it certainly is.
Bullock's uptight Ashburn is barely able to even swear, while McCarthy's Mullins is seemingly incapable of
uttering a sentence without it being profanity laden. The two actually come to physical blows on a couple of
occasions, but haltingly learn to work together (just one of too many predictable elements in the screenplay). There are
some fairly lame attempts at pathos thrown in with a fairly sappy back story granted to Ashburn, and a hilariously
dysfunctional family granted to Mullins (including a nice bit by Jane Curtin as the Mullins grand matriarch).
Ultimately this film succeeds due to its expert performances. McCarthy's slovenly, disheveled Mullins is a marauding
cacophony of brute force, blasting her way through interviews and repeatedly humiliating Ashburn to increasing comedic
effect. Bullock's Ashburn is a study in corporate-think, reciting statutes and insisting that things be done according to
the
field manual. The collision of these two characters is rather like a figurative train wreck which is horrifying on its face but
which is so compelling it's impossible not to watch.
The Heat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p
transfer in 2.40:1. Feig reunites with his Bridesmaids cinematographer Robert Yeoman, an increasingly impressive
DP whose work with Wes Anderson on such outings as Moonrise Kingdom proves how capable he is at capturing both the grittiness of everyday life as
well as a bit of its luster. Aside from just a few establishing shots done in Manhattan, Feig shot the bulk of the film in
Boston, and the city looks alternately glamorous (usually from above in some sharp looking aerial photography) or a bit on
the dilapidated side when the story gets down and dirty into some sad looking neighborhoods. Colors are very accurate
looking, but truth be told The Heat never really pops very vividly, with a kind of dowdy palette being exploited most
of the time. Fine detail is really excellent throughout this presentation (take a look at the ridges in the matte surrounding
the picture of Ashburn with "her" cat in screenshot 15), and contrast is also very strong, offering well above average
shadow detail in some of the darker interior scenes. No egregious compression artifacts were noticed, and this transfer
boasts a very natural looking appearance.
The Heat's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is extremely effective, bristling with surround activity when any of
the many source cues are thumping on the soundtrack (Feig recounts in his commentary how the Isley Brothers just
happened to come on the radio shortly after he had read the script, and he took that as a sign as to how to start off the
film). There's some great immersion courtesy of well placed ambient environmental effects, though a lot of this film is
relegated to more simple dialogue moments, which tend to be anchored in the front channels. A nightclub scene does afford
a good deal of surround activity, but with very good prioritization. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is fairly wide for
this kind of comedy.
Theatrical (1:57:04) and Unrated (2:00:20) Cuts of the Film
Welcome to the Bonus Features (1080p; 00:27) finds the always classy Paul Feig indulging in an ever
popular fart joke.
The following eight supplements all contain brief introductions by Feig, who assumes a different "alter ego" (famous
directors, kind of) for each
introduction.
Mullins Family Fun (1080p; 9:20) includes some deleted scenes involving Shannon's dysfunctional brood,
including some that
probably should have been in the gag reel.
Acting Master Class (1080p; 8:28) features some cast antics.
Let's Get Physical (1080p; 6:31) are more bloopers, these all having to do with physical gags.
Police Brutality (1080p; 6:43) are outtakes featuring McCarthy.
Von Bloopers (1080p; 15:41) is yet another gag reel.
Supporting Cast Cavalcade (1080p; 7:44) are outtakes featuring the large supporting cast.
Over and Out (1080p; 00:36) finds Feig signing off with another hie-larious fart joke.
All the Stuff We Had to Take Out but Still Think is Funny includes Deleted Scenes (1080p; 10:12),
Extended Scenes
(1080p; 14:45) and Alternate Scenes (1080p; 3:41)
How The Heat Was Made (1080p; 19:44) is an enjoyable if rote making of featurette.
Live Extras gave me a "This Feature is Not Supported in Your Country" prompt. Funny!
The Commentary Track In Which the Director of The Heat Talks Endlessly About The Heat.
This commentary is
available only on the Unrated Version of the film, and finds Feig in typically high spirits, ebulliently talking about various
aspects of the shoot.
It's a reasonably informative and funny commentary that fans of the film should enjoy.
Note: In order to post this review in a timely manner, I didn't have time to listen to all of the commentaries in
their entirety. I did do fairly lengthy spot checking of all of them to get a general idea of what they were like.
The Commentary Track In Which Melissa McCarthy and Other Great People from The Heat Talk About
The Heat. is
available on the Theatrical Version and features Paul Feig, Katie Dippold, Mike McDonald, Adam Ray, Jesse Henderson.
This is a pretty raucous, very funny and party like affair, with the gang frequently talking over each other and calling each
other a variety of patently objectionable names.
The Commentary Track In Which Some of the Mullins Family Discusses The Heat is available on the
Theatrical Version and
features Paul Feig, with what sounds like four of the actors who play members of the Mullins Family (the "introductions"
are pretty quick and noisy, and it's hard to make out who's being introduced). One of these is certainly Jane Curtin, who
stays in character and disses everyone and everything in sight.
Attend the June 23, 2013 Premiere of The Heat at The Ziegfeld Theater in the Comfort of Your Own Home!
is a pretty
useless supplement capturing audience noise.
The Original Lineup from Mystery Science Theater 3000 Comments on The Heat doesn't quite
rise to the highest
levels of MST3K insanity, but there are some good punchlines scattered throughout this commentary.
The Heat is undeniably funny a lot of the time, but it's also a bit too predictable for its own good. Bullock and
McCarthy make a very appealing "odd couple", however, and help the film to overcome its more rote elements. This Blu-ray
comes with great looking video and sounding audio, and even if most of the supplementary material is nothing other than
glorified gag reels, the wealth of commentary tracks is a nice touch. Highly recommended.
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