Bruce Almighty DVD Review

This 1.85:1 anamorphically enhanced presentation is, in my opinion, much like the movie itself - a prime example of the term mediocre. Fine detail is merely average, as is shadowed detail, compression artefacts are not present but both edge enhancement and noise are evident on the odd occasion.

I found the colour palette to be not that natural either, to the extent that I found myself checking my own calibrations. There appeared to be, to put it crudely a bit of a push on the reds, which rendered some skin tones to giving a "neck ties too tight" appearance, as those who know how the tint/hue setting affects the NTSC signal will understand.

Overall the colour saturation appeared slightly muted and I was aware, on several instances that there was an odd feel to it all.

"Lorded" to us in both 5.1 Dolby Digital (448kbs) and 5.1 DTS (768kbs) streams with no extended surround enhancement. This is not a testament to discrete multi-channel sound.

Primarily a dialogue driven affair, probably one, if not the dynamic, all channels flying moment involves the opening of a filing cabinet! Ambience effects are subtly constant without ever drawing attention to them and behind it all is quite a nice score.

There can be no complaint with the dialogue channel, which is clean, clearly defined and well integrated, again ADR something I seem to be listening for at a subconscious level (and a curse it is too) is perfectly matched. Given the source material this IS one of those discs where it seemed a puerile venture quite early on to find the differences between the two. They really are so very similar as too not warrant any heartache over this at all.

A single disc release offering only an average selection of supplemental goodies, we find at the top of the menu the "Process of Jim". Tom Shadyac pays a 6-minute homage to the greatness of Jim Carrey?

Next there is a mildly entertaining selection of Outtakes. A good selection of Deleted Scenes lasting almost 30 minutes with optional commentaries is followed by the Full Length Commentary by Tom Shadyac option. This I found to be quite hard going to be honest.

A promo for a movie/dvd related credit card is hardly essential, as are, unfortunately the DVD-ROM features. Lastly we find Biographies of 14 cast and crewmembers.
This film is more reminiscent of Jim Carrey's earlier films, whilst not as physically frenetic as say Pet Detective or Cable Guy it is, still a Jim Carrey vehicle which, depending on your personal opinion will or will not be a good thing. I quite enjoyed it really and the extras are merely variations on a theme. Probably worth renting if not on your "to buy" list.