BLU-RAY REVIEW

All About Steve

Featured In Issue 146, January/February 2010

Picture4
Sound4
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):
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
2258916
(MPAA Rating):
PG-13
(Rating Reason):
Sexual content including innuendoes
(Retail Price):
$39.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
99
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
2009
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
12/22/09
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Phil Traill
(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):

All About Steve is an offbeat comedy about a blind date gone hilariously wrong. When eccentric, but lovable, Mary (Bullock) gets set up with Steve (Cooper), a news channel cameraman, she falls hard. He does not. Mary decides to follow Steve on a cross-country hunt for breaking news and soon finds herself entangled in the story making. But despite the media storm surrounding her, Mary may just discover her true place in the world... and the man of her dreams! (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary by Writer Kim Barker and Actors Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper, Ken Jeong, and Phil Traill; six deleted and alternate scenes with optional commentary (HD 09:14); a gag reel with optional commentary (HD 05:29); Bradley Cooper and Ken Jeong's A Capella Duet with optional commentary (HD 01:42); Hollywood Dish with Mena Micheletti (HD 17:47); crew snapshots to Mary's Rap (HD 03:26); an All About Making Of featurette (HD 10:38); Life After Film School With Director Phil Traill (SD 23:42); trailers; and a digital copy of the film.

The 1080p AVC picture is vibrantly colorful, with rich and warm hues that often pop. Contrast is good, with deep and solid blacks and revealing shadow delineation. Fleshtones are accurately rendered throughout. Imagery is often effectively dimensional, but the outstanding visual quality is the fully saturated color rendering. Resolution is slightly soft, but
during close-ups the picture is sharp and less filtered. At times the picture appears slightly plugged up and inconsistent Overall, though, this is a pleasant viewing experience that is sure to please. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is conventional and unremarkable for a story with lots of adventurous scenes. Yet surround envelopment is reserved and actually limited, except for a music score that, at times, is aggressively present. Atmospheric and sound effects are reserved as well, even in scenes of natural eruptions, though, there is the presence of deep .1 LFE energy during such scenes. Dialogue sounds "produced," with poor spatial integration, and at times, is chesty, close-miked and muffled. This is an inconsistent sonic experience that misses the potential, though, some scenes do make the grade and are satisfying. In particular, the mine scene is well produced, with subtle and energized directionalized surround envelopment. (Gary Reber)