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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Million Dollar Baby

    Featured In Issue 117, February 2007

    Picture5
    SoundNR
    WSR Score5
    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):
    Warner Home Video
    (Catalog Number):
    82845
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG13
    (Rating Reason):
    Violence, Some Disturbing Images, Thematic Material And Language.
    (Retail Price):
    $28.99
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    132
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    Not Indicated
    (Theatrical Year):
    2004
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    11/14/06
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Clint Eastwood
    (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
    (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):

    Some people would say the most important thing a fighter can have is heart. Frankie'd say, "Show me a fighter who's nothing but heart, and I'll show you a man waiting for a beating." Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) is too busy training boxers to take much notice in Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank), a woman who dreams big of becoming a professional boxer. With her vivacious personality and heart of gold, Maggie finally wins over Frankie and gym owner, Scrap (Freeman). The three form a close friendship, but when things take a tragic turn, there's no training in the world that could prepare them for what would happen. Million Dollar Baby, winner of four Academy Awards® including Best Picture, is based upon stories written by F. X. Toole. (Suzanne Hodges)

    The 57-minute featurette, a behind-the-scenes look told in three parts—James Lipton Takes On Three, Born To Fight, and Producers Round—is the same as on the HD DVD reviewed in Issue 109.

    Differences between this 2.35:1 Blu-ray Disc picture and that on the previously reviewed HD DVD version are not easy to see, with its sharp, clean imagery, and impressive shadow delineation. (Danny Richelieu)

    Warner has fixed the audio encoding level on the Blu-ray Disc version that "wasn't an error" on the HD DVD version. The Blu-ray Disc's Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel encoding is slightly less articulate than the HD DVD's Dolby Digital Plus encoding, but the differences are not night and day. (Danny Richelieu)

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    Bryce Hudgins
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