Hi-Def Preview

Anchorman

Paramount Home Entertainment

Released: 11/27/07

Review By: Ryan James

Picture Quality – 2.75/5

Audio Quality – 3.5/5

Special Features - 3/5

Overall – 3/5

Comments: Seeing how Anchorman is my favorite Will Farrell movie of all-time, it was with great anticipation I popped this one in to the HD-DVD player!

With picture quality, Paramount did an average at best job. They used an AVC encode on to an HD30 disc. At no time did I notice any macroblocking and the colors were outstanding. The colors were vibrant, but at the same time natural, not any over saturation, which has been evident in some of the recent HDM reviews I have written. A complaint is that at times the image can be a bit soft. This is evident mainly in darker scenes. With this softness comes a drop in sharpness. Many of the darker scenes exhibit this softness I spoke of above. It may distract some and may not others. Another complaint is the amount of noise. In many of the brighter/white scenes, noise is very evident, to the point of being distracting. I also noticed the occasional blip of film debris. The PQ of the release reminded me of “Darkman” on HD-DVD or “The Usual Suspects” on Blu-ray.

In-terms of AQ, this was decent showing by Paramount. I listened using the Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) option and it was solid. The Center Channel presented the dialog perfectly. The scene of the acapella version of “Afternoon Delight” sounded wonderful. The Surrounds too were used to perfection and used frequently. Much like the center channel, the surround created a very realistic encompassing effect, to the point of feeling like the sound effects were actually in your living room. Finally the LFE was used to perfection as well, albeit in a more discrete manner. It added a “fullness” to many scenes and clearly enhanced the overall viewing experience.

The Special Features on this release are solid. There are your typical Commentaries and Behind-The-Scenes featurettes. I enjoyed the Blooper Reel the most.

In conclusion, the purchase of this disc simply put, is a no-brainer if you are a fan of this film. Not only is it a substantial upgrade over the DVD version of this film, the story is HILARIOUS! I recommend this purchase!