Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore, Robert Patrick
Extras: Commentary Tracks, Featurettes, Music Video, Trivia Track, Cameo-graphy, Trailers
Rating:
Following up on the success of the initial movie, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz are back as ’Charlie’s Angels.’ This time they face off against Demi Moore, as a former Angel-gone-bad, in an action spectacle that’s even more explosive than the first one.
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment is presenting ’Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle’ in an anamorphic widescreen presentation on this DVD in the movie’s original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The image is very clean and clear, and not a speckle is in sight. Color reproduction is very faithful, finely rendering the colorful settings, as well as the day and nighttime scenes with accurate hues and shades without over-saturation. Black levels are solid and shadows never break up. The compression has been handled well to make sure no distracting compression artifacts are evident.
The audio on the DVD comes as an aggressive and dynamic 5.1 channel Dolby Digital mix that is sure to give your home theater something to work with. Split surround usage is very good and extremely aggressive and the overall presentation is bombastic and explosive with an impressive dynamic range. Dialogues are well integrated and are never drowned out, though the music is a bit over-mixed for my taste.
A commentary track with director McG is also included, which is insightful and offers a lot of production information. He is fairly personable and communicates his ideas and plans in a manner that is quite interesting. He is using a Telestrator technique to draw and highlight elements on the screen as the commentary goes along.
Another commentary track features the movie’s three writers as they talk about the film and their ideas. It is an interesting commentary, though not quite as animated as McG’s.
A trivia track is also included on the DVD, displaying interesting tidbits of information on the screen as you play the film.
A series of short featurettes can also be found on the disc, taking you behind the scenes for a look at various elements of the production. These include a look at the production design, one giving you a look at the costumes – which I found very interesting, given the range of ’disguises’ the Angels sport in the film – while a third one focuses on the cars in the film.
Then there’s the ’Full Throttle Jukebox’ a series of clips discussing the music from the film, also taking you to the according scenes after hearing some comments about the clip.
The DVD is rounded out by a series of trailers, a list of cameo appearances in the movie – and there are many – as well as the Pink music video ’Feel Good Time.’
’Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle’ is a brainless action romp. Entertaining but not too demanding. A popcorn movie that will escape your mind as soon as the film is over. Nonetheless, it makes for an enjoyable 107 minutes of entertainment, and the bonus features that Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has added to this DVD are truly top notch.
