Big Picture Big Sound

Disaster Movie on Blu-ray Disc Review

By Brandon A. DuHamel

The Film

I know what a lot of you must be thinking right now -- "Oh, no, not another spoof movie!" because that's exactly what I was thinking when I sat down to view this, especially coming so shortly after I had to review Superhero Movie.  Thankfully Disaster Movie is not as painfully dull and unoriginal as that. There is at least the semblance of a plot that isn't completely copped from another film.

This one involves something about asteroids hurtling towards the planet and the main characters having to get a crystal skull back to a museum to avert imminent doom (hey, I did say not completely copped from another film, I didn't say wholly original).  It is a spoof after all, so the concept of "originality" has to be a bit malleable.  

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The movie has its occasional moments of humor and, thin plot aside, it's really a meandering string of gags so if one joke falls flat there's always another just a few seconds away. Surprisingly enough none of the more humorous moments emanate from stand-up comedian Gary "G-Thang" Johnson (Calvin), but, rather, from the cast members of Mad TV like Crista Flannigan doing a spot-on impersonation of Ellen Page in Juno or Nicole Parker as The Enchanted Princess.

In fact, Disaster Movie lampoons just about everything in popular culture from the last three years or so, from No Country for Old Men, Superbad, Jessica Simpson, Amy Winehouse and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to 10,000 B.C., High School Musical, Iron Man and Hannah Montana.  Some of the jokes work better than others, but the end result is fairly entertaining. 

Still, you can pretty much run down a spoof-movie checklist as it pertains to Disaster Movie:

  • Michael Jackson impersonator with a chimpanzee? Check.
  • Gags about bodily fluids, burping, etc.? Check.
  • Impossibly gorgeous women in lingerie? Check.
  • A role for Carmen Elektra? Check.
  • A feeling like your IQ has dropped just a tad after watching it? Um, what was I saying again?

The Picture

One thing you can surely count on with these sorts of films is that their production values are going to look rather low budget, therefore don't expect spectacular picture quality with dramatic lighting and intricate details. Surprisingly enough, however, Disaster Movie's 1.78:1 AVC/MPEG-4 video transfer is quite well done and shows once again that even a bad film can look really good on Blu-ray. The picture is clean, sharp and detailed in both foreground and background imaging. Colors are vibrant and the transfer displays a good, bright level of contrast, but not too strong that it blooms. Unfortunately the high level of detail in the 1080p/24 presentation does expose the low budget special effects used throughout the film which makes it even more ridiculous to watch.

The Sound

At first it seems a little insane to give a movie of this caliber the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless treatment, but Disaster Movie has a surprisingly active mix that truly benefits from the 7.1 lossless codec. The constant boom of asteroids crashing into Earth, screaming crowds in the street, and traffic noise all provide for an entertaining and engulfing soundstage with a very extended low frequency range. The High School Musical spoof during the 25-year-old Will's Sweet 16 party shows some particularly wonderful use of all 8 channels with full sounding bass notes, smooth high frequencies and lush ambience. Dialogue throughout the film is also well balanced, clear, intelligible and lifelike. Disaster Movie is one of the better sounding and most unusual comedy sound mixes available on Blu-ray.

The Extras

Disaster Movie on Blu-ray comes with a host of high definition supplemental materials offering a look into the film's production and some more time with the cast members. There is more subtle humor to be found in some of these extras, including a surprisingly more humorous G-Thang; too bad they didn't take advantage of his comedic skills in the actual film.


The extras available on this release are:

  • BonusView Picture-in-Picture Cast & Crew Commentary -- This picture-in-picture commentary is actually an easy listen/watch. The cast members are all comfortable with each other and quite self-deprecating. It makes it easier to get through the film at times.
  • Straight from the Ladies (1.78:1/high definition) --Actresses Nicole Parker and Crista Flannigan sit down for humorous interview segments on the filming of Disaster Movie in character as The Enchanted Princess and Juney.
  • This is How We Do It (1.78:1/high definition) -- The lead actors from the film reminisce on their time filming Disaster Movie.
  • Girl Fight (1.78:1/high definition) -- Behind-the-scenes of the fantasy wrestling segment between Kim Kardashian and Carmen Elektra.
  • Sitting Down with a Standup (1.78:1/high definition) -- Gary "G-Thang" Johnson gives a rambling comedic sit down interview segment.
  • Who's Spoofing Who? (1.781/high definition) -- The actors talk about who they've spoofed and who has spoofed them.
  • I'm F**king Matt Damon Sing-along (1.78:1/high definition) -- Um, well, a music video spoof about who's, uh, getting some from whom complete with bouncy ball and lyrics.
  • High School Musical Sing-along (1.78:1/high definition) -- Sing along to the film's High School Musical spoof segment.
  • MoLog -- BD-Live feature that allows users to insert images, text, and audio right into the film to create "blogs."
Final Thoughts

At this time it feels almost pointless for films such as these to keep being made. Some people think they should have stopped after Scary Movie. I'm sure a lot will scoff at that statement and say it all should have ended after Airplane. Whatever the case may be, they don't offer up any surprises anymore. If one really feels like some juvenile entertainment, I suppose renting Disaster Movie won't hurt anybody. It certainly has a good enough video presentation and a better than average sound mix for these sorts of films.

Where to Buy
Product Details
  • Actors: Matt Lanter, Carmen Electra, Gary "G-Thang" Johnson, Crista Flanagan, Kim Kardashian
  • Directors: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer
  • Video Format: AVC/MPEG-4
  • Audio/Language: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
  • Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rating:  Unrated
  • Studio: Lions Gate
  • Blu-ray Disc Release Date: January 6, 2009
  • Run Time: 88 minutes
  • List Price: $39.99
  • Extras:
    • BonusView Picture-in-Picture Cast & Crew Commentary
    • Girl Fight
    • High School Musical Sing-along
    • I'm F**king Matt Damon Sing-along
    • Sitting Down with a Stand-up
    • G-Thang's Tour
    • Straight From the Ladies
    • Who's Spoofing Who
    • This is How We Do It
    • MoLog

What did you think?

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