Blu-ray Review: Night at the Museum

Part of: The Wild Blu Yonder

Whimsical, charming, and loaded with a cast of familiar faces, Night at the Museum is the rare film that does it all right. The suspension of disbelief is tossed out there for the audience to latch onto, and thanks to outstanding visual effects, it’s not hard to do. Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, and Ben Stiller are all superb in their roles, making this familiar oriented romp a near classic for the genre.

Read the review of the film and DVD release here
.

The DVD edition of the film was a mess video-wise. While not perfect, this Blu-ray does quite a bit to correct it. Most of the issues are minor, such as small artifacting in the reds. The bold color and deep blacks keep a steady contrast with loads of pop. Detail is high, though marred by some minor flickering from time-to-time on distance shots.

Like the DVD, this is a fantastic audio presentation, producing an array of spectacular effects in all channels. Awesome bass shakes the viewer whenever it’s called on. The soundtrack nicely bleeds into the rears. Positional audio is always spot on. Dialogue nicely fits into the heavy action. Non-action scenes are dry, though there’s not much to expect or opportunity for ambience.

Fox has chosen not to port over many of the extras from the two-disc DVD. Instead, two commentaries are included along with a trivia track. That’s it. Shawn Levy controls the first commentary, always speaking on a technical and personal level. Writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon handle the second. They have a little more fun along with providing solid information. A Blu-ray exclusive trivia track is non-imposing as you watch the film, and color coded to let you know what the factoid is referring to (production, history, etc.).

Stephen Sommers was originally slated to direct, but quit due to unspecified creative differences. With his faster paced, action oriented style (having handled the Mummy series), it’s doubtful he would have gelled with the film anyway.

Article tags

Spread the word
Bookmark and Share
Profile image for matt-paprocki

Article Author: Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki is a 12-year movie and game critic. He currently freelances for Blu-ray review site DoBlu.com and video game site MultiPlayerGames.com.

Visit Matt Paprocki's author pageMatt Paprocki's Blog

Read comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own
  • No image found
  • No image found

Article comments

Add your comment, speak your mind

Personal attacks are NOT allowed.
Please read our comment policy.
Please preview your comment.

blogcritics lists for May 28, 2012

fresh articles Most recent articles site-wide

fresh comments Most recent comments site-wide

most comments Most comments in 24hrs

top writers Most prolific Blogcritics for April

top commenters Most prolific Commenters in 24 hrs