WE’RE STREAKING (in high definition)!!!

Tuesday’s HD DVD releases this week included Old School from way back in 2003.  I originally saw this film back then and found it quite entertaining.  Having not seen it since the original release I was excited to give it another go in High Def.  I was not disappointed.

If you’ve never seen Old School the plot is fairly simple:  A group of guys (Luke Wilson, Will Farrell, Vince Vaughn)  start a fraternity in order to keep a house they are renting on campus.  The “Old” part comes in because these guys are a wee bit past college age.  You’ll probably also recognize Jeremy Piven (Ari from  Entourage) playing the nerdy college dean and Leah Remini from King of Queens.

Weighing in at 92 minutes this makes for a great after-work movie.  Unless your sense of humor gland was removed at birth you will be laughing throughout this entire movie.  This Unrated version includes some nudity (Will Farrell streaking and a few topless women), which could be a positive or negative to you. 

One of the most important good things about the Old School HD DVD is that it doesn’t cost $29.99 or more like many other new HD releases.  You can pick it up for less than $20, which makes it a no-brainer.

Video (4.5/5) :
This is one of the better looking HD DVDs I’ve watched to date.  It was obviously better than a standard dvd, which is more than I can say for many others HD discs .  One High-Def “drawback” for this movie is that it is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which means a non-trivial amount of your fancy HDTV’s resolution is being used to draw black bars.  I’m not a big fan of butchering movies to fit a specific TV, so this doesn’t bother me.  

Audio (3/5) :
The sound in this movie is nothing special, and the HD DVD brings nothing special either. You get a Dolby Digital Plus audio track.  Of course with a comedy such as this there’s no real need for any fancy high-def audio formats. 

Extras (4/5) :
Often times the extras with a movie like this are even more entertaining than the movie itself.  The extras on this disc don’t disappoint.  The Deleted Scenes and Bloopers stand out and should not be missed. Of course with this crazy cast of characters that is a given.

The bottom line:
If you don’t already own this movie on DVD and you enjoy “stupid comedies” I’d recommend adding this one to your Christmas list without question.  If nobody buys it for you grab it for yourself. :)  This HD DVD certainly gets an ‘A’ in my class.

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