Why So Blu?

Dirty Grandpa – Unrated (Blu-ray Review)

There was something a bit subliminal that drew me into eventually reviewing Dirty Grandpa on Blu-ray.  Maybe it was partly my love of Bad Grandpa (see my review here) or my loss of my own grandfathers in real life, but it could have also been that ingenious swag Lionsgate sent over too (see below).  You pick.  However, I do miss my own grandfathers.  The one was very wise and I wish I would have listened to him a lot more.  He had a lot of valuable life lessons that went in one ear and completely out the other.  And after taking in Dirty Grandfather for the very first time, I could totally see my other grandfather nailing De Niro’s role.  That’s the kind of “dirty,” lovable guy he was.  R.I.P. guys.

Film 

So I know I mentioned in passing Bad Grandpa up above, but please make no mistake about it, Dirty Grandpa has nothing at all to do with that film.  Dirty Grandpa doesn’t star Johnny Knoxville.  Instead it employs 2-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro (I also have a story about him that hits very close to home for me) in a role like you’ve never seen him before…guaranteed.  In addition, the cast rounds out with the chiseled Zac Efron, Jason Mantzoukas, Dermot Mulroney, Adam Pally, Danny Glover and the heavenly bodies of Julianne Hough (although I hardly even recognize her in this role), Zoey Deutch and the one that will rock your world in this, assuming you’re into slutty, hot women, Aubrey Plaza.

The road tripping, comedic film directed by Dan Mazer and written by John Philips basically pits Robert De Niro’s character together with his straight-edged grandson, portrayed by Zac Efron, on the spring break of a lifetime.  Put it this way, more happened in this movie than has ever happened in my personal life, but as my girlfriend would be the first to attest, that’s not surprising.  LOL.  I’m a bit of a bore, but I digress.

So here’s how it all goes down.  The uptight character of Jason (Efron) is a week away from being married.  However, everything changes at his grandmother’s funeral when he is basically forced into driving his free-living, now single grandfather (De Niro) to Florida for spring break, because it’s the time of year they always would have gone down there and it’s what she would have wanted for him.  Who is Jason to stand in the way of his grandmother’s wishes, right?  Right!  Now as you can imagine with this being a road trip comedy and it takes place during spring break, there’s a lot of partying, chicks rocking incredible bods in bikinis, drunken fights, epic mishaps and much more.  But what does it all come down to?  If you guess family bonding in the end, you’re freaking right.  Make no mistake about this, like any good Judd Apatow romantic comedy would be, this one’s 50 percent raunchiness and 50 percent heart/finding yourself.

The way this one played out, it felt a lot like The Hangover, but of a much lesser quality.  It kind of took a bit of time seeing De Niro like this, but once you did you feel at home wit your “dirty grandpa.”    There is plenty of raunchiness, sexual innuendo and f-bombs to go around, but surprisingly the film lacked nudity save for a couple of very quick scenes that come to mind.  That kind of surprises me given the subject matter and cruelty of it all.  The jokes and quirks you pick up if you’re not laughing too hard are what made this film work for me, not to mention the facial expressions of Zac Efron.  Sometimes just looking at the cringe on his face kept me in the game.  However, I think the real shining moment in this film is when they made a reference to The Terminator franchise.  That one quick joke was better than Terminator: Genesis as a whole and you can take that to the bank.

So while the critics didn’t get it I think your results may vary here.  If you’re not a fan of Zac Efron and you’re not willing to see this legendary actor you grew up with in a role like none other, than you already lost before beginning.  The beauty of this one, that is if you can put up with everything politically incorrect in society within here, is that you get the chance to witness onscreen Zac and Robert becoming family.  To everyone that says there’s no message to be found, I don’t know what to say.  Did you even watch the same film?  After one view, the fake family photos that introduce the characters in the beginning of Dirty Grandpa I don’t know…kinda feel real.  What do you think?

Video 

• Encoding: AVC MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Clarity/Detail: The textures in the Atlanta stone architecture (doubles as Florida in this film), landscapes, cracks in leather seats, hair, stubble and whatnot are chiseled to near perfection in this one.  All the female bods look extra awesome too in the hot “Atlanta” sun.
• Depth: There are a lot of shots where depth of field is prominently on display, but perhaps none more impressive than the golf course scenery where our grandfather and grandson partake in a short round of golf before being interrupted by a picture message.
• Black Levels: The black levels are mostly all deep and inky throughout.  I say mostly because there are scenes where they’re not as inky and pitch black as I would like, for instance in the one night club scene.
• Color Reproduction: The colors are vivid and bright, but change tonally from scene-to-scene to kind of put you in the atmosphere so to speak.  The most vibrant are the ones that take place under the sun such as the pool scenes.  The blue eyes of Zac’s onscreen girlfriend are radiant and breathtaking too.  I’m just saying,
• Flesh Tones: The skin tones are all lifelike and natural, and most importantly a lot of flesh is prominently on display throughout here.  Haha.
• Noise/Artifacts: I did not notice any noise or unwanted artifacts that would keep you from enjoying this near perfect presentation.

Audio 

• Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, English SDH
• Dynamics: The dynamics are well developed and equalized here, but like every other comedy in this genre without a kicking soundtrack things just get really dialogue heavy  That’s no fault to this presentation at all, but just the reality of the situation.  The film’s soundtrack is where things really kick and go bump in the night, but more about that down below.
• Low Frequency Extension: You will instantly notice the subwoofer pumping due to the soundtrack and musical selections employed throughout here due to the film’s party like atmosphere.  You have to keep the jams thumping, right?  Of course you do!
• Surround Sound Presentation: Besides the LFE presentation, this is probably the only area I would have loved to have heard beefed up because without atmospheric and ambiance moments, the rears only come alive (in a big way though) during the film’s many party-like soundtrack hits that get you in the right state of mind to watch this one.  When this happens, the rears truly do put you in the middle of everything and I loved those moments.
• Dialogue Reproduction: The dialog is clear and intelligible, but at times not overly loud.  However, you should have no problem in this department.  I didn’t.  I’m just spoiled and used to hearing that center track with a little more oomph.

Extras 

Dirty Grandpa arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate with some extras to keep you busy.  Dirty Grandpa not only features an informative audio commentary courtesy of the filmmakers, but also a few featurettes here and there as well as a redeemable HD digital copy code good for both iTunes and UltraViolet.  Can you even ask for anything more?  Check out below all the extras you’ll find here on the Unrated Blu-ray of Dirty Grandpa.

• Filthy Filmmakers Who Have No Shame – Here we have the film’s audio commentary which features the director, producers and even the writer.  It was interesting listening to this one because they are all in love with DeNiro in the making of this film, but mostly because this was also the first time they were seeing this particular unrated cut.  All in all, these guys have a lot of fun talking over this one.  It was interesting to learn a tip Efron passed onto the filmmakers.  He said the glucose in eating gummy bears makes your muscles pop out.  He ate them before certain scenes you’ll find in here.  It’s also amazing to know what is airbrushed out and what isn’t.  LOL.
• The Filthy Truth: The Making of Dirty Grandpa (HD, 9:50) – This one is brief, but there’s a lot of good stuff included here such as what it’s like to work with Robert in this film, the fun everyone had and even the improv banter between the great one and Aubrey.
• Daytona Heat (HD, 3:47) – This was a mock audition featuring the two officers in the film (think the cops from The Hangover or even the COPS television show).
• Lessons in Seduction (HD, 3:13) – This one is a video of Lenore’s (Aubrey) guide to having sex with older men as she counts down.
• I Got Nothin’ to Hide: A Look at Daytona’s Most Vibrant Drug Dealer (HD, 5:58) – This one is all about the character of Pam (Mantzoukas), my favorite character in the film.
• Gag Reel (1:39) – This one was rather uneventful.

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Now that we got the obligatory extras out of the way gaze your eyes downwards at the superior swag Lionsgate surprised me with this past Saturday morning.

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Dirty Grandpa evidence bag anyone?

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A bikini top, condom, cocktail list and Dick’s Little Helpers

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Summary 

So there you have it.  I was not expecting to be reviewing this title over the weekend, but life can throw much worse surprises your way.  I enjoyed this little everyday, raunchy comedy and I’m happy to add it to my collection.  As far as your tastes are concerned, well I really can’t say other than your results may vary with Dirty Grandpa.  Maybe give it a chance at a Redbox or something if you’re unsure.  However, if you MUST-OWN everything that Robert De Niro is in, then you know what to do down below.  Pre-order!  Have a good summer!

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Own Dirty Grandpa on Blu-ray May 17th!

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