Fifty Shades of Grey (Blu-ray Review) at Why So Blu?

Fifty Shades of Grey (Blu-ray Review)

May 12th, 2015 by Kori Kemerer

Okay. I am sure that I will probably never hear the end about this, but I really, really enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey. Now don’t get me wrong – I’m smart enough to say it’s not great, but it’s not terrible either. To be completely honest, this is exactly what I expected from the film. Fifty Shades of Grey is based on the EXTREMELY popular and unfortunately poorly-reviewed novel of the same name by E.L.James, but boy did it ever get the housewives talking. And better yet…it’s on Blu-ray now!

Fifty Shades of Grey

Film

Literature student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) does a huge favor for her sick roommate, Kate, and goes to the Grey House building to interview the mysterious CEO of Grey Enterprises, Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). During the interview Ana discovers a sexy, yet troubled, man. She finds herself wanting to be with him, despite his stalker-like tendencies. She soon discovers that Christian is consumed by a desire to control everything, including her. Ana will soon find out that he is not interested in her becoming his girlfriend, but to become his submissive in a BDSM (look up this acronym for yourself) relationship. She would be the 16th woman to agree to such a contract with Christian. And when I say contract, I mean it literally. And then there’s Christian’s solemn promise to Ana: “I don’t make love. I F—k. Hard.” Oh My!!!

The stars of the film may be Jamie Dornan (Christian) and Dakota Johnson (Ana), but in reality the real stars are a peacock feather, riding crop and a leather whip. Oh and how can I forget, the ever popular tie. Okay, Okay. LOL. There are other names at play here too like Eloise Mumford, Max Martini, Marcia Gay Harden, Luke Grimes, Jennifer Ehle, Victor Rasuk and Rita Ora, just to name a few.

Overall, I declare that Fifty Shades of Grey is absolutely worth seeing. In my opinion, whether you have read the books or not, you will for sure be entertained. Fifty Shades of Grey was a lot funnier than I expected it would be, in a good way. And of course, there’s plenty of skin to keep your guys who don’t want to watch it with you somewhat interested in it, but don’t worry ladies, there’s something for you too. You just have to look hard at times.

Is it the raciest movie out there? No, but it has class and is a great adult drama. I’m sure the boundaries could have been pushed a lot further, but like Brian always says, it is what it is. Right? Any racier and you risk alienating your paying movie going audience, but I think the ladies would have shown up no matter what.

So what we really have here and what it is all boils down to is simply this. The unlikely romance between Christian and Ana in Fifty Shades of Grey tests the limits to how far they will go for their relationships. No matter what side you examine or root for and no matter how you slice it, this is something new for both of them. You the audience get the pleasure of seeing the awkwardness unravel from both sides. As Christian always says…

Laters, Baby!

Fifty Shades of Grey

Video

Encoding: AVC MPEG-4
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Clarity/Detail: Every stubble, pore and strand of flowing hair is prominently on display, razor sharp, for all to behold including the fabrics and textures in just about everything. All you have to do is look at the black piano in Christian’s apartment, there’s not one speck of dust on it. Make no doubt about it, things are just crisp here in this presentation like the ice cube melting against Dakota’s skin.
Depth: The onscreen characters all exhibited a three-dimensional pop lifting them up and separating them from the intricately decorated set backgrounds. Even Kate’s Apple MacBook pops in the frame. The sweeping shots of Christian’s apartment are wide and jaw dropping amazing and equally so is his ever expansive office and conference room.
Black Levels: The black levels are all deep and inky throughout whether in the club, in a helicopter at night and even in brightly lit environments.
Color Reproduction: They effectively made it feel like Seattle with the harsh rains and muted colors that go hand-in-hand with the terrain’s actual geography. So I guess you could say that the colors are accurate and screen authentic throughout with no artificial looking boosters.
Flesh Tones: The pasty white skin tones and hues are all naturally looking and authentic, not that you see a lot of skin throughout (wink, wink).
Noise/Artifacts: I didn’t notice any noise or other nasty artifacts present in the transfer that would damper your viewing pleasure of this Blu-ray presentation.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Audio

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish DTS 5.1, French DTS 5.1, English DVS (Descriptive Video Service) Dolby Digital 2.0 (for theatrical version of the film only)
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Dynamics: Depth and clarity in the presentation are all in check here. The tones, score and sounds employed here accurately recreate the onscreen atmosphere.
Low Frequency Extension: This is a drama so you shouldn’t expect too much here, but the subwoofer did come alive during the more lively scenes where the jams are pumping.
Surround Sound Presentation: During the awkward scenes with Ana it’s comical to hear the aloof sounding music dancing all around you in the surround landscape. The casual ambience, eroticism of it all and various noises employed in the surround speakers put you right in the middle of the action and immerses you even in moments when Ana is simply reading her email on her brand new Macbook from Christian Grey.
Dialogue Reproduction: The dialog rendering and levels are clear, intelligible and well prioritized throughout.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Extras

Truth be told, you definitely get more bang for your buck with Universal’s Blu-ray edition of Fifty Shades of Grey over its DVD counterpart. I made sure to point out down below everything that’s “exclusive” to Blu-ray and what you would find had you only purchased the DVD edition. In addition to everything below you also get served new Universal theatrical trailers courtesy of BD-LIVE 2.0 and a redeemable code for both the iTunes and UltraViolet Digital Copies of Fifty Shades of Grey. Last but not least, there’s a DVD included in this Combo set that houses the theatrical version of the movie in standard definition. Now let’s talk about some extras because there’s some serious meat here!

Here’s everything you’ll find here exclusive to the Blu-ray:

Fifty Shades of Grey Unrated and Theatrical Versions (HD) – You choose your path here by either selecting the theatrical version of the film, which clocks in at 2 hours and 6 minutes while its unrated cousin gives us a whopping three extra minutes of closure at the end.
Tease of Fifty Shades Darker (HD, :29) – This is a very short tease of Mr. Grey donning a black mask attempting to whet your appetite for the sequel, which ends abruptly with the tagline “coming to theaters.”
The World of Fifty Shades of Grey (HD) – Universal graciously allows you to discover the artistry involved in creating everything Fifty Shades of Grey, including in-depth profiles of stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, and the characters they play.
- CHRISTIAN GREY (HD) – Here you are able to go inside the world of Christian Grey and what makes him so magnetic and mysterious.
  - CHRISTIAN GREY PROFILE (2:46): Illustrated with film clips: Who is Christian Grey?
  - JAMIE DORNAN PROFILE (2:29): Meet the actor behind the iconic character.
  - CHRISTIAN’S APARTMENT (8:25): Living room, dining room, bedroom, bathroom and the Red Room

CHRISTIAN’S WARDROBE (3:22): A look into Christian’s wardrobe.
A RICH MAN’S TOYS (2:49): Christian’s cars, the plane, the helicopter, all of the recognizable items from the book, now on screen

ANA (HD) – Discover Anastasia and what makes her so compelling and relatable.
- ALL ABOUT ANA (2:18): Learn more about the Ana character
- DAKOTA JOHNSON PROFILE (2:51): Meet the incredible actress behind Anastasia Steele.
- ANA’S WORLD (4:55): Beginning with her life as college student to her transformation into a woman living a life of luxury with Christian Grey.
- ANA’S WARDROBE (3:46): A look into Ana’s wardrobe.

E.L. James & Fifty Shades (HD, 5:45) – Here we have a chat with the creator of Fifty Shades of Grey discussing the history of the novel, its existence and success, the relationships of the characters and the experience of making the film. We also follow the author at the film’s Premiere screening in New York and come full circle as the film is released to the fans.
Fifty Shades: The Pleasure of Pain (HD, 8:42) – Here we have a discussion with the BDSM consultant and a show-and-tell with property master. This one sounds enticing, huh? I’ll let you Google what BDSM means.
360° Set Tours of Christian and Ana’s Apartments (HD) – Here you can sift through an interactive menu presentation of stills from the following locations from the film: Living Room, Dining Room, Piano, Kitchen, Foyer, Christian Bedroom, Christian Bathroom, Anastasia Bedroom and hey now….the Red Room! It’s kind of cool as you can move around the environments and select objects, etc.
Music Videos (HD) – Here you are able to watch two music videos, Skylar Grey’s “I Know You” The Weekend’s “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey).”
Behind the Scenes of The Weekend’s “Earned It” Music Video (HD, 4:49) – This is pretty much what the name implies, a quick behind-the-scenes look at the filming of this music video.

And here’s everything else you’ll find on both the DVD and Blu-ray versions of Fifty Shades of Grey:

The World of Fifty Shades of Grey—Friends and Family (HD) – This one is kind of a continuation from the section up above (hence the same name) where we explored the characters of Ana and Christian. Here we have profiles of cast members (or the friends and family as the title implies) that include Eloise Mumford, Max Martini, Marcia Gay Harden, Luke Grimes, Jennifer Ehle, Victor Rasuk and Rita Ora
Behind the Shades (HD, 19:28) – Here you get to follow alongside director Sam Taylor-Johnson, producers E. L. James, Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti, actors Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson and the rest of the cast through the making of the movie, including a candid discussion about the most challenging aspects of the story. In other words they talk about shooting the more explicit scenes as well as chatting about the script, costumes, set decoration, shooting locations and more.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Summary

Well there you have, Fifty Shades of Grey, told from the viewpoint of a woman who definitely wasn’t disappointed by what she saw on the screen and is proud to finally own this in her Blu-ray collection. All the haters can take their criticism elsewhere. If war and explosions are your thing, there’s a patriotic review over here. Enjoy!