Coyote Ugly appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray disc. While not terrible, the image felt inconsistent.
Sharpness usually seemed pretty good, those that domain came with ups and downs. In particular, interiors veered a little soft, though not terribly so. Definition generally appeared positive but not great.
I noticed no jagged edges or shimmering, but light edge haloes came up at times. The image came with a fairly “digital” look and showed mild instances of specks and marks through the film.
Colors went with a broad palette but not one that seemed especially vivid. The tones came across heavier than I’d like and they only occasionally achieved vivacious impact.
Blacks could be a bit dense, and shadows felt somewhat thick as well. This never turned into an unwatchable presentation, but it suffered from way more issues than I’d anticipate from a fairly modern movie.
The PCM 5.1 soundfield mainly focused on the mix of pop music heard throughout the film, and these tunes became showcased neatly. The songs spread clearly across the forward speakers and they also receive strong reinforcement from the rears.
During the “action” sequences in the bar, the music took over the mix to nice advantage. Effects also benefited from the broad and engaging soundfield, though to a lesser degree.
This wasn’t the kind of movie that used lots of positional audio, but the sound designers were able to create a fairly involving presence for a variety of effects, and they appeared to pan across channels smoothly.
Audio quality seemed solid. Dialogue always appeared distinct and natural, with no signs of edginess or problems related to intelligibility.
Effects came across as clean and realistic without any distortion. Music remained the star of the show, and the songs appeared bright and bold.
The tunes displayed fine clarity and boasted nice bass response; the soundtrack cleanly represented the original tracks. All in all, the audio added a positive dimension to the film.
How did the Blu-ray compare to the 2005 DVD? The lossless audio presented stronger impact and range, while visuals came across marginally superior at best. The format’s advantages allowed the Blu-ray to feel more stable but the transfer’s concerns meant it offered less of an improvement than hoped.
On this Blu-ray, we get two different editions of the film. In addition to the theatrical version (1:40:47), we find an extended cut (1:47:30).
You’ll find a bit of extra sex in the new cut. We get a lovemaking scene between Kevin and Violet that offers quick shots of Adam Garcia’s butt and longer images of Piper Perabo’s body double’s breasts.
The longer cut also adds a shopping scene with Violet and Cammie as well as extensions to bar dance sequences. These seem decent but they don’t make an appreciable difference in the film.
Alongside the Extended Cut, we get an audio commentary from the Coyotes themselves. That means we get remarks from the sexy young actresses involved: Piper Perabo, Tyra Banks, Maria Bello, Bridget Moynahan, and Izabella Miko.
This track becomes somewhat screen specific, though the topics varied a lot, and seems to mostly have been recorded in one session with all of the ladies present. However, it sounds like some of the statements - especially those from Bello and Banks - may have come from a separate taping.
Nonetheless, it’s clear that the women gathered together for much of the commentary, and this fact makes the track much more fun than one might expect. The actresses provide no terrific revelations, but their spunky energy is contagious and they gave me a perspective that usually doesn’t get covered. It’s not a fantastically informative piece but it becomes very entertaining and charming, and I definitely enjoyed it.
In addition, we get comments from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director David McNally that pop up sporadically. Their notes fill some of the piece’s dead spots.
The men provide a few mildly interesting statements but don’t tell us much of substance, mainly due to the brevity of their pieces. Each one speaks for only about five minutes each. Still, they use up spaces that otherwise would go dead, so I’m fine with their inclusion.
Most of the rest of the disc’s extras consist of video snippets connected by a common theme. Happily, these areas also include the “Play All” option, so I didn’t have to constantly return to menus to check out the next part. Since the various bits are pretty short, this becomes a very useful feature.
Search for the Stars uses three mini-pieces to look at how the various actors got their roles. The first takes on Perabo, while the second examines the other Coyotes and the last one discusses Garcia. These run a total of 10 minutes, 54 seconds and rarely go beyond the kind of material you’d find in the usual promotional featurette.
Best of the bunch is Perabo’s area, if just because it includes parts of her screen test. Ultimately the clips are watchable but unspectacular.
Next up is Inside the Songs, a three-minute, 37-second section that looks at the movie’s lame music. Schlockmeister extraordinaire Diane Warren composed most of the tracks, and we hear from her, singer LeAnn Rimes, and various cast and crew.
The excessive praise of Warren nauseates me, but otherwise the pieces seems decent. Most interesting to me was the fact Rimes did all of Perabo’s singing in the film - as Johnny Carson used to say, I did not know that!
Coyote 101 gives us three more mini-features, all of which concentrate on the work the actresses had to do for their roles. These run a total of six minutes, 43 seconds.
In these segments, we hear from Banks, Bello, Perabo, Bruckheimer, Miko, Garcia, additional choreography Lavelle Smith Jr., choreographer Travis Payne and technical advisor Jennifer Curran. As with the other pieces, the clips are moderately interesting but nothing especially compelling.
Five Additional Scenes last a total of seven minutes, two seconds. For the most part, these expand upon some of the characters, and Melanie Lynskey’s Beth receives the most attention. None of them were especially great scenes, but it’s nice to see a little excised material.
Less useful is Action Overload, where we find one minute, 11 seconds worth of the movie’s “action clips”. It seems kind of pointless to me, but if it interests you, have fun!
Lastly, we discover the film’s theatrical trailer and the music video for LeAnn Rimes’ version of “Can’t Fight the Moonlight”. Yes, it’s another craptacular tune from Diane Warren, and the video conveniently consists entirely of snippets from the movie.
We see Rimes’ end-of-the-film performance of the song interspersed with the usual array of different shots from the flick. It’s nothing special, but it’s not terrible.
The disc opens with ads for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.
Coyote Ugly won no awards, but that doesn’t make it a terrible film. Though formulaic and predictable, the movie portrays its subject with enough spark and energy to make it worth a look. The Blu-ray brings good audio and supplements but picture quality disappoints. Coyote Ugly may not be a classic, but it’s a fairly charming diversion.
To rate this film, visit the prior review of COYOTE UGLY
