Drillbit Taylor appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie featured a good transfer.
Sharpness usually appeared acceptably accurate and detailed. At times, however, I found the image to come across as a little fuzzy and soft, with lesser definition seen in some of the wide shots. Nonetheless, most of the movie appeared clear and appropriately focused.
Moiré effects and jagged edges presented no concerns, and edge haloes remained absent. No print flaws materialized, so the film remained clean and fresh.
In terms of colors, the flick went with a subdued set of tones, with a golden tint to things. Within those parameters, the tones looked fine.
Blacks were dark and firm, while shadows appeared clear and well-developed. The image worked fine.
As for the film’s Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack, it offered a functional effort and that was all. Of course, I didn’t expect a dazzling soundfield from this sort of comedy, and I got exactly what I anticipated.
Surround usage stayed limited most of the time. A few “action” scenes opened things up in a minor way, but the rear speakers really had little to do here.
In those forward channels, the music provided decent stereo separation and opened up the mix reasonably well. There wasn’t a whole lot of activity or movement, but they conveyed a passable sense of space and place. The track functioned appropriately for the story.
Audio quality appeared fine. Dialogue was consistently warm and natural, and speech displayed no concerns related to edginess or intelligibility.
Effects were a minor component of the mix, and they seemed appropriately subdued and accurate; there wasn’t much to hear, but the various elements were clean and distinct.
The music came across as acceptably distinctive. This was a standard “comedy mix” and became a decent reproduction of the material.
How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? The BD’s lossless audio showed a little more range than the lossy DVD, but the limited nature of the mix restricted improvements.
Visuals offered more obvious upgrades, though, as the Blu-ray seemed better defined and more vivid than the DVD. This turned into a worthwhile step up in quality.
The Blu-ray shares the DVD’s extras, and we start with an audio commentary from director Steven Brill, writer Kristofor Brown, and actors Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley and David Dorfman. Brill and Brown participate in the entire running, screen-specific chat, while the actors come in gradually.
Dorfman shows up briefly, Gentile pops in mid-film, and Hartley appears toward the end. Gentile and Hartley overlap for a short period, but usually the actors comment without their peers.
The commentary looks at locations and sets, cast, characters and performances, story and script issues, and various trivia tidbits. The track usually works best when the actors don’t get involved. Brill and Brown offer some good notes and prove entertaining as well.
When the performers come into the picture, the piece becomes fluffier and less informative. Overall, it ends up as a pretty good track; it has its faults, but it keeps us involved most of the time.
19 Deleted and Extended Scenes last a total of 23 minutes, 32 seconds. Not a single bit here adds to the story or characters, but plenty of amusing moments appear. I don’t know how they would’ve worked in the final cut, but they’re fun to see.
Next we find a 14-minute featurette called The Writers Get a Chance to Talk. It presents remarks from Brown and co-writer Seth Rogen as they chat about their relationship with producer Judd Apatow, character and story notes, alternate ideas not used in the final film, and thoughts about a potential sequel.
“Talk” is essentially a casual phone conversation between Rogen and Brown, and it proves quite fun. They cover a lot of good details about the script and make the result eminently enjoyable as well.
More cut material comes from Line-O-Rama. It offers a four-minute, 24-second collection of alternate lines. These mostly come from scenes that made the flick but provide different takes. That makes them entertaining.
After this we find a four-minute, one-second Gag Reel. These offer the usual goofs and giggles. A few interesting alternate lines also appear, but not enough to allow this to rise above the level of the standard blooper nonsense.
Five short featurettes follow. Rap Off goes for three minutes, 35 seconds as it shows Gentile and Alex Frost as they work through their lines for the big rap confrontation scene. It’s a good look behind the scenes.
In the three-minute, 24-second Sprinkler Day, we find more candid footage of the set. This follows the scene in which Drillbit sets off the school’s sprinklers to save the kids. It intercuts too many movie shots so it’s not as revealing as one might expect.
Bully fills two minutes, 59 seconds with shots of the movie’s baddies. It’s a “greatest hits” reel that combines film clips and behind the scenes images. Not much of interest materializes.
For the three-minute, two-second Directing Kids, we find outtakes of the young actors as they goof around during the shoot and see how Brill worked with them. Despite the piece’s brevity, enough intriguing moments emerge to make it worthwhile.
Finally, The Real Don: Danny McBride goes for five minutes, 46 seconds as it allows us to hear the actor’s thoughts on his character. He jokes around a lot, and he occasionally offers some amusing comments. Nothing terribly informative appears, though.
The disc ends with two trailers for Taylor.
Note that the Blu-ray comes with some featurettes absent from the DVD. We find “Panhandle”, “Kids on the Loose”, “Super Billy”, “Bodyguard”, “Trading Punches”, “Filkins Fight” and “The Life of Don”.
Normally I would discuss these, but the rental Blu-ray of Taylor I got suffered from scratches that rendered these unwatchable. Based on what I read, they fall into the same vein as the featurettes found on the DVD, so they should offer similar content.
As a comedy, Drillbit Taylor gives us a smattering of laughs but it never quite sizzles. Though the movie proves acceptably entertaining, it doesn’t become anything more substantial or memorable; it’s a “B”-level effort. The Blu-ray provides good picture and acceptable audio along with a long roster of extras. This is a perfectly positive release for a generally watchable flick.
To rate this film visit the DVD review of DRILLBIT TAYLOR
