nirvanna the band the show the movie appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc – well, partly, as the “2008” scenes used the era’s 1.33:1 video cameras.
That meant inevitable visual anomalies. Though the film needed these to work, they left us with an intentionally inconsistent visual experience.
The “modern-day” shots seemed pretty good, as they displayed largely solid sharpness. Some softness still occurred but these clips usually brought appealing accuracy.
The hi-def bits also lacked jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. These parts didn’t show source defects.
Colors felt fairly natural and blacks worked fine. While not terrific, the “modern-day” bits looked pretty good.
Unsurprisingly, the 1.33:1 video clips suffered from mediocre definition along with jaggies and shimmering. Video artifacts also appeared, especially in the fairly thick low-light shots.
For the video bits, colors felt dull and flat, and blacks seemed mushy. All of this became inevitable with the nature of the video source.
I found it tough to assign an accurate grade to the visuals because the Blu-ray did represent the original photography well. However, the end product became too unattractive at times for me to give it more than “C+”.
As for the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it offered a limited soundfield, one that remained consistent across the film’s eras. This meant effects and dialogue rarely – if ever – felt anything other than monaural.
The soundscape did expand nicely when it came to music, as songs and score used all five channels in an active manner. These components delivered appealing breadth.
Audio quality satisfied, with speech that appeared concise and natural. Effects lacked much impact because they played a small role but they seemed reasonably accurate.
Like I mentioned, music turned into the most important aspect of the track, and score/songs felt full and warm. All of this seemed underwhelming but good enough for a “B-“.
As we shift to extras, we find two separate audio commentaries, the first of which comes from writer/actor Jay McCarrol, writer/actor/director Matt Johnson, cinematographer Jared Raab, and producer Matt Greyson. All four sit together for a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, sets and locations, music, photography, editing, and various challenges connected to the film’s loose “guerilla” style.
On the negative side, Johnson eats pizza through the discussion so smacking sounds become a persistent irritant. The other participants even complain about this, but Johnson continues his feast.
As someone new to the nirvanna world, I also would’ve liked a little primer, especially to find out why a documentary crew has followed Jay and Matt for 17 years. However, I understand that the guys probably figure that anyone who listens to a nirvanna commentary already knows that backstory.
In any case, this becomes a fairly good look at the processes involved with the shoot. I’d like a little more detail than we get – and less eating from Johnson – but the track still gives us a fair amount of useful info.
For the second commentary, we hear from Johnson, editors Robert Upchurch and Curt Lobb and VFX supervisor Tristan Zerafa. All four sit together for a look at editing and effects – duh – along with music, photography, and other technical areas.
This becomes the more satisfying of the two commentaries, mainly because it conveys the many production challenges in a more involving way. Oh, and Johnson doesn’t eat/smack his gob constantly, so that becomes a big plus.
Under Home Movies, we get 11 minutes, 48 seconds of behind the scenes footage from the shoot. Apparently shot with circa 2008 cameras, the quality stinks but the content proves moderately informative.
Animatics presents a look at the planning for "Back to 2008" (11:58) and "Running Cable" (5:59) with a mix of crude cartoons and some rehearsal footage. Both segments seem interesting.
Next comes an Alternate Opening (3:54) and a Deleted Scene called "Ethan" (2:26). The former doesn't seem especially different than the actual sequence, though it comes with more exposition and drags.
"Ethan" involves a character of that time who interacts with Matt about planning to get back to 2025. It comes with some amusement but also seems like it digs into unnecessary shoe leather.
Figured It Out fills 20 minutes, 44 seconds and shows a montage of shorter cut scenes and some behind the scenes material. This doesn't become the most coherent package but we find a fair amount of entertaining tidbits.
Finally, we locate Episode One (21:18) of nirvanna the band the show. . It would've been good to see the debut of the original web series, but nonetheless, I like the chance to check out the debut of the 2017-18 version.
The disc opens with ads for Alpha (2025) and Exit 8. No trailer for nirvanna appears here.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of nirvanna. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.
With nirvanna the band the show the movie, we get a wacky twist on a buddy comedy. A giddy romp that involves time travel, the film becomes a delight. The Blu-ray includes decent picture and audio along with a good set of supplements. Expect an off-beat and clever tale.
