I may have backed myself into a corner on the Film at 11 podcast a couple weeks ago. At the end of our E.T. episode, I made my son Joseph play a game where he picked a random year, from which I would then need to choose a movie for our next episode together. Joseph landed on 2007, and looking through everything released that year, I didn’t find a lot of inspiration. (Sorry, my other son is the Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean fan.) Upon consulting with my wife, I eventually decided to try the musical remake of Hairspray, which neither Joseph nor I had ever seen.
I had watched the original John Waters version of Hairspray many years ago but, generally speaking, Broadway musicals one of my least favorite forms of popular entertainment. As such, I may not have gone into the musical remake with the greatest of expectations. Fortunately, the movie is not just tolerable, but perhaps even modestly enjoyable. The subject matter also gave Joseph and I some worthwhile topics to discuss in the podcast.
All things considered, however, I still would have rather watched the 1988 film version again instead.
| Title: | Hairspray |
| Year of Release: | 2007 |
| Directors: | Adam Shankman |
| Watched On: | Fandango at Home (VUDU) |
| Also Available On: | Various VOD rental and purchase platforms |
Video Streaming
I don’t own a copy of Hairspray, so I had to rent it from Fandango at Home, which streams the movie in so-called “HDX” format at 1080p resolution. The 2.39:1 image is acceptably sharp, though I suspect a less-compressed physical media copy might bring out a little more detail. The picture is also bright and colorful, but the contrast is slightly flat and those colors lack much depth.
Hairspray was shot on Super 35 film with a 2K Digital Intermediate. I don’t know that a 4K edition would really offer much improvement, but HDR grading might help some small amount. However, given that this isn’t a movie I’m terribly inclined to need to own, HD streaming is perfectly watchable.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack does well with all the movie’s music, which sounds big and broad and fills the room nicely. Song lyrics are all intelligible. Bass may be light, but it seems adequate enough.
Related
- Christopher Walken
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- James Marsden
The Video File Blog 