Get Smart Blu-ray Disc (Peter Segal, 2008)

Warner (USA)
1.85:1 1080p
110 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish, DD 5.1 Portuguese
Subtitles: Optional English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: Comedy Optimization Mode; The Old “I Hid it in the Movie” Trick; The Right Agent for the Right Job; Max in Moscow!; Language Lessons; The Vomit Reel; Spy Confidential (Gag Reel); Spying on Get Smart’s Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control; DVD Game; Digital Copy

Released: 4 November 2008
Blu-ray case

Note: The Blu-ray edition has more extras than the Two-Disc DVD edition, and since it is available for $2 to $5 more than the Two-Disc DVD, it is the best purchase if you want this movie in your collection.

Movies based on TV shows don’t always ring up big numbers at the box office despite name-brand recognition, so it’s obvious that such adaptations/re-makes are greenlighted due to the minimal amount of effort required to get a production started. After all, you don’t have to think of a fresh premise, and you don’t have to expend a lot of energy trying to get executives to “understand” your pitch. Still, I suppose anything can be “new”, especially when so much of the movie-going audience doesn’t remember shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and Get Smart.

2008’s Get Smart is not a completely successful effort, though it does have several big laughs and a winning performance by Steve Carell. Carell’s deadpan is probably the best in American comedy today, and he sells the laughs much better than his more “obvious” co-stars. (The other cast members are mostly loud and obnoxious, though the two tech geeks are pretty funny, too.) Anne Hathaway has an alluring screen presence, though I wonder why the filmmakers decided to make her character shrill and angry. Carell and Hathaway’s interactions are a big part of the movie’s appeal, especially during a passage where they sneak into a villain’s estate and dance with unlikely partners.

Alas, as is usual with big-budget Hollywood offerings, the movie descends into an orgy of rapidly-edited vehicular chases and explosions which suck all the charm out of Carell and Hathaway.

Video:
You get an excellent 1.85:1 1080p transfer. Images are sharp and clean. Sequences set in CONTROL’s high-tech offices have an appropriate high-gloss sheen. Outdoors scenes are (understandably) a little softer than ones set indoors. The CGI looks obviously fake, but Get Smart is a silly spoof anyway.

Audio:
The primary DD 5.1 English audio track is polished, loud, and efficient. You get all the deep booms that are par for the course for big-studio action movies these days, and the playful music score is as brassy as you’d expect. Be careful, though, as the explosions are really loud, so you may find yourself adjusting the volume dial quite frequently.

Yes, this is yet another recent Warner theatrical release that doesn’t get the lossless audio treatment.

Extras:
You can watch the movie with the “Comedy Optimization Mode”, which utilizes the DVD format’s branching capabilities to insert roughly 45 minutes of alternate takes of jokes and gags. (This is a 50% increase over the DVD, which has only 20 minutes of alternate material.)

The director explains allusions to the TV series in “The Old ‘I Hid it in the Movie’ Trick”.

“The Right Agent for the Right Job” shows the behind-the-scenes training that was necessary for Steve Carell to become a super spy who stumbles from time to time.

“Max in Moscow!” takes viewers to on-location shooting in Russia.

“Language Lessons” spotlights Carell’s attempts to pretend that he is conversant in various languages.

“The Vomit Reel” is self-explanatory. “Spy Confidential” is a gag reel. “Spying on Get Smart’s Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control” is an extended promo for the spin-off movie that was released on DVD and Blu-ray while the movie was still in theatres.

Like Speed Racer, the Get Smart Blu-ray edition also includes a DVD Game that can be played on a Blu-ray/DVD player. Basically, you just hit the direction and Enter buttons on your remote control.

Finally, you can also download/transfer a Digital Copy of the movie for use in portable media players.

--Miscellaneous--
You also get an Instruction Manual for the DVD Game and a cardboard slipsleeve with a 3-D cover.