My take: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

HD Goofnut · 07-31-2010, 07:55 PM

Title: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
BD-50 Dual-Layer Disc/Two Disc Set
Video: 1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish
Run time: 100 minutes
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment
Rating: Unrated
Region Coding: Region Free
Equipment used for review: Sharp LC-46SB57UN 46" 120Hz 1080p LCD (24fps), Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Receiver, Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1, & LG BH200 Super Blu

Cast/Crew Info:
John Cusack as Adam
Clark Duke as Jacob
Craig Robinson as Nick
Rob Corddry as Lou
Sebastian Stan as Blaine
Lyndsy Fonseca as Jenny
Crispin Glover as Phil
Chevy Chase as Repairman
Charlie McDermott as Chaz
Lizzy Caplan as April
Collette Wolfe as Kelly
Directed by Steve Pink

My take: (the breakdown)

Hot Tub Time Machine is most certainly one of the funnier films I have seen in recent months and it's good to see Kusack in a role that doesn't involve breaking the laws of physics during the end of the world. Adam, Nick, and Lou are just three friends that made all of the wrong choices after a 1986 vacation to Kodiak Valley called Winterfest. When Lou has some doubts about going on with his life the three, plus Adam's nephew Jacob, decide to go up to Kodiak Valley for some relaxation and male bonding. When some unknown Russian energy drink is accidentally onto the control panel of the hot tub the four are instantaneously transported back to Winterfest of 1986 where the three friends originally changed their life for the worse. Adam believes that history must be repeated verbatim or their lives could have dire consequences in the future. Will the four be able to get back to recreate the past so they can safely get back to the present? This one is at least worth renting just to find out and some will even want to purchase this one. Due to excessive profanity, brief violence, and brief nudity this one is not children of any age.

Most of you reading this already know that comedies tend to not look as good as other genres when it comes to Blu-ray. Fortunately, Hot Tub Time Machine doesn't fall into that stereotype, but it does have just a couple hiccups. Firstly, colors are extremely well saturated and there are plenty of vibrant hues that really stand out, especially during the 1986 scenes. Flesh tones seem to be accurate as well. Grain is light and remains consistent throughout the film's run time and I didn't notice any DNR whatsoever. Fine detail is above average for the most part, but there are several scenes that seem to be a great deal softer than the rest of the film. Who knows whether it was intentional or not, but it would have been nice it would have been uniform. I also noticed a few unresolved blacks in some of the darker scenes, but this was relatively minor. Overall I was satisfied with this Blu-ray transfer.

As has become almost standard for U.S. Blu-ray releases Hot Tub Time Machine is provided with an 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track that is about on par with the video transfer. Dialogue is always clear and well prioritized without any noticeable issues. The surrounds are mainly used for the bombastic 80s hits that are spread throughout the film. They are sporadically used for discrete sounds, but I felt that they could have been used more often. Many of the 80s songs light up the LFE rather effectively, but other than that the sub never really has too much to do. Given the fact we are referring to a comedy I am definitely satisfied with the mix even if it's not of reference material.

Please keep in mind that the screen captures below can look different when the film is in motion. You must click on the image in the link to view it in its original resolution. Also, to achieve the most accurate view of the screen captures be sure your monitor is set to a resolution of 1920 x 1080. As always thanks for reading folks.

The worst part about this Blu-ray release of Hot Tub Time Machine is definitely the provided supplemental package. First up is 11 minutes of deleted scenes, which provide a few more chuckles and that's about it. Next, is a collection of four promotional spots totaling about six minutes that are really just studio advertising pieces with little real substance. Rounding out the extra features is the film's theatrical trailer. On the plus side all of the above features are presented in 1080p. Finally, there's also a digital copy located on a second disc.

Movie: 7/10
VQ: 8/10
AQ: 8/10
Supplements: 3/10
Final word: A Purchase For Fans

oblioman · 07-31-2010, 09:04 PM

Thanks Goof! The lass had been wanting to rent this, but me read a different review saying it wasn't funny,,,just fodder. We''ll take yer advice and use it as a rental. Again, thank you for the hard work and poignant review.

HD Goofnut · 07-31-2010, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oblioman

Thanks Goof! The lass had been wanting to rent this, but me read a different review saying it wasn't funny,,,just fodder. We''ll take yer advice and use it as a rental. Again, thank you for the hard work and poignant review.

No problem oblio. My wife and I watched this together yesterday and we both thought it was funny.

ZoSo · 08-23-2010, 01:23 PM

Made it back on here, finally...I had no interest whatsoever in this movie until I saw the trailer. Having read your great review, I now have to watch it! Thanks again for all the notes and details in your reviews.

07-31-2010, 07:55 PM	#1
HD Goofnut The Official HDF Reviewer Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mississippi, U.S.A. Your resident Dune, Star Wars, and war film expert Posts: 8,254	My take: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) Title: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) BD-50 Dual-Layer Disc/Two Disc Set Video: 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish Run time: 100 minutes Studio: MGM Home Entertainment Rating: Unrated Region Coding: Region Free Equipment used for review: Sharp LC-46SB57UN 46" 120Hz 1080p LCD (24fps), Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Receiver, Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1, & LG BH200 Super Blu Cast/Crew Info: John Cusack as Adam Clark Duke as Jacob Craig Robinson as Nick Rob Corddry as Lou Sebastian Stan as Blaine Lyndsy Fonseca as Jenny Crispin Glover as Phil Chevy Chase as Repairman Charlie McDermott as Chaz Lizzy Caplan as April Collette Wolfe as Kelly Directed by Steve Pink My take: (the breakdown) Hot Tub Time Machine is most certainly one of the funnier films I have seen in recent months and it's good to see Kusack in a role that doesn't involve breaking the laws of physics during the end of the world. Adam, Nick, and Lou are just three friends that made all of the wrong choices after a 1986 vacation to Kodiak Valley called Winterfest. When Lou has some doubts about going on with his life the three, plus Adam's nephew Jacob, decide to go up to Kodiak Valley for some relaxation and male bonding. When some unknown Russian energy drink is accidentally onto the control panel of the hot tub the four are instantaneously transported back to Winterfest of 1986 where the three friends originally changed their life for the worse. Adam believes that history must be repeated verbatim or their lives could have dire consequences in the future. Will the four be able to get back to recreate the past so they can safely get back to the present? This one is at least worth renting just to find out and some will even want to purchase this one. Due to excessive profanity, brief violence, and brief nudity this one is not children of any age. Most of you reading this already know that comedies tend to not look as good as other genres when it comes to Blu-ray. Fortunately, Hot Tub Time Machine doesn't fall into that stereotype, but it does have just a couple hiccups. Firstly, colors are extremely well saturated and there are plenty of vibrant hues that really stand out, especially during the 1986 scenes. Flesh tones seem to be accurate as well. Grain is light and remains consistent throughout the film's run time and I didn't notice any DNR whatsoever. Fine detail is above average for the most part, but there are several scenes that seem to be a great deal softer than the rest of the film. Who knows whether it was intentional or not, but it would have been nice it would have been uniform. I also noticed a few unresolved blacks in some of the darker scenes, but this was relatively minor. Overall I was satisfied with this Blu-ray transfer. As has become almost standard for U.S. Blu-ray releases Hot Tub Time Machine is provided with an 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track that is about on par with the video transfer. Dialogue is always clear and well prioritized without any noticeable issues. The surrounds are mainly used for the bombastic 80s hits that are spread throughout the film. They are sporadically used for discrete sounds, but I felt that they could have been used more often. Many of the 80s songs light up the LFE rather effectively, but other than that the sub never really has too much to do. Given the fact we are referring to a comedy I am definitely satisfied with the mix even if it's not of reference material. Please keep in mind that the screen captures below can look different when the film is in motion. You must click on the image in the link to view it in its original resolution. Also, to achieve the most accurate view of the screen captures be sure your monitor is set to a resolution of 1920 x 1080. As always thanks for reading folks. The worst part about this Blu-ray release of Hot Tub Time Machine is definitely the provided supplemental package. First up is 11 minutes of deleted scenes, which provide a few more chuckles and that's about it. Next, is a collection of four promotional spots totaling about six minutes that are really just studio advertising pieces with little real substance. Rounding out the extra features is the film's theatrical trailer. On the plus side all of the above features are presented in 1080p. Finally, there's also a digital copy located on a second disc. Movie: 7/10 VQ: 8/10 AQ: 8/10 Supplements: 3/10 Final word: A Purchase For Fans __________________ Living Room Sharp LC-46SB57UN 46" 120Hz 1080p LCD (24fps)-Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Receiver-Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1-Phillips OTA HD Antenna-Nintendo Wii-LG BH200 Super Blu-Toshiba HD-A20 Bedroom Sanyo DP46848 46" 60Hz 1080p LCD-Terk OTA HD Antenna-Magnavox NB500MG9 Office HP G60 Laptop-HP 2159m 21.5" 60Hz 1080p LCD-Logitech X-540 5.1-Sony 40 GB PS3-ASUS SBC-06D1S-U External BD Drive-Toshiba HD-A2 My Movie Collection 420~136 Latest BD Review: *After.Life* Last edited by HD Goofnut; 07-31-2010 at 09:47 PM.

07-31-2010, 09:04 PM	#2
oblioman L2W,,,Godspeed Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Someville TN Posts: 7,223	Thanks Goof! The lass had been wanting to rent this, but me read a different review saying it wasn't funny,,,just fodder. We''ll take yer advice and use it as a rental. Again, thank you for the hard work and poignant review. __________________ HANG UP AND DRIVE

08-23-2010, 01:23 PM	#4
ZoSo Steelers & Flyers in HD! Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 162	Made it back on here, finally...I had no interest whatsoever in this movie until I saw the trailer. Having read your great review, I now have to watch it! Thanks again for all the notes and details in your reviews. __________________ Equipment: VIZIO SV422XVT 42" 1080p LCD, JVC Receiver, D*TV HR21-200, Xbox 360 Elite, PS3 80 GB Xbox Live: iZoSo PSN: ZoSo1969 Recent BD: Alice in Wonderland, Date Night, Unthinkable, Kick-Ass, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince http://www.invelos.com/dvdcollection.aspx/RedDragon