Tower Heist - Blu-ray Review

4.2 Stars (out of 5) – Rated PG-13

Synopsis

When a group of workers at a ritzy Manhattan condo realize their boss has swindled them out of their pensions, they vow to reap their own justice. With the cooperation of the building manager, the group devises an ingenious plot to recover the funds. (Buy Now $20.49)

Listen to the Review

Starring:

Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Michael Peña, Téa Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe, Alan Alda, Judd Hirsch, Nina Arianda

Director:

Brett Ratner

Blu-ray Release Date:

February, 21, 2012

Subtitles:

English SDH, French, Spanish

Rating

Overall rating weighted as follows:
Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%, Movie - its just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio 3.9 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

• Subwoofer – 3.0 Stars
• Dialog – 5.0 Stars
• Surround Effects – 3.0 Stars
• Dynamic Range –  4.5 Stars

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: DTS 5.1, Spanish: DTS 5.1

Tower Heist’s audio mix really doesn’t steal the show. It’s not a bad DTS-HD presentation, it’s just not exciting. Dialog sounds great, and the witty banter ever misses your ears. It’s also very crisp sounding with creaking cables, blowing wind, and random background ambiance. However, this film is front heavy, and doesn’t have much action for surround speakers. They can be heard during a couple of car chases, elevator doors, and car horns. If it weren’t for the decent musical score the low end of the mix may have been ignored completely.

Video  4.7 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison

• Color Accuracy  - 4.5 Stars
• Shadow detail – 4.5 Stars
• Clarity – 5.0 Stars
• Skin tones – 4.5 Stars
• Compression – 5.0 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1, Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Warm colors and crisp detail make this film look great. The clarity is so clean that every grey hair on Broderick’s and Stiller’s head could be counted if you paused the movie. Tiny pinstripes on expensive suits, small freckles and wrinkles on faces also show great detail. Colors are warm and are sometimes a little hot. It makes colors on car paint, buildings, and the Thanksgiving Day parade look great, but it sometimes makes skin tones look a little too red or orange. Dark scenes look decent and loose very little details to the darkness.

Bonus Features 4.0 Stars (out of 5)

• Audio Commentary: Director Brett Ratner, editor Mark Helfrich and co-writers Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson
• U-Control Experience (HD): Two U-Control tracks give a  Picture-in-Picture experience and a "Music of Tower Heist
• Second Screen Interactive Experience (HD): Download the "pocket Blu" app from iTunes, the Android marketplace or pocketBLU.com, sync your tablet, PC or Mac with the film, and enjoy yet another interactive experience.
• Brett Ratner's Video Diary (HD, 23 minutes): A behind-the-scenes look at the production of the film.
• Plotting Tower Heist (HD, 45 minutes): More behind the scenes videos broken up into 6 segments.
  • "The Ratner/Grazer Connection - Parts One, Two and Three”
  • "The Conspirators"
  • "Set Pieces"
  • "The Car"
• Alternate Endings (HD, 3 minutes): Two different alternate endings which are really deleted scenes: "15 Months Later" and "Lester's Bar".
• Deleted/Alternate Scenes (HD, 6 minutes): Nine scenes -- "Dead Fish Toto," "Charlie Arrives Late," "Charlie Invites Josh to Baby's 1st Circus," "Queens Girl," "Fitzhugh Matlock," "Blue Black," "Charlie's Speech," "Happy Thanksgiving Mr. Attal" and "Last Half Plea Bargain"
• Gag Reel (HD, 4 minutes)
• BD-Live Functionality and News Ticker
• My Scenes Bookmarking

Movie – 3.5 Stars (out of 5)

Review

Tower Heist is an entertaining unique film that might get better with multiple viewings. The beginning of this movie is a little sad but picks up when Eddie Murphy’s character is injected into the storyline. Even though Murphy doesn’t have much screen time, his charismatic performance reminded me why he was such a huge star in the 1980s. The entire cast did a great job bringing life to the ragtag team of inexperienced thieves trying to stick it to the man. This movie is funny, but it’s mostly a subtle humor that doesn’t go for cheep laughs. It was interesting to see veteran
Alan Alda play a cold and calculating Bernie Madoff type and come across so heartless.

I have to say, that this is the most original heist film I have ever seen. The people committing the heist aren’t really bad guys, they aren’t just doing it for the money, and things don’t go very smoothly. Even though there were a few plot holes in the story, it was enjoyable to watch mainly because of the talented cast and the fresh take on a heist film.