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| Available at Amazon.com |
There has been numerous music legends that have released concert films over the last 3 or 4 decades. But which one has made the most money? Would you believe it’s actually a 15-year-old girl? Not likely until you find out that girl is Miley Cyrus a.k.a. “Hannah Montana”. No matter what age you are you have to know who Hannah Montana is. Miley and Hannah will make Disney close a billion dollars this year, and now you can watch her hit concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds in both high-definition and 3-D.
Best of Both Worlds is exactly that. This is a live concert with Miley singing songs herself and as her Disney Channel alter-ego. In between that, her opening act (and next money-making machine for Disney), the Jonas Brothers, perform as well. Mixed in with the live performances is footage of Miley rehearsing, joking around backstage with her family, friends, and all her “prep specialists”, and of course lots of shots of crazy fans screaming and singing along at the top of their lungs.
The songs in this film include the Hannah Montana songs “Rock Star,” “Life’s What You Make It,” “Just Like You,” “Nobody’s Perfect,” “Pumpin’ Up the Party,” “I Got Nerve,” and “We Got the Party (w/ the Jonas Brothers)”. The Jonas Brothers then do two of their hit songs, “When You Look Into My Eyes” and “Year 3000”. Finally, Miley comes out as herself to sing “Start All Over,” “See You Again,” “Let’s Dance,” “Right Here,” “I Miss You,” “Girl’s Night Out,” and “The Best of Both Worlds.” Surprisingly Miley’s music is not just for tweens. It has a definite infectious upbeat 1980s rock/pop feel to it that adults can get into as well. It’s always nice to see Miley really sing without the use of synthesizers and pre-recorded vocals. Of course, some might argue that the fans do a lot of the singing themselves.
What makes this film, and the whole franchise in general, a success is Miley Cyrus herself. She is actually very down-to-earth and knows how to entertain a crowd. She is in fact a great role model for millions of girls worldwide, despite some recent minor slip-ups. Not like she can stop that now even if you she wanted to, since this is what girls from the ages of 7 to 16 are all about today. While the “off-stage skits” don’t offer any insight into the life of Miley Cyrus, the music is upbeat and easy to sing and dance along to. As a result this concert is sure to entertain “tweens” everywhere.
There are two total different video presentations for this concert film. There is the standard high-definition version, where the video is presented in 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 at the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio, which is enhanced for 16:9 TVs of course. The transfer is fantastic with no major problems at all. The colors are vibrant and there is great detail everywhere with the exception of some of the backstage stuff. But that is only a small part of this concert film. That being said this is only a slight improvement over the standard edition DVD release of this film.
The other version of this film is in the traditional “anaglyph” red/blue process. Four pairs of your standard paper/plastic 3-D glasses are provided. However, one of the backstage stuff is in 3-D. At times, watching this film in 3-D is unbelievable. There is lots of depth, and the opening sequence is especially amazing. The usual 3-D camera tricks are used here as well with guitar picks, drumsticks, fingers, guitars, microphones, and mic stands being thrown into your face at times during the performances. Overall, it does get a little tiring on the eyes but at least it does enough things good to justify it being added to the Blu-ray version of this film.
The audio included is available in either English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio sound, Uncompressed PCM 2.0 Stereo sound, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround sound, English 2.0 Stereo sound, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, or Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. There are subtitles available in English (SDH), French, Spanish, and Portuguese as well. This film sounds outstanding. The first ever 7.1 DTS-MA for Disney is put to good use here. It provides the most atmosphere and makes you feel like you are at the concert yourself. The other options are excellent as well, and there is hardly anything you can complain about here.
Blu-Ray Exclusives
The option to view this concert film in 3-D is the only extra that is added to the Blu-ray version, and for the most part it’s a worthy addition as mentioned above.
Found on Standard Edition As Well…
“The Ultimate Personal Tour” Featurette –
This runs 11 minutes and it’s basically an interview with Miley Cyrus. She takes you “behind-the-scenes” to give you a look at what a day is like for her when she has to perfor later that night. The Jonas Brothers make an appearance as well. There is some candid footage of Miley and the Jonas Brothers, but this really nothing but a big “fluff” piece that fans will surely eat up.
Sing-Along Option –
There is a option to have the lyrics displayed at the bottom of the screen for eight songs from film. They include all of the songs from Hannah Montana and only one Miley song “Best of Both Worlds”. So sing your heart out!
Bonus Songs –
Two songs that are not in the main feature are included here. There are “Good And Broken” by Miley Cyrus and “SOS” by the Jonas Brothers. The video and audio quality is the same as all the other songs in the film, as it would seem these only got cut for time reasons.
This is the best version of this film without a doubt. The 3-D version is an added bonus, but the video and audio quality is the best you can ever hope to find for a concert film on TV. If you happen to get the standard edition DVD of this, you won’t be that disappointed but the 3-D version is worth a look. Of course, I’m talking to hardcore fans of Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. But this is actually worth a rental for non-fans, if you can handle the madness or are just curious about the 3-D version. Of course, it’s not recommended viewing for anyone except the “tween” market.
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Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment presents Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert. Directed by Bruce Hendricks. Starring Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana), and the Jonas Brothers. Running time: 82 minutes. Rated G. Released on DVD: August 19, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
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