The Three Stooges (Blu-ray)

July 23, 2012 5 Min Read

Disc Scores

VIDEO 4.0 / 5
AUDIO 3.5 / 5
EXTRAS 2.0 / 5
OVERALL 3.5 / 5

Review by: Fusion3600

Plot: What’s it about?

Since they were infants, Larry (Sean Hayes), Curly (Will Sasso), and Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos) have resided at an orphanage run by a group of nuns. And since they were infants, the trio of friends have been in one accident after another. As adults, the insurance bills they’ve accumulated have put the orphanage into deep debt. And unless almost a million dollars is raised soon, the orphanage will be shut down. Despite their lack of real world experience, the three set off to raise the money and save the day, though no one expects them to succeed. After several failed job searches, the three wind up involved with a beautiful woman who claims her terminally ill husbands wants to be put out of his misery. The job is a scam of course, but the three manage to botch things for everyone involved. Now faced with an immense amount of money to raise and conflict arising within the three, can Larry, Curly, and Moe somehow save their beloved orphanage?

To be honest, I wasn’t at all pleased about this movie when it was announced. After all, the original Three Stooges are one of a kind and no one could even come close to filling those shoes. And I was right. The movie fails to capture even a slight bit of the Stooges magic, but taken on it’s own merits, it isn’t that bad. The movie uses the same slapstick, physical comedy as the real Three Stooges, but tries to structure an extended plot as well. The humor is passable in most scenes, not the kind to make you laugh out loud, but enough to make you smile often. The actors try to mimic the real Three Stooges, but just don’t come close. The story is simple and has a constant stream of gags, so I think younger viewers will be entertained here for sure. But adults will probably just wish they were watching the actual Three Stooges. While I still think this film was unwarranted, it wasn’t as bad as I expected and if you have younger viewers, the slapstick is bound to elicit some laughs. So as a rental to entertain the younger audience members, The Three Stooges makes a solid rental choice.

Video: How does it look?

The Three Stooges is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen. The movie looks excellent in this treatment, with great detail and a clean, crisp overall look. I found detail to be great in this treatment, as even minor visual elements are visible, but at the same time, that eye popping depth wasn’t present. The colors are bright, colorful, and vivid, as you’d expect from this kind of movie, while the contrast is accurate and consistent. While this doesn’t hit the highest levels of performance, the transfer is superb and fans should be satisfied.

Audio: How does it sound?

A DTS HD 5.1 soundtrack is here, so the slapstick sounds terrific. The film uses the kind of cartoon inspired sound effects you’d expect from a Three Stooges related production. Those sound effects come through loud and clear here, as do the background atmosphere and the film’s music. The track isn’t one that will light up your home theater, but it is well designed and makes the movie sound quite good. This release also includes Spanish and French language tracks, a descriptive audio option, and subtitles in English and Spanish.

Supplements: What are the extras?

In addition to a DVD version of the movie and a digital copy, this release houses screen tests for the leads, some deleted scenes, and several promotional featurettes.