Urban Legend Blu-ray delivers great video and solid audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
When a series of strange deaths occurs on campus, beautiful and assertive student Natalie suspects that they are murders based on urban legends. Her classmates, loyal Brenda, ambitious journalism major Paul, and school practical joker Damon, insist the deaths are just coincidences. When Natalie gets too close to discovering how the deaths are connected, she realizes she's the killer's next victim.
For more about Urban Legend and the Urban Legend Blu-ray release, see Urban Legend Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on August 2, 2008 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.0 out of 5.
It's like someone is taking all these stories and making them reality.
Scream ushered in a new generation of horror franchises. Prior to Scream,
brutal and unforgiving films
such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Hellraiser
were the films we thought of when we wanted to watch mindless, gory slasher
stories. Following Scream movies like Urban Legend, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and
Disturbing Behavior displayed what I think of as the "dumbed down" version of horror,
films that are far less gory, intense, and frightening. Of all the hip, teen-centric slasher movies
of the decade, Urban Legend may be one of the better ones. Excluding
Scream, which parodied and poked fun at its own genre and also managed to, for a time,
redefine its own genre, most of these movies feature an interchangeable cast, uninteresting
characters, clichéd direction, very little blood, virtually no gore, and somewhat entertaining
but ultimately forgettable story lines and death scenes. 1998's Urban Legend is no
different, but a few things set it apart from the crowd to make it a bit more watchable than
most.
To see a picture of the killer, our heroes will scroll down to the final words section of this review.
Pendleton College is a bastion of higher learning with a dark secret. Although the school was
recently ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the safest in the country, the student
body annually celebrates a mass murder spree that supposedly occurred inside one of the
residence halls in the 1970s. Covered up, expunged from the records, and discussed
out of earshot of the student body in hushed whispers and in closed-door sessions only, the story
has taken
on
the earmarks of an urban legend, a story everyone believes to be true through hearsay but with
no
hard evidence to support its foundation. For student Natalie Simon (Alicia Witt, 88 Minutes), the
tales of urban legends and school murders she learns about in Professor William Wexler's (Robert
Englund, Masters of Horror: Season One,
Volume III) class become disturbingly real. As her friends are picked off one by one by
a hooded, shadowy, ax-wielding maniac, Natalie must come come to terms with her past and,
with the help of student newspaper reporter Paul Gardener (Jared Leto, American Psycho)
and friend Brenda Bates (Rebecca Gayheart, Scream 2), confront her future.
"Oh my God." Perhaps no other phrase in the history of motion pictures can be identified with a
genre more so than this one. You hear it in practically every horror movie trailer, usually over a
nearly black screen and whispered in a hush by a female character. In Urban Legend,
this trademark line is the first line of dialogue uttered by an on-screen character, and from that
moment on, the audience can reasonably expect a goofy, clichéd, 90s-style slasher flick. Indeed,
the film doesn't disappoint, reveling in all that makes such a film so generic, but the difference
here
is that the production team and the actors never pretend to be making something we're meant
to take seriously. The one-dimensional characters scattered throughout the movie manage to be
a step above their peers, maybe because they don't play their parts completely straight. They
don't play this as parody, either, but they leave just a bit of room open for us to crack a smile at
the absurdity of the movie. The movie takes on a serious tone, but the astute audience realizes
that
tongue is planted in cheek, perhaps not firmly, but enough to tell us that the movie is meant to
be a hip, fun, and a none-to-serious time waster.
Urban Legend gains instant credibility and appeal thanks to the presence of horror icon
Robert Englund and the veteran character actor John Neville, star of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. As
expected, they carry the picture in their all-too-brief yet
important appearances, Englund portraying a rather fascinating character who teaches the very
subject of urban legends and Neville co-starring as the school's dean. Minor yet important
characters, we can guess their fates before the movie begins, but it's always a treat to see two
veterans amidst a cast of wet-behind-the-ears teen actors, especially in a throwaway movie such
as this one. Urban Legend follows every rule in the book, and follows them well. The
movie contains all the necessary formula characters and even provides the creepy, "could he be
the killer?" decoy, and surprises audiences with the revelation of who the killer is, and provides
the
character with a decent enough motivation that ties the entire movie together in a neat, tidy, 99
minute package.
Urban Legend hacks onto Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.40:1 high definition transfer. Solid yet
unremarkable best describes this one. This is a fairly average high definition presentation, which
means it blows away standard definition DVDs and holds its own against the majority of Blu-ray
discs on the market today. Flesh tones are generally accurate with a hint of red every now and
again, and detail is above average but not exceptional. I noted a few spots on the print, but it is in
generally excellent shape. Definition is not exceptional, but the image is mostly sharp with only
minor background details appearing soft. Characters, foreground objects, and other pertinent
information are generally well-defined. The college campus looks great. Greens in the common
areas are lush, brick-laden walking paths look marvelous, the ornate furniture in the sitting rooms
and offices are exquisite, and even the more mundane, boring objects, like a white concrete wall
and the small, off-white tiles that surround an indoor swimming pool look generally realistic. Black
levels are excellent. Many scenes in the film feature a nearly pitch-black background, and there is
not even a hint of artificial brightness to be found. Yet again, Sony offers a disc of
better-than-average quality that should not overly disappoint even the harshest of picture quality
connoisseurs.
Urban Legend tells its tale on Blu-ray through a typical Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless
soundtrack. You won't fall out of your seat from the rumblings of the subwoofer or look over
your
shoulder after a barrage of sound comes from the rear speakers, but the track creates a nice
atmosphere that suits the picture just fine. Like the video, audio is solid but never stands out.
Minor ambience plays nicely through the sound system. Birds chirping throughout the campus
create a very pleasing, realistic atmosphere in daytime outdoor scenes, and in various lecture
halls and student center shots, very minor background details are heard throughout the
soundstage. The non-violent sections of the movie, which make up most of the Urban
Legend experience, come with subdued music and perfectly clear and audible dialogue.
Sound effects, such as the squealing of tires, the breaking of glass, or a body falling onto the hood
of a car, are not overly dynamic but sound clear and exciting enough. No teen horror movie
would be complete without a good thunderstorm, and this one sounds very good. Thunder is not
booming and chest-rattling, but it packs a good enough punch, and it fills the room with an
entertaining vigor and vitality. The film's score picks up nicely during the more action-oriented
sequences, and while it doesn't offer that high fidelity, top-flight movie theater experience, it
holds its own and offers a surprisingly enjoyable listen for this run-of-the-mill teen horror movie.
Urban Legend makes its high definition debut with only two movie-centric features. First
up is a commentary track with director Jamie Blanks, actor Michael Rosenbaum, and writer Silvio
Horta. The track begins by addressing the youth not only in front of the camera, but behind it.
For such an inexperienced bunch, I must admit that the movie turned out a bit better than it
probably should have, and blows away some of the films I've reviewed recently. This
jovial, laid-back track offers a mixture of behind-the-scenes information that points out a few
effects shots, and a discussion of some of the challenges that arose during the filmmaking
process,
including the need to add lines here and there to better explain what's happening on-screen.
Fans of the film will greatly enjoy listening to this track. Making Of Featurette (480p,
10:09) is actually a fairly interesting supplement that quickly examines the production of the
film, focusing on some of the death scenes, and moving along to post-production. Here, we take
a look at the scoring of the film, an ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) session with Joshua
Jackson, and a look at a deleted scene. Finally, 1080p trailers for 21, Starship Troopers 3:
Marauder and a Sony Blu-ray promotional montage conclude this short but interesting
supplemental package.
You've seen better, you've seen worse, and with Urban Legend you've seen one of the
better examples of dumbed down horror to come along in many years. Films like this were the
standard-bearer of the genre until movies like Saw, Hostel, and the remake
of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre hit audiences hard and returned the genre to the graphic,
unforgiving, exploitative feel of the blood-soaked horror films of yore. Sony brings Urban
Legend to Blu-ray in a neat and tidy package. Featuring a fairly standard high definition picture
and soundtrack, but providing precious few extras, only the most fervent fans of Urban
Legend will want to add this disc to their collections, at least until the price comes down.
Use the thumbs up and thumbs down icons to agree or disagree that the title is similar to Urban Legend. You can also suggest completely new similar titles to Urban Legend in the search box below.
Scream Factory has detailed its upcoming Blu-ray releases of Jamie Blanks' Urban Legend (1998) and John Ottman's Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000). The two releases will be available for purchase this November.
Shout Factory announced at Comic-Con tonight that it will be adding fourteen new titles to its Blu-ray catalog. Amongst them are John Carpenter's Starman (1984), Barbet Schroeder's Single White Female (1992), and J. Lee Thompson's 10 to Midnight (1983).
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the special features for the upcoming Blu-ray release of 'Urban Legend', due to hit store shelves on July 22nd. Video specs remain unchanged, with video being displayed at 2.40:1 1080p AVC accompanied by a 5.1 Dolby ...
Use the thumbs up and thumbs down icons to agree or disagree that the title is similar to Urban Legend. You can also suggest completely new similar titles to Urban Legend in the search box below.
