Baywatch appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. I expected a strong visual presentation and that’s what I got.
Sharpness looked very good. A couple of wide shots appeared slightly soft, but those were in the minority, so most of the flick came across as accurate and concise. The flick lacked shimmering or jaggies, and I saw no edge haloes or print flaws, either.
Like most modern action movies, Baywatch opted for an orange and teal palette. Within those constraints, the colors appeared full and well-developed.
Blacks were dark and dense, while shadows seemed smooth and concise. I felt pleased with the movie’s picture quality.
Also strong, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Baywatch delivered good material. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the soundscape mustered a fine sense of place, as the audio plopped us in the settings and action in a convincing, engulfing manner. These elements used all the channels in an immersive way, and the score also gave us good presence.
Audio quality seemed solid. Music was lively and lush, while effects appeared accurate and dynamic. Speech appeared natural and distinctive. This was a consistently pleasing soundtrack that fit the material.
In addition to the film’s theatrical version (1:56:27), the disc provides an extended cut (2:01:22) of Baywatch. Because I only watched the longer edition, I can’t comment on the differences, but I wanted to mention that both appear here.
Six Deleted & Extended Scenes fill a total of 10 minutes, six seconds. These tend to expand existing concepts, though we get a new thread in which a waiter thinks Ronnie wants to have sex with him. Neither it nor the other clips offer much amusement, but we do get Devin Ratray – Buzz from Home Alone - as the waiter.
Three featurettes follow. Meet the Lifeguards runs 21 minutes, 36 seconds and offers notes from director Seth Gordon, producer Beau Flynn, and actors Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jon Bass, Roob Heubel, Priyanka Chopra, Kelly Rohrbach, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
As expected, “Meet” looks at cast, characters and performances. This tends to be a fluffy program packed with jokes and happy talk.
Continuing the Legacy goes for nine minutes, 27 seconds and features Gordon, Johnson, Efron, Chopra, Daddario, Rohrbach, Bass, Flynn, producers Michael Berk and Douglas Schwartz, executive producer Michelle Berk, writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, and actors Hannibal Buress and Pamela Anderson. “Legacy” discusses the original TV series and aspects of its adaptation for the big screen. Like “Meet”, “Legacy” offers a whole lot of fluff with little substance involved.
Finally, the nine-minute, nine-second Stunts & Training provides comments from Johnson, Bass, Flynn, Efron, Rohrbach, Gordon, Hadera, and actor Oscar Nunez. Like one assumes, “Stunts” looks at the physical aspects of the production. Like the other featurettes, it comes with scant informational value.
An attempt to update the kitschy TV series, Baywatch can’t decide if it wants laughs or thrills. As a result, it provides neither and becomes a dull, forgettable film. The Blu-ray offers very good picture and audio as well as mostly mediocre supplements. Baywatch becomes a limp excuse for an action-comedy.