Brother’s Justice appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. This was a decent presentation held back by its source material.
Shot on video cameras, the film tended to look less than dazzling. Sharpness was decent but never more than that. While I didn’t think it ever looked truly soft, it tended to be a little mushy and it lacked the definition we expect from Blu-ray. At least I saw no jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes failed to appear. The movie also didn’t suffer from any source flaws.
Colors were decent but varied. Some shots came across with reasonable vivacity, but others tended toward a blandness often found in video productions. I thought the hues were acceptable but not much more than that. Blacks showed fair depth and darkness, while shadows showed good clarity. This was a perfectly watchable program that merited a “C+”.
Similar average values accompanied the movie’s Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. It’s odd to find a Blu-ray without lossless audio, but I can’t say that was an issue here given the movie’s limited sonic aspirations. The soundscape favored music most strongly, so the score broadened to the side and rear speakers in a reasonably satisfying manner. Otherwise it had little to do, as effects tended to remain environmental in nature. We got light ambiance and not much else.
Audio quality was fine. Lines occasionally seemed a bit thin due to their “on the fly” recording, but they were intelligible. Music seemed clear and full, while effects showed good clarity; they didn’t have much to do but appeared concise enough. This was a decent track that lacked the ambition to earn anything more than a “C”.
When we head to the disc’s extras, we open with an audio commentary from writer/actor/co-director Dax Shepard, producer Nate Tuck and co-director/director of photography David Palmer. All three sit together for a running, screen-specific look at cast and performances, music, locations, story topics, editing and related issues.
Along the way, we get some decent insights connected to the film’s creation, but these tend to be rather few and far between. Mostly the participants laugh at the situations and give us general thoughts that fail to reveal a whole lot. In truth, it’s not a bad listen – it’s certainly more interesting than the movie itself – but the track doesn’t give us a ton of good information.
Eight Deleted Scenes run a total of 16 minutes, two seconds. These include “Power Wash” (2:50), “Unwritten Code” (1:10), “Paradigm Shift” (0:36), “Seth Green” (6:36), “Go to a Lesser Director” (0:30), “You’re Funny Around Town” (0:40), “You Just Lost Your Biggest Fan” (0:24), and “2 Dudes on a Weird Mandate” (1:16). Given how awful the material in the final film is, I didn’t expect anything good from the cut material – and I was right.
The most substantial piece comes from the addition of Seth Green. He made the final cut only if you sat through the end credits. I like Green, but he can’t redeem the awful situations into which he’s placed. Nothing enjoyable shows up here.
During Justice, we see part of a fake movie called Drillin’ Deep. This seven-minute, 31-second reel offers more of it. The snippets in Justice were lame, and the longer version doesn’t get any funnier.
A few ads open the disc. We get clips for Little Big Soldier, The King of Fighters and A Fork in the Road. The disc also includes the trailer for Justice.
A second disc offers a DVD version of Justice. This offers a full retail edition, which makes it a better bonus than the neutered DVDs often found in these packages.
A misbegotten attempt at a mockumentary, Brother’s Justice provides the worst kind of vanity project. Self-indulgent to an extreme, it lacks much cleverness or wit and instead offers a slow, dull, poorly made piece of nonsense. The Blu-ray delivers decent picture, audio and supplements. I can’t imagine anyone to whom I would recommend this lifeless stinker.