Ghost Town appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect a surprisingly dull image.
Sharpness usually appeared fine. At times, however, I found the image to come across as somewhat fuzzy and soft, with lesser definition seen in some of the wide shots. Nonetheless, most of the movie appeared acceptably clear and appropriately focused.
Moiré effects and jagged edges presented no concerns, and edge haloes remained absent. Other than a couple of small specks, print flaws failed to materialize.
In terms of colors, the flick went with a standard mix of amber and teal. Within those parameters, the tones looked fine, though they could be a bit bland.
Blacks were dark and firm, while shadows appeared clear and well-developed most of the time. A few shots appeared too thick, but those were infrequent. Given the movie’s vintage, this became an oddly flat and iffy presentation.
As for the film’s Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack, it offered a functional effort and that was all. Of course, I didn’t expect a dazzling soundfield from this sort of comedy, and I got exactly what I anticipated.
In terms of effects, general ambience ruled the day. Surround usage stayed limited; the back speakers gently fleshed out various settings but did no more than that.
In those forward channels, the music provided nice stereo separation and opened up the mix reasonably well. There wasn’t a whole lot of activity or movement, but the effects conveyed a passable sense of space and place. The track functioned appropriately for the story.
Audio quality appeared fine. Dialogue was consistently warm and natural, and speech displayed no concerns related to edginess or intelligibility.
Effects were a minor component of the mix, and they seemed appropriately subdued and accurate. There wasn’t much to hear, but the various elements were clean and distinct.
The music came across as acceptably distinctive. This was a standard “comedy mix” and became a decent reproduction of the material.
How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? The BD’s lossless audio felt a little more natural, but given the subdued parameters of the mix, it didn’t offer a big upgrade.
The same went for visuals. The natural strengths of Blu-ray made this disc a bit better defined and livelier, but its weaknesses meant it seemed like a minor improvement at best.
When we head to the extras, we start with an audio commentary from director David Koepp and actor Ricky Gervais. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific chat. They discuss cast, performances and improvisation, sets and locations, story and script issues, effects, and a few other production areas.
However, Koepp and Gervais mostly just joke around with each other – and that’s perfectly fine with me. Oh, we learn a bit about the flick, but don’t expect a lot of facts and figures. Instead, the guys tend to kid with each other. That tendency could prove irritating, but it doesn’t. Koepp and Gervais are more than amusing enough to turn this into a consistently entertaining and enjoyable track.
Three featurettes follow. Making Ghost Town runs 22 minutes, 40 seconds and includes notes from Koepp, Gervais, screenwriter John Kamps, producer Gavin Polone, executive producer Ezra Swerdlow, costume designer Sarah Edwards, production designer Howard Cummings, and actors Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni, Kristen Wiig, Billy Campbell, and Dana Ivey.
We learn about the story’s origins and development, Koepp’s direction, cast, characters and performances, ghost costumes, sets and shooting in New York.
“Making” provides a pretty standard promotional featurette. While it dollops out enough useful information to make it interesting, it never rises above the level of mediocrity. It exists to promote the flick and it does so well; it simply fails to offer a scintillating examination of the movie’s creation.
Ghostly Effects goes for two minutes, one second and provides a basic glimpse of how the flick’s visuals worked. We get no narration; instead, we simply see various photographic elements and watch as they get composited into the final product. It’s not especially exciting; it offers a decent look at this side of things, though it’d work better with voiceover information.
Finally, Some People Can Do It lasts six minutes, 21 seconds, and presents a basic gag reel. With the amusing Ricky Gervais on the set, I’d hope to find some good improv bits here. A few of these appear, as we get a handful of alternate line readings.
However, most of the segment just shows the usual goofs and giggles. In particular, Gervais seems unable to complete a scene without chortling.
Note that although the featurettes include subtitles, the commentary does not.
Ghost Town probably should have been a dud. It features a fairly predictable story with the potential to get bogged down in cheap sentiment. However, it manages to overcome its pitfalls with a nice balance of clever comedy and believable emotion. The Blu-ray presents generally mediocre picture and audio as well as a few extras headlined by an entertaining audio commentary. While this doesn’t stand out as a stellar Blu-ray, I like the movie and recommend it.
To rate this film, visit the original review of GHOST TOWN