The Internship appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a good but not exceptional presentation.
For the most part, sharpness seemed positive. However, a little more softness crept in than I would’ve expected, especially during interior wide shots; those could be a bit on the tentative side. Still, overall definition worked fine. I witnessed no issues with shimmering or jagged edges, and edge haloes were absent. No print flaws marred the presentation either.
Colors went the stylized route, with an emphasis on amber and teal. They did warm up as the film progressed, though, and looked fine within design parameters. Blacks were dark and deep, and shadows showed nice clarity. The mild softness left this as a “B” but it was still a pretty good presentation.
I thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Internship was unexceptional, though it worked fine for this sort of film. Of course, I didn’t expect a dazzling soundfield from this sort of comedy, and I got what I anticipated – for the most part, though it didn’t bring out the pizzazz I thought I’d get in some of the more action-oriented scenes.
In terms of effects, general ambience ruled the day. Surround usage stayed limited; the back speakers gently fleshed out various settings and boasted good music involvement but did little more than that. This became a disappointment with scenes like the Quidditch match, as I thought those would open up the soundscape more than they did.
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 most of the time.
Audio quality appeared fine. Dialogue was consistently warm and natural, though I noticed a little edginess at times. 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.
When we shift to extras, we find two separate versions of the film. We get the theatrical edition (1:59:25) and an unrated cut (2:05:01). What do we find from the added five minutes and 36 seconds? Much of the footage gives us “R”-rated content, especially in terms of profanity; expect a lot more “f-bombs” in the unrated cut. The longer version also delivers some nudity during the “night on the town” sequence.
Most of the extra material just pads sequences in the “PG-13” edition, but we find a few more prominent components. Nick gets into a fight at his nephew’s Little League game, and Billy and Nick commiserate about their miserable lives after that contest. Nick and Dana’s nap pod chat also runs longer, and we get an epilogue during the end credits that doesn’t appear during the “PG-13” version.
So which cut works better? Neither, really – I think the Unrated version is fun to see but I don’t feel it’s superior to the theatrical edition, partly due to length; the “PG-13” cut is already too long, so an extra five minutes stretches our patience even more. Still, I like the Unrated cut just fine, and it’s nice to have as an option.
Alongside the theatrical version, we get an audio commentary from director Shawn Levy. In his running, screen-specific piece, Levy discusses the project's roots and development, story/character/script areas, cast, performances and improvisation, the unrated cut, visual design and cinematography, working with Google, sets and locations, music, and a few other areas. Levy also takes a few Twitter questions from his followers along the way.
Levy tends to be a pretty average director, but he sure can deliver good audio commentaries. Levy proves to be fun, bright and informative he covers virtually all the relevant aspects of the production. The chat moves quickly and turns into a terrific look at the movie.
Eight Deleted Scenes fill a total of eight minutes, 26 seconds. Almost half of that running time comes from the first two clips; those feature Tom Lennon and revolve around the foreclosure at Billy’s house. They’re pretty funny and become the best snippets found here.
The rest tend to be short extensions/expositional scenes. They’re interesting to see but not as good as the Lennon ones. Note that you can find the epilogue from the Unrated cut in this area, so you don’t have to watch that version to access it.
For a look at the shoot, we go to the 17-minute, 52-second Any Given Monday. It offers notes from Levy, 1st AD/executive producer Josh McLaglen, stunt coordinator Garrett Warren, production designer Tom Meyer, director of photography Jonathan Brown, and actors Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Aasif Mandvi and Josh Brener. “Monday” details the creation of the film’s Quidditch scene. It’s a nice examination of the segment’s complexities.
The disc opens with ads for The Wolverine, The Heat and The Way Way Back. Under Sneak Peek, we locate promos for The League Season Four, The New Girl Season Two and Modern Family Season Four. The disc also tosses in the trailer for Internship.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of Internship. It gives us the theatrical cut only and lacks any of the Blu-ray’s extras.
While not summer 2013’s funniest movie, The Internship nonetheless offers an enjoyable experience. Largely due to the immense chemistry between its lead actors, the film keeps entertained through much of its two hours. The Blu-ray brings us fairly good picture and audio along with a few useful bonus materials. Expect a light, breezy comedy with the fun Internship.