Sisters appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with a strong transfer.
From start to finish, sharpness looked positive. Only a hint of softness affected wide shots, and those examples occurred too infrequently to cause problems. Instead, the film looked concise and well-defined. No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and edge enhancement was absent. I also failed to detect any source flaws.
The movie featured a natural palette that provided a good mix of colors. In particular, the party scenes offered a nice variety of reds, purples and blues. Across the board, the hues looked positive. They showed nice clarity and breadth and came out well. Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows appeared clear and smooth. I thought the movie consistently looked positive.
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Sisters seemed fine but it didn’t excel because of a lack of ambition. Like most comedies, the movie featured a limited soundfield that favored the forward channels. It showed nice stereo spread to the music as well as some general ambience from the sides.
Panning was good, and the surrounds usually kicked in general reinforcement. A few scenes opened up better, though, like during the party and its catastrophic moments. However, most of the movie stayed with restrained imaging.
Audio quality appeared good. Speech was natural and distinct, with no issues related to edginess or intelligibility. Effects sounded clean and accurate, with good fidelity and no signs of distortion. Music was perfectly fine, as the score and songs showed positive dimensionality. This track was good enough for a “B“ but didn’t particularly impress.
The Blu-ray provides both the film’s theatrical version (1:57:46) as well as an unrated cut (2:02:24). What does that extra four minutes, 38 seconds get you?
A whole slew of short additions, that’s what. By my count, the extended cut elongates a whopping 18 scenes. That averages out to a little less than 16 seconds per sequence, so don’t expect much, especially because the 18 segments pad the running time fairly equally – they might not all be 16 seconds apiece, but there aren’t any that run much beyond or less than that.
That said, the added bits can be funny. Obviously no substantial plot/character material emerges, but the gags contribute a bit of humor. While I don’t think the extended cut improves the film, it doesn’t hurt it, either. Sisters is too long either way, but less than five minutes of additions does no damage.
An audio commentary features director Jason Moore, writer Paula Pell and actors Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. All four sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, cut/altered scenes, and anecdotes.
Don’t expect many insights here. While we find the occasional nugget – usually about improvisation – most of the commentary revolves around jokes and praise for the film and its participants. Those factors make this a less than enthralling commentary.
Cut footage appears next. We get nine Deleted Scenes (18:03) and nine Extended Scenes (16:54). While most of these just add some funny material, we do get a deleted subplot in which long-married couple Dan and Kim try to spice up their stale love life. We also see the opening of Kate’s new salon and the fate of the Geernts. Given how long Sisters already runs, I can’t claim any of these should’ve made the movie, but they’re fun to see.
More excised material appears in The Improvorama. It fills eight minutes, 40 seconds with alternate dialogue/jokes. Called “Line-O-Rama” on Apatow-related releases, we find a slew of funny unused jokes here.
A Gag Reel goes for three minutes, 17 seconds. Though some of this focuses on the usual goofs/giggles, it offers a mix of good alternate lines and special moments. Those make it better than average.
Look for more alternate footage with How to Throw a Party. It takes up one minute, 36 seconds and focuses on the lesbians Kate and Maura ask for advice. More amusing material results.
During the five-minute, 18-second Grown-Up Parties Suck, we find more improv. This collection offers unused lines from the Ellis party. These offer some of the better alternate gags as we hear from the supporting characters.
Two similar pieces show up next: The Alex Chronicles (2:51) and The Kate and Pazuzu Chronicles (2:05). Once again, we get alternate dialogue, with an emphasis on Bobby Moynihan in “Alex” and Tina Fey/John Cena in “Pazuzu”. Plenty of funny bits result.
A Teen Movie For Adults runs 10 minutes, 26 seconds and offers notes from Poehler, Fey, Moore, Pell, producer Jay Roach, production designer Richard Hoover, executive producer Brian Bell, and actors John Leguizamo, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, John Cena, and Ike Barinholtz. We learn about sets and locations, jokes and Pell’s impact on the film, Moore’s work, shooting the party, and various comedic choices. A few good moments from the shoot emerge, but “Adults” mostly feels fluffy.
With The Original Sister, we get a six-minute, 40-second piece with Pell and her sister Patti. They talk about how their real-life journals influenced the film, and then cast members read from these texts. It’s fun to hear some of these old entries.
Pool Collapse Visual Effects Reel zips by in 50 seconds. It lacks commentary and instead simply shows the set before and after various stages of effects. The short piece offers a decent glimpse of the work done for the film.
The disc opens with ads for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Rock the Kasbah, Big Stone Gap, Legend (2015), Ride Along 2 and Kindergarten Cop 2. No trailer for Sisters appears here.
A second disc offers a DVD copy of Sisters. It includes the commentary, the deleted/extended scenes, the “Gag Reel” and “Improvorama” but lacks the other extras. It does provide both the theatrical and unrated cuts of the movie, though.
Because Tina Fey and Amy Poehler could make the proverbial reading of the phone book funny, Sisters boasts a reasonable array of laughs. However, it seems less satisfying than I’d like, mainly because it suffers from an over-extended running time. The Blu-ray offers excellent picture as well as acceptable audio and a collection of supplements highlighted by a slew of alternate/deleted scenes. I like Sisters but think it falls a bit short of expectations.
