Take Me Home Tonight appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with a good but not exceptional transfer.
For the most part, sharpness looked good. Occasionally, the image could be a smidgen soft, though I think some of that stemmed from the film’s “80s throwback” photographic design. Overall definition remained positive. I noticed no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. I did see a few small blemishes, though.
Colors worked well. Though the movie didn’t go for the expected neon 80s palette, it featured intentionally heavy tones that came across nicely. These were full and rich. Blacks seemed deep and tight, while low-light shots demonstrated appropriate clarity. This ended up as an acceptable presentation that was just a bit below Blu-ray expectations.
As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it offered a music-heavy affair. The movie boasted an era-specific-heavy mix of tunes, and these demonstrated nice stereo presence that also spread to the rear speakers in a decent manner.
Effects had less to do, though, as they tended toward environmental information. Even the occasional driving scene didn’t have much to do; a climactic scene in a rolling metal ball was the only sequence that used the back channels in an exciting manner. Still, the mix was suitable for the story.
Across the board, audio was positive. Music showed nice dimensionality and range, and effects displayed similarly good accuracy and distinctiveness. Speech always came across as natural and concise. The audio’s general lack of ambition made this a “B-“, but the soundtrack fit the film.
Only a handful of extras fill out the package. Cast Get Together runs eight minutes, 12 seconds as it shows a chat among a handful of the flick’s actors: Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Dan Fogler, Chris Pratt and Teresa Palmer. They talk a bit about their impressions of each other, characters and story, and some aspects of the shoot. The chat never becomes terribly informative, but it has some fun thoughts and even tosses in a little audition footage and other material as well.
Seven Deleted Scenes fill a total of 11 minutes. We find “Picking Blinds” (1:35), “Driving with Wendy” (2:05), “Barry Fired” (1:40), “So You Are Rich” (0:45), “After Proposal” (2:30), “To the Victor” (0:38) and “Carlos Outtakes” (1:47). A lot of these fall into the exposition category, and they’re actually fairly useful, as they help flesh out some narrative themes and character elements. For instance, we learn more about Barry’s former job and the relationship between Wendy and Kyle. Not all soar, and they might’ve slowed down the pace, but they do give us nice background and detail.
Under Music Boombox, we get an alternate form of chapter search. It lists 12 of the movie’s 80s songs and lets you jump directly to the scenes in which they appear. One nice addition: each tune also offers text that gives you info about it.
A music video for Atomic Tom’s take on “Don’t You Want Me” appears. This includes some of the requisite movie scenes, but it features a unique story with the movie’s cast that allows them to refer to a slew of 80s flicks – and 1990’s Ghost, which shouldn’t be there. The rest are decade-correct, though – at least I think so, as some fly past quickly – and the video is a total blast.
The disc opens with ads for Cedar Rapids and Season of the Witch. We also find the trailer for Home and two TV spots.
On a second platter, we find a digital copy of Home. As usual, this allows you to move the movie onto a computer or digital viewing thingie. As usual, I don’t care.
Going into Take Me Home Tonight, I anticipated a campy, goofy Eighties-inspired piece of fluff. To my surprise, the movie actually offered a likable coming of age tale; it wears its influences on its sleeve but does them reasonable justice. The Blu-ray provides fairly good picture and audio but skimps on supplements. Still, it presents an enjoyable movie well.