Notorious Blu-ray Review

Notorious

Blu-ray Review
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Released: April 28, 2009

Notorious has finally released on the Blu-ray format, and it is out to impress all who take a look.

Notorious was directed by George Tillman Jr., and stars Jamal Woolard who does a great job in the role of Biggie.

This biopic tells the story of the life of the legendary rapper, his relationship with his mother Voletta (Angela Bassett), Tupac, (Anthony Mackey), Sean Combs (Derek Luke) and others.

The way in which the film was done was to showcase a great deal of information about the life of Biggie, while still keeping it Hollywood and very entertaining at the same time.

The way in which the whole film plays out really does a tremendous job of telling the life of Biggie, his relationships in high school, and growing up as an adult.

You see that it was not an immediate rise to stardom for Biggie, but instead more of a struggle as he made his way up the ladder.

This is a very entertaining and emotional ride that will be loved by Biggie fans for years.  It may not be perfect, but this is definitely a great hip hop film.

The video transfer, presented in 2.40:1 aspect ratio, is superb to say the least.  The film has a certain grit to it that is really showcased here with tremendous flesh-tones, black levels, etc.

The audio is equally as impressive, presented in a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix.  The audio does a strong job of really allowing you to take it all in using the rear channels and subwoofer nicely in certain scenes where they are really appreciated.

There are plenty of extras on this Blu-ray release, along with Blu-ray exclusive extras including BD-Live content.

The release includes both the unrated director’s cut of the film, as well as the theatrical version for starters.

From here, we are also presented with commentary tracks which feature different voices.

The first commentary track has the director, co-screenwriter, and others, while the second featured Biggie’s mom Volette Wallace, his co-manager Wayne Barrow, and Mark Pitts.  The second commentary track was great to listen to and should really connect with fans.

From here, there are many more featurettes looking into some of the more behind-the-scenes stuff as to how the movie came together, the casting, the lyrics of Biggie, and more.

A set of deleted scenes are also included here, and are actually quite plentiful.  Extras are topped off with an included digital copy of the film.

Notorious does a great job of telling the story of one of the greatest hip hop icons in history, and is a must-buy on Blu-ray.

Film: 8.2 A very strong film with a great cast, and an amazing story.

Video: 9.2 The transfer has a lot of grit to it, and will impress.

Audio: 9.4 The audio does a great job of really letting you take in all of the beats.

Extras: 8.5 Great extras, deleted scenes, both versions of the film, and a digital copy, good stuff!

Final Score: 8.6

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