Fred Claus Blu-ray Review

Fred Claus

Blu-ray Review
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Released: November 25, 2008

Christmas movies are always good fun to check out as they usually have some quality humor and holiday entertainment.  The latest to hit the Blu-ray format is Fred Claus from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.  Does it have the Christmas magic? Or is it a Grinch in disguise?

Fred Claus stars Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti in a funny Christmas tale which unfortunately does not focus on the holidays and the enjoyment of it all as much as it probably should.

Vince Vaughn plays the role of the brother of Santa Claus in this one, and he is a brother in need as he needs money in order to pull off a business deal that is not all that pleasant to say the least.

Fred Claus (Vaughn) does not want to go to the North Pole, but is ready to pay a visit in order to try and get what he needs from Santa.  He causes issues in the North Pole though, and ends up putting Christmas in jeopardy of being shut down.

The entire movie definitely has its flaws as a lot of the material just do not seem to work in many of the spots, especially with the random fighting at the North Pole.  Those who like the Vince Vaughn style of comedy though are sure to get some entertainment value.  Unfortunately though the film fails to focus on the happiness of the holidays, and also fails in a few other accounts due to it just not being funny.

The video quality for the Blu-ray transfer is near-perfect as it is presented in 1080p with some well-done natural flesh-tones, and some deep black levels.  The entire transfer is very well-balanced as you will get a good variety here with the colors from characters to scenery and such.

The audio is equally as impressive as it is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is quite clear throughout.  The only downside to the audio mix I was not all that impressed with was the poor musical score.

In regards to the extras, you get a mixed bag of stuff here on this Blu-ray release.  Fred Claus does a decent job of trying to put out some cool stuff though and succeeds in a few spots.

The first bonus is the included digital copy of the film, which continues to be a great addition overall.  The second disc has a unique game I enjoyed, Fred Claus: Race to Save Christmas.

There are plenty of standard features here as well, such as the 25-minutes of deleted scenes, and a commentary track with Director David Dobkin.  Another entertainint extra features both Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, funny-stuff.

A Ludscrismas music video and a few other featurettes round out the respectable set of extras.

Fred Claus is a decent release on the Blu-ray format but the film really needs some help as a lot of the comedy and such simply does not work.  If you are a Vince Vaughn fan I would recommend renting this one, but other than that you can do better for a holiday feature.

Movie: 7.0 The movie needs some serious help as a lot of the jokes just do not work, not that entertaining.

Video: 9.0 A great video transfer throughout, nice fleshtones and black levels.

Audio: 8.5 The audio mix is solid, musical score is lacking though.

Extras: 8.0 Fred Claus packs some decent extras, but some of the stuff leaves much to be desired.

Final Score: 7.5

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