Nitro Circus The Movie 3D – Blu-ray 3D Review

November 8, 2012 – 11:00 pm - Posted by: Justin Sluss

Tags: 3D, Aaron Fotheringham, Arc Entertainment, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, Channing Tatum, Erik Roner, Greg Powell, Gregg Godfrey, Jeremy Rawle, Jim DeChamp, Johnny Knoxville, Jolene Van Vugt, Nitro Circus, Red Bull Media House, Special Greg, Streetbike Tommy, Tommy Passemante, Travis Pastrana

has an average rating of 6.1 on IMDb
just doesn’t do the film justice…
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on 25gb discs
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
short but cool with a Blu-ray & DVD
–
– 2012
– 91 minutes
– Arc Entertainment
–
The Blu-ray 3D uses 20.1GB total.
The Blu-ray uses 16.4GB for the movie out of 18.5GB total.
Street Date: November 13th, 2012

Overall Verdict – Great Presentation but Weak 3D

Buy it on Blu-ray 3D for $19.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is a spin-off from the television show “Nitro Circus” that ran for 2 seasons on MTV back in 2009. It’s worth noting that you can still watch all 9 full-length episodes of the show’s second season via that link I’ve included on the show’s title above over at MTV’s official website. More info about how the show came to be, a tour came to be and a new second show based on the tour on MTV2 came to be can be found HERE on Wikipedia or on their official website. The group (TV series) was originally created (assembled) by Gregg Godfrey, Jeremy Rawle, Jeff Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville (of “Jackass” fame), Trip Taylor and Travis Pastrana — the leader of the gang.

As I mentioned the leader of the gang here is motocross legend Travis Pastrana but let’s go over the rest of the gang joining him here in the film. Below you’ll find a list of the “Nitro Circus” gang that appear in the film.

• Jolene Van Vugt — pro motocross racer
• Tommy Passemante (a.k.a. “Streetbike Tommy“) — construction worker
• Gregg Godfrey — Co-director & Co-writer
• Jeremy Rawle — Co-director & Co-writer
• Erik Roner — pro skier / base jumper
• Greg Powell (a.k.a. “Special Greg“) — Travis’ cousin
• Jim DeChamp — pro mountain biker
• Aaron Fotheringham (a.k.a. “Wheelz) — extreme wheelchair athlete

These guys and one girl will be attempting some of the craziest stunts involving dirt bikes, modified big wheels, both BMX and mountain bikes as well as a monster truck, tricked out school bus, an older 80s model Ford Mustang, a semi truck and more! Prepare to be amazed by the insanity and absolute dangerous stunts these folks are willing to do just for the adrenaline rush. All this is leading up to the debut of their Las Vegas live show at the MGM Grand Casino.

“Nitro Circus The Movie” in either 3D or 2D proves to be both enjoyable and at times jaw-dropping thanks to the ridiculously insane and dangerous stunts these folks perform. The film also has a lot of humorous moments as well as one serious moment that I won’t go into detail about to avoid dishing out any “spoilers” so-to-speak. You’ll get some interviews along the way here from folks like actor Channing Tatum and “Jackass” Johnny Knoxville. Speaking of “Jackass“, if you enjoyed that show and the films you’ll pretty likely enjoy this film. Just don’t go trying to attempt anything you see in this film if you enjoy your health or being alive.

This marks the second film I’ve seen on Blu-ray 3D to have been shot using the Red Epic camera and 3Ality Technica Atom 3D rig. The Red Epic camera shoots in dual-strip 3-D at a 5K resolution. The other film I’ve seen shot using this same setup on the Blu-ray 3D format is a multi-million dollar major motion picture (“The Amazing Spider-Man“) which has received some criticism about its 3D presentation. This is no exception, the 3D just doesn’t seem to do these amazing visuals and stunts anywhere near the justice they deserve. It’s also worth noting that NOT ALL of this film was shot on that camera, in fact there are clips shown from the TV show as well as footage that was shot using more compact HD cameras during the stunts. Also the interviews here seem to not have even been shot in or converted to 3D; they’re actually 2D. If you don’t believe me about the interviews being 2D just take off your 3D glasses and see for yourself how clear they look. If they were in 3D they would appear out of focus. This was just the choice of the cinematographer which I can’t really blame them for as interviews aren’t really something that would benefit from 3D anyway.

Now let me get along to discussing the parts of the film that seem to me to offer the best examples of 3D depth and “pop” where things seem to almost come out of the screen at you — to a degree. It actually doesn’t take very long before you’ll get some of these examples. Just a tad bit into the film we’re treated to a monster truck crushing through a RV — as seen HERE in screenshot — that offers up some pretty decent 3D pop to it. The big highlight of the entire film in terms of both 3D and visuals actually comes very early and it involves tons of dirt bikes going at once alongside a dune buggy and monster truck on this huge dirt course with ramps. The first nice instance of 3D you’ll find in that scene comes when we get a rear shot of 2 dirt bikes peeling out and dirt comes flying back at the camera(s) — as seen HERE via screenshot. Your jaw may drop a tad bit near the floor during this sequence, not so much from the 3D as much just from the sheer magnitude of stunts going on here at once. Check out this screenshot HERE to see what I’m referring to. Things still continue to offer up some decent 3D in terms of depth and pop in some other scenes. One scene that offered a good amount of 3D depth and pop I didn’t expect to was THIS intro shot of Travis where he’s extending his hand giving the thumbs up. It really seems to feel his hand and arm are extending out a tad bit from the screen at you here. Obviously there’s other stunts in the film like the school bus jump — as seen HERE via screenshot — that offers up some decent 3D. That’s just a taste of what to expect here in terms of 3D.

I can’t honestly say this is by any means one of the more impressive Blu-ray 3D titles I’ve seen but it does manage to have its moments where it’s pretty cool. Still, I just don’t feel the camera and camera rig here do these extremely wild stunts the justice they deserve in 3D. That being said this earns a decent “3 Star Rating” for overall 3D quality. I think they need to go back to the drawing board so-to-speak in regards to the Red Epic camera and that 3D rig. It’s just not working on anything I’ve seen it used on.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-25 (25 gigabyte single layer Blu-ray Disc) in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. As I’d mentioned above (in 3D Quality) according to the technical specifications listing on IMDb this was shot in 3D using the Red Epic camera — the very same camera used on the major motion picture “The Amazing Spider-Man” released in the very same year (2012). This camera delivers some absolutely stunning detail as it shoots in the 5K resolution. The material looks absolutely gorgeous in 2D, however as you’ve heard me discuss in some length above it doesn’t deliver the most impressive 3D. Also as I mentioned not all of the film was shot on that Red Epic camera. Some shots were done using compact HD cameras that could be mounted around the stunts or worn by the performers. They offer up some decent video quality but nothing comparable to that 5K source material. Also they show some old footage from the TV show which doesn’t even begin to compare to Hi-Def material. There’s a solid black level here, the fleshtones are accurate and the color palette is very vibrant thanks to the flashy colors of the gang’s outfits, vehicles and such. If the entire film had been shot on the Red Epic I think I would have felt it offered enough continuity in terms of a Hi-Def presentation to be flawless but sadly that’s not the case. However, it still manages to offer up some impressive visuals, much thanks to those beautiful aerial shots done from helicopters, that are well worthy of a “4.5 Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. The sound presentation here is great; be it from the awesome music on the soundtrack or the captured sound effects during the stunts. Speaking of those sound effects, they pack one hell of a nice amount of “punch” to them via LFE (bass); coming across pretty intense. The music is primarily driven from the front left & right channel speakers with a very nice amount of rear channel use and LFE presence. Dialogue here is delivered “spot-on” through the center channel and never gets overpowered by the music or sound effects throughout the film. This is a pretty intense lossless 5.1 mix for a film of this nature. It’s pretty impressive at times and worthy of earning itself a very nice “4.5 Star Rating” for overall audio quality.

Bonus Materials on this release are ALL presented in full 1080p Hi-Def (HD) video quality with a variety of Dolby Digital 5.1 @448kbps and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @224kbps sound — which will be noted below.

• Deleted Scenes (6:36 – HD) is in Dolby Digital 5.1 @448kbps sound. This definitely proves to be very entertaining to say the least and is in great video quality just like the film itself. You’ll get to see some more stunts that didn’t make it into the film.
• “Behind the Scenes” is in Dolby Digital 5.1 @448kbps sound and includes:
– “Gregg’s Car Roll” (2:55 – HD)
– “Roner’s Pond Skim” (1:48 – HD)
• Trailer (2:22 – HD) is in Dolby Digital 2.0 @192kbps sound.
• “Steve-O Interview” (0:19 – HD) is in Dolby Digital 2.0 @192kbps sound and appears to be from the film’s premier. It’s obviously way short though.
• Sponsors: “All Season Long” (0:32 – HD) is in Dolby Digital 2.0 @192kbps sound and serves as a promotional spot for Red Bull‘s “Signature Series” event that airs on both NBC Sports Network and NBC this month.
• “Social Media Info” gives you some URL’s for websites, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts associated with Nitro Circus.

Physical bonus materials:

• A Blu-ray Disc of the film in 2D with DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound is also included in this “combo pack” release. It contains the very same bonus materials listed above.
• A DVD of the film in Standard Definition with Dolby Digital 5.1 @448kbps and Dolby Digital 2.0 @192kbps sound is also included in this “combo pack” release. This contains the very same bonus materials list above as well.

Overall the bonus materials here are a tad bit short, roughly 15 minutes or so in length, but are ALL presented in Hi-Def and most even in 5.1 sound. You get some nice physical bonus materials here in the form of a standard 2D Blu-ray Disc and DVD of the film in standard definition. It’s enough to keep you somewhat entertained after you’ve watched the film.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Please be patient with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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