Pitch Perfect 3 [Blu-Ray]

Director: Trish Sie

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld

Release Date: March 20, 2018

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 5.5/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis:

Now graduated from college, realizing it takes more than a cappella to get by, all the Bellas return in the final chapter in the beloved series. After the highs of winning the World Championships, the Bellas find themselves split apart and discovering there are no job prospects for making music with only your mouth. But when they get the chance to reunite for a European USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.

Get ready for one final crazy and amusing outing with the Bellas. ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ rejoins our favorite A cappella stars now graduated from college and struggling to survive and make something out of their lives. When invited to a performance by a still active Bella and college student, the old members soon realize they still have the bug and aren’t quite ready to give it all up quite yet. Excited to perform at all, the classic team joins forces once more accepting a gig to be one of the performers at a European USO tour but soon discovers it’s a much different type of game when their competition consists of various bands sporting instruments and not merely fellow A cappella acts. Fortunately this unique group of ladies isn’t the type to let something like that keep them down.

Directed this time around by newcomer to the series Trish Sie (Step Up All In) from a screenplay once again written by Kay Cannon (Pitch Perfect 1-2) although this time co-written (or perhaps touched up?) by Mike White (Brad’s Status). Sie who does a more than competent job at the helm of ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ capturing the general mood and goofy tone quite well. The film also features a solid cast comprised of numerous returning individuals from the first two films along with plenty of newcomers and includes Anna Kendrick (Into The Woods), Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids), Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen), Brittany Snow (Would You Rather), Anna Camp (TV’s True Blood), Hana Mae Lee (The Babysitter), Alexis Knapp (TV’s Ground Floor), John Michael Higgins (TV’s Great News), Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games) and John Lithgow (Daddy’s Home 2) along with more, the majority providing capable enough overall performances in each of their respective roles, although nothing truly exceptional.

‘Pitch Perfect 3’ is a decent third entry in the fan-favorite film series and reunites fans with the majority of their favorite characters for one last over the top outing. Albeit far from perfect, it definitely manages to bring plenty of fun, new musical performances and a healthy supply of laughs to the table which alone should be enough to appease many folks. Unfortunately it forgoes much of the passion and heart of its processors this time around for an attempt at making this one part painfully ridiculous action film, featuring some overly goofy fight scenes that are almost cringe worthy and for the most part feel entirely out of place. Fortunately for diehard fans of the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies the ample helpings of more familiar elements should still be enough to keep you more than entertained throughout, and many just might even enjoy the over the top action moments. It’s smoothly guided along this time by first time director to the franchise Trish Sie whose capable guidance is boosted by plenty of new and returning cast members. It may not be quite up there with the first two films which each managed to find something special in themselves but ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ does nonetheless manage to serve up enough of what fans want to ensure that most should be fairly pleased with the third (and potentially final?) chapter of the Bellas’ story.

Overall, ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ takes viewers on one more entertaining ride with the Bellas that features plenty of laughs, goofy fun and of course some new musical performances. It’s definitely a downgrade from the previous two installments in this surprisingly solid series though and makes the questionable decision to abandon much of the heart for a futile attempt at silly action sequences that never quite work. While those unfamiliar with the first two films probably won’t have any desire to catch this third and somewhat less impressive entry, ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ is certainly recommended for fans of the series who likely won’t want to miss out on the latest installment which still serves up its share of easygoing (and music filled) fun even with a few absent characters and some ridiculously goofy moments. If nothing else it should definitely be worth the time and cost of a rental for fans of the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies that weren’t able to catch this one in theaters.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation provides a sharp, detailed and brightly colored presentation from start to finish with no notable faults to be uncovered along the way. It holds up effortlessly even during the fast moving, darkly lit and heavily populated sequences, never allowing anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a fantastic high definition video presentation that delivers in every way and should easily satisfy fans of the series and newcomers alike.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a DTS: X (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA presentation. This lossless multichannel soundtrack compliments the film perfectly around every turn with this crisp, clean and surprisingly aggressive audio presentation. It frequently takes advantage of all seven available channels in order to send music, crowd chatter, action effects and explosions along with a good share more throughout the various speakers, and never causing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, this is a wonderful DTS: X (DTS-HD MA 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that sounds consistently great and contributes plenty of additional fun to the overall viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ includes a pretty solid collection of bonus content that fans of the franchise should appreciate. Included on the release are ‘2 Audio Commentary’ tracks; the first is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Trish Sie’ and the second is an ‘Audio Commentary with Producers Paul Brooks and Max Handelman’. We’re additionally treated to a couple of ‘New Musical Performances’ (running approximately 4 minutes combined), plus a few ‘Extended Musical Performances’ (running approximately 9 minutes altogether), along with a ‘Gag Reel’ (3 minutes) and a ‘Deleted Scene: Aubrey at Amy’s Hotel Door’ (1 minute). The release also offers a collection of Behind the Scenes Featurettes including interviews/comments with members of the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are: ‘Competition Crescendo’ (approximately 7 minutes), ‘A Cappella Action’ (3 minutes), ‘The Women of Pitch Perfect 3’ (4 minutes), ‘Don’t Mess With Rebel’ (4 minutes), ‘The Headliner: DJ Khaled’ (3 minutes), ‘The Final Note: John and Gail’ (2 minutes), ‘Just Because He’s A Bad Guy…’ (2 minutes), ‘The Final Performance’ (4 minutes) and ‘Hollywood of the South’ (2 minutes). The “Freedom! ’90 X Cups” Official Music Video (approximately 2 minutes) is also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 5.5/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

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‘Pitch Perfect 3’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

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You can purchase your copy of ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ by clicking on the Amazon Cart icon immediately below!