DEBS appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. While largely positive, the image didn’t quite excel.
Shot on the era’s less than stellar digital cameras, sharpness usually worked fine but not consistently, as wider shots tended to feel softer than expected. Though these didn’t create prominent distractions, it seemed clear that the camera equipment limited accuracy.
No jagged edges or shimmering occurred. I saw no edge haloes or source flaws.
DEBS went with a lively palette to match its girlie tone and these fared fairly well. Although I couldn’t call the colors truly dynamic, they nonetheless showed more than acceptable vivacity.
Blacks seemed dense and tight while shadows looked clear and visible. This left us with a “B” presentation thanks to the occasional softness.
A busy mix, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundfield usually presented a lively affair. The various fight sequences provided the most useful elements, as gunfire and other action pieces swirled around the room.
Music usually showed good delineation and presence. The track used the surrounds actively but it didn’t always mesh together as well as I’d hope.
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Audio quality seemed solid across the board. Speech consistently sounded crisp and concise, while effects appeared dynamic and bold.
Low-end material seemed warm and rich. Music varied somewhat due to the sources, but the songs and score usually offered nice definition and clarity. Even with inconsistencies, this remained a solid “B” mix.
How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD from 2005? The BD’s audio offered a better balanced soundfield and warmer material.
The Blu-ray boasted obvious improvements in terms of delineation, colors and blacks. Despite some soft spots, the BD clearly upgraded the spotty DVD.
When we head to extras, we start with two separate audio commentaries, the first of which comes from writer/director/editor Angela Robinson. She gives us a running, screen-specific discussion of casting and working with the actors, editing and scene choices, the story’s origins and its development, shooting digitally, visual effects, locations, sets, filming on a shoestring budget and screenings at various festivals.
I definitely can’t complain about the breadth of subjects addressed, as Robinson addresses pretty much all the topics we’d expect. However, she doesn’t provide a lot of depth.
We get a decent feel for the various elements but not a truly insightful one and a little too much dead air occurs as well. Overall, this qualifies as an informative commentary but not a great one.
For the second commentary, we hear from actors Sara Foster, Jordana Brewster, Jill Ritchie and Meagan Good. All four sit together for this running, screen-specific discussion.
Actually, Angela Robinson shows up there too. However, she simply acts as an off-mic taskmaster who tries to keep the women on-topic.
This doesn’t work, as the women discuss little more than clothes, makeup and hairstyles. Yeah, they get into a few other subjects such as their approaches to acting and their roles, working with Robinson and some of the performers, locations, rehearsals, and a variety of trivia bits and challenges.
However, most of the time they stay superficial. They talk about which of them looks cute and various pros and cons of their appearances.
This makes the commentary pretty lively but not exactly informative. Granted, a lot of the other tidbits offer fun insights into the production, especially since the actors take a different point of view.
Those elements remain minor, though. The track also drags as it proceeds and loses some of its energy.
The actors still seem enough fizzy fun to make this a moderately entertaining commentary. It just lacks substance.
Called Infiltrating DEBS, this featurette lasts 12 minutes, 17 seconds. We get notes from Robinson, producers Andrea Sperling and Jasmine Kosovic, and actors Good, Foster, Brewster, Ritchie, Devon Aoki, Michael Clarke Duncan, Holland Taylor, Jessica Cauffiel, and Geoff Stults.
“Infiltrating” follows the movie’s path from Robinson’s 1999 comic strips to the 2003 short film to the big-screen version. We see how the short’s success led to the development of the feature edition and then learn about casting and characters, the flick’s sexual reversals, the atmosphere during the shoot, the movie’s tone and Robinson’s influence on the set, stunts and training, the tight budget and schedule, and story themes.
Usually these fairly short featurettes stick with little more than fluff. Happily, “Infiltrating” gives us a tight look at the flick.
It moves through the requisite elements briskly and touches on quite a few useful topics. The show’s brevity means that we don’t get in-depth examinations of the issues, but it includes enough quality information to be worth your time.
An eight-minute, 45-second set of Deleted Scenes includes five cut sequences. We get an alternate version of the segment in which the DEBS go to “rescue” Amy from Lucy as well as a discussion of Amy’s lesbianism between Max and Dominique.
We also see Amy struggle with her continued feelings for Lucy, Max’s guilt over her treatment of Amy, and the pre-prom gathering of all the DEBS and their dates. Nothing particularly interesting shows up here.
A five-minute, three-second Animatic combines rough animation and crude storyboards. It depicts the movie’s opening SAT sequence. Some alternate visuals appear and we get a nice look at the plans for the scene.
Note that the Blu-ray drops a music video, production stills, a digital comic and previews from the DVD.
A twist with a story built around it, DEBS has enough inherent kick to make it work - in theory, at least. Too bad it lacks interesting characters or situations, a coherent tale, or anything beyond minor cheap thrills. The Blu-ray presents generally positive picture and audio along with some good supplements. Perhaps in the hands of a more confident and daring director - and with an “R” rating - DEBS could have been worth a look but the end result is a clunker.
