Pitch Perfect 3 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a solid transfer.
Sharpness appeared accurate and detailed. A smidgen of softness popped up in some wide shots, but not to a substantial degree. Most of the movie appeared clear and appropriately focused.
Moiré effects and jagged edges presented no concerns, and edge haloes remained absent. No print flaws materialized; the film remained clean and fresh.
In terms of colors, the flick went with a pretty broad palette. Given a nice variety of hies, the tones looked strong.
Blacks were dark and firm, while shadows appeared clear and well-developed. The image seemed very good.
Downconverted to DTS-HD MA 7.1, the film’s DTS X soundtrack, it offered a fairly involving effort – at least given its emphasis. Of course, I didn’t expect a dazzling soundfield from this sort of music-oriented effort, and I got mostly what I anticipated.
In terms of effects, general ambience ruled much of the film, but the mix opened up on occasion. The story came with some action-oriented moments and those broadened auditory horizons in an involving manner.
Music also used the track well. The songs spread to the side and rear channels in a lively way, and these components formed a vivid setting.
Audio quality appeared fine. Dialogue was consistently warm and natural, and speech displayed no concerns related to edginess or intelligibility.
Effects were clean and distinct, and the music came across as bold and full. This became a nice reproduction of the material.
Expect a broad assortment of extras, and we start with two audio commentaries. The first comes from director Trish Sie, as she provides a running, screen-specific look at story/characters and the evolution from the prior films, cast and performances, music, costumes, sets and locations, and connected topics.
From start to finish, Sie brings us a delightful chat. She touches on all the requisite subjects and does so with verve. I may not like her movie, but Sie's commentary works well.
For the second commentary, we hear from producers Paul Brooks and Max Handelman. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific discussion of basically all the same topics Sie discussed in her commentary.
That makes this chat often redundant, but even if it stood on its own, it'd be a mediocre piece. Brooks and Handelman don't bring out a lot of substance, as they joke a bit too much and fade as the track progresses. It's not a terrible commentary, but it's lackluster.
Two clips appear under New Musical Performances: “Fat Amy and Fergus Casino Duet” (2:38) and “The Bellas: ‘See You Smile’ Lullaby” (1:45). Of the two, “Casino” offers the greater entertainment value, even if it’s pretty absurd.
We also find three Extended Musical Performances: “Evermoist: ‘How a Heart Unbreaks’” (3:55), “Young Sparrow/DJ Dragon Nutz: ‘You Got It’” (1:56) and “Saddle Up: ‘Ex’s and Oh’s’” (2:59). These bring longer songs from the Bellas’ three competitors, and they’re fine for what they are.
One Deleted Scene pops up: “Aubrey at Amy’s Hotel Door”. It goes for one minute, one second and indeed offers a chat between Amy and Aubrey. It seems wholly superfluous and not very interesting.
Next comes a Gag Reel. This three-minute, 22-second piece brings us a lot of the usual laughing and mistakes. If that works for you, enjoy!
A bunch of featurettes follow, and these start with Competition Crescendo. During the six-minute, 37-second segment, we hear from Sie, producer/actor Elizabeth Banks, and actors Brittany Snow, Ruby Rose, Rebel Wilson, Anna Kendrick, Hailee Steinfeld, Robert Fitzgerald, James Bookert, Hana Mae Lee, Trinidad James, Chrissie Fit, and DJ Looney.
“Crescendo” looks at the bands that compete against the Bellas. It offers much praise and little substance.
With the three-minute, 15-second A Cappella Action, we hear from Sie, Steinfeld, Lee, Snow, vocal arranger/producer Ed Boyer, production designer Toby Corbett, assistant choreographer Kyndra Reevey, choreographer Aakomon Jones, and actors Ester Dean, Anna Camp and John Lithgow. “Action” provides notes about the movie’s climax, and it does a decent job.
Next comes The Women of Pitch Perfect 3, a four-minute, 21-second reel with Camp, Banks, Brooks, Sie, Dean, Kendrick, Snow, Fit, Steinfeld, Wilson, executive producer David Nicksay and actors Kelley Jakle and Shelley Regner. “Women” discusses Banks and Sie, the two primary women behind the camera. It’s more tedious happy talk.
An actor comes to the fore with Don’t Mess With Rebel. It fills four minutes, 27 seconds with comments from Camp, Handelman, Sie, Wilson, Banks, Brooks, Kendrick, and stunt coordinator Jennifer Badger. “Mess” covers changes for the Amy character and aspects of Wilson’s performance. Mostly it tells us how great Wilson is, so it never becomes especially interesting.
A guest performer takes the lead for The Headliner: DJ Khaled, three-minute, one-second show with Wilson, Rose, Handelman, Snow, Sie, Fit, Dean, and actor DJ Khaled. Essentially we learn that Khaled is a) talented and b) wonderful. Don’t expect more than that.
Two supporting characters come to us with The Final Note: John and Gail. This clip takes up two minutes, 22 seconds and includes Banks, Camp, Steinfeld, and actor John Michael Higgins. As expected, we get a lot of praise for Banks and Higgins, but at least some improv material makes “Note” more compelling than its siblings.
Just Because He’s a Bad Guy… fills one minute, 54 seconds with remarks from Wilson, Lithgow and Kendrick. Unsurprisingly, this one tells us how awesome Lithgow is. That’s about it!
With The Final Performance, we locate a four-minute, 30-second piece with Regner, Camp, Sie, Corbett, Wilson, Brooks, Boyer, Snow, Kendrick, and costume designer Salvador Perez. “Performance” discusses aspects of the movie’s last scene. It proves to be reasonably informative – and certainly a step up from most of its peers.
For a look at locations, we head to Hollywood of the South. It lasts two minutes, 28 seconds and features Wilson, Sie, Handelman, Snow, Corbett, Dean, Regner, Jones, Brooks, and Lee. Mostly this tells us how great it is to shoot in Atlanta. A few decent notes emerge but this usually feels like an advertisement.
Next we get a Music Video for “Freedom! ’90 X Cups”. It gives us a song-and-dance lip-synch that features the cast and mashes up the two songs. It doesn’t do much for me, though at least it omits the usual movie clips.
The disc opens with ads for The Voice, Logan Lucky, Good Girls, Honey: Rise Up and Dance and The Bold Type. No trailer for Perfect 3 appears here.
A second disc presents a DVD copy of Perfect 3. It includes some – but not most – of the Blu-ray’s extras. Most notably, it loses both commentaries.
With Pitch Perfect 3, the once-promising franchise finds itself on fumes. Ridiculous, witless and without laughs, this becomes a tired, pointless endeavor. The Blu-ray offers positive picture and audio with a long but inconsistent set of supplements. Perfect 3 concludes the “trilogy” on a sour note.
