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Jim Milton
When a dangerous crime wave hits the beach, Lt. Mitch Buchannon (Johnson) leads his elite squad of lifeguards on a mission to prove you don’t need to wear a badge to save the bay. Joined by some new hires, including a former Olympian (Efron), they’ll ditch the surf and go undercover to stop a ruthless business women (Chopra) whose devious plans threaten the future of the bay.
2017, 2180p with HDR, Dolby Atmos (Dolby TruHD 5.1), Rated R, 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio, 1 hour 56 minutes
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, Kelly Rohrbach
Directed By: Seth Gordon
Rating
Violence: Mild
Sex: Crude humor
Language: Yes
Based loosely on the TV show, this movie is a parody of what Hasselhoff’s crew did every week. A true fan of the TV show might be outraged at portrayal of the show, but it was fun in a tongue and cheek kind of way. I am not sure who the audience is for this film as it was way too crude for children and early teens, yet a bit too wacky for adults to get excited about. Surprisingly, there were no topless babes (but a fair amount of jiggles), but plenty of crude penis jokes. The swearing (F-bombs galore) was a bit over the top for me. Apparently, those things constitute comedy these days.
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The acting was good and I must admit the chemistry between Johnson and Efron was pretty good. The action kept this film from being too much of a stinker and the cinematography was quite colorful and added to the eye candy appeal of the show. Interestingly, it was shot on location in Alabama, not California. In any case, the beach looked amazing. I rank this film as a definite rental and a purchase if you are a fanatic of the TV show.
As expected, the colors are gorgeous with this film. The HDR makes the sunlight glinting off the waves look as though you are on the beach. Flesh tones are generally good, but a few scenes had facial complexions looking a bit orange. The color red looked solid and punchy, so the lifeguard swim wear looked great. The only fault I could see was in the CGI effects during to burning boat scenes. The fire looked fake (flames going one way, smoke going the other direction). But still, even the night scenes had some super dazzling highlights. Sound was busy, loud and active in all speakers most of the film.
Besides a BD copy, you get- both theatrical and extended versions of the movie, Meet the Lifeguards, Continuing the Legacy, Stunts and Training, Deleted and extended scenes.
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