It’s really hard to be a physical media advocate and supporter, and I know how that sentence sounds. We’re a dying breed of collectors, but we still exist and wanting the crème of the crop is becoming harder and harder when releases aren’t trying anymore. This is not to say that a release isn’t worth it, because owning a movie you love and enjoy physically is better than surrendering yourself to the digital cataclysm and hoping it’s available on of the umpteenth streaming services you have or it’s available to rent or buy somewhere. However, when the movie itself is an Amazon partnership with one of the major studios, Warner Brothers, in this case, odds are it’ll forever be available somewhere, but why risk that if it’s a movie you enjoy. Now, is the movie in question something I enjoyed? That is what we’re going to find out amongst other things, including if this Blu-ray release is worth owning. So, sit back and start rowing your way through this home release review of George Clooney’s (The Midnight Sky) The Boys in the Boat (2023).
Center: Joel Edgerton as Coach Al Ulbrickson in THE BOYS IN THE BOAT. Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.
First and foremost, The Boys in the Boat is a period piece that takes place in the 1930s and is centered on the University of Washington rowing team making their way to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin to try and win gold. Yes, it’s a historical movie that doesn’t alter the Olympic rulings and no, I am not going to tell you if they win gold or not because if you don’t know, that ruins one of the only suspenseful moments of the entire film. The film focuses on Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) as he is one of our main rowers but only joins because of the promise of a steady job if he made the team. He gets his friend, Roger Morris (Sam Strike), involved in the team, as well. However, they’re not the only ones who have a lot at stake; head coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton) stakes not only his reputation, but his career on this junior team and goes against all odds to get them to the Olympics.
Director George Clooney on the set of THE BOYS IN THE BOAT. Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.
While there are a lot of trial and tribulations in the movie, the stakes just aren’t drawn out or built upon long enough to get the audience engaged. Everything feels too face paced to get to the finale and even that is vaguely brushed off and glossed over. The audience is supposed to root for Joe and Roger and the rest of the team to ensure, that on the backdrop of post-depression and cusp of World War II, they have something to hold onto, but it just falls short. Maybe it’s the pessimist in me, maybe it’s the fact that the adaptation and moreover direction from George Clooney feels incredibly bland and safe, but, for a movie focused on a body of water (while, granted, not fishing), that worm is just dangling on the hook with only occasional nibbles without any real bites of satisfaction.
Moving over to the home release, it’s nice to see that a studio Blu-ray is still getting digital codes (despite my rant earlier, I’m not anti-digital, but rather anti-digital only) and a slip cover. Neither are crucial to my preferences, but slips are definitely a hot commodity in the community. My biggest and most disappointing issue with all of it is the lack of anything beyond “here’s the movie on disk.” It loads and immediately takes you to the poster graphic for the movie menu. Again, nothing against no nonsense to get to the menu. That’s great. However, the menu is bare; it’s play, audio settings, set up, and scene selection, and is most adamantly missing special features. There is not a single one. They didn’t even bother to add the theatrical trailer to the disc. I am not going to say that this was a lazy, hap hazardous release, but without a singular feature for a movie directed by Hollywood A-lister, it certainly isn’t an inspired choice. The best thing The Boys in the Boat Blu-ray has going for it is the lack of compression on the disc.
A scene from THE BOYS IN THE BOAT. Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.
The question has to be asked, how much does one love The Boys in the Boat? If it was a favorite of yours last year, the question is a no-brainer. If you’re on the fence, this could very easily be a “wait for the inevitable sale.” Same goes for if you’ve never seen it. The lack of features, the lack of anything past watching it on Amazon Prime outside of compression, is a hard sell at full MRSP. Studios, please stop making consumers who want to support physical media have a hard time justifying purchases that cannot entice us past a bitrate.
Available on Blu-ray June 25th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Amazon MGM Studios The Boys in the Boat webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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