With respect to movies, the summer of 2008 will always be remembered for the box office success of The Dark Knight. But there were a number of other gems released including Wall-E and the movie I’m reviewing on DVD today, Mamma Mia!
If you’ve never seen the famous Broadway musical, Mamma Mia! tells the story of the a young bride named Sophie and her attempt to find out who her real father is. The tricky part is that her father is any one of three men that her mother used to be involved with. The sparks fly when Sophie secretly invites the men to her upcoming nuptials without warning her mother.
Going into a musical, the typical assumption is that the cast is capable of carrying a note or two. And when the story is told using songs by 70s group ABBA, you’d especially want the acting talent to nail it. But that wasn’t necessarily the goal with Mamma Mia!, which boasts its star power over anything. I think it’s safe to say that Meryl Streep’s talents aren’t in the singing department, but this movie just seemed to work with her as its centerpiece. And Pierce Brosnan was perfect as the rekindled love interest, but man, his singing was outright atrocious.
But where the movie lacked in techinical merit, it made up for it in fun. Mamma Mia! works well because it doesn’t take itself seriously and offers up 2 hours of good, clean fun. Fans of the original musical are going to get the most out of the movie, showing an appreciation for its adaptation to the big screen using A-listers. Those coming in cold will probably scoff at some of the singing, but still be able to appreciate the simple and entertaining story nonetheless.
As for the DVD, Universal pulled together an intriguing collage of special features that make the 2-Disc Special edition worth the upgrade.
* Sing Along: This one has “ladies night with margaritas” all over it. This is your chance to scream all the lyrics to the ABBA songs peppering the movie. You can watch the film with the lyrics displayed at the bottom of the screen.
* All-New Musical Number: “The Name Of The Game”
* Feature Commentary with Director Phyllida Lloyd : Typical directory commentary on the film
* Deleted Scenes, Outtakes
* The Making of Mamma Mia!: Fans of the Broadway show will appreciate what it took to bring the play to the big screen.
* Anatomy of a Musical Number: “Lay All Your Love on Me”: This featurette includes footage of Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper as they create one of the movie’s most unforgettable scenes.
* Becoming a Singer: Ha ha. The title of this feature is ironic, because it implies that the cast are actually singers. Nevertheless, this feature offers a quick look at how the cast went about tackling the daunting task of singing on film.
* Behind the Scenes with Amanda Seyfried: I really liked Amanda in MM and certainly loved her in Veronica Mars.
* On Location in Greece: I can really appreciation this one as I spent some vacation time in Greece this summer, where the film was beautifully set. After watching this feature, I predict you’ll be checking Expedia to see how much a trip over to the European country costs.
* A Look Inside Mamma Mia!
* “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” Music Video
* Digital Copy for your iPod, Mac or PC (for a limited time only) - this is becoming the standard - download the movie into iTunes or your media player - perfect for the iPhone/iPod user.
And while I didn’t review the Blu-Ray version of the movie, here are the features on that release (which includes the aformentioned ones).
* BD-LIVE: Download even more exclusive content, the latest trailers and more through your internet connected player!
* My Commentary: Join the celebration and create your own video, audio or text track to watch with the movie and send to your friends.
* My Scenes Sharing: Show your friends your favorite scenes from Mamma Mia! The Movie via BD-Live.
* Downloadable Content: Gain exclusive access to never-before-seen bonus content and new trailers via BD-Live.
* Exclusive U-Control: Universal’s exclusive signature feature U-Control allows viewers to delve into the making of the film with the click of the remote without ever leaving the movie.
* Picture-in-Picture: Learn more about the making of this film, while watching the movie.
* Behind The Hits: This graphics-only feature allows fans to learn more about the film’s iconic songs.
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