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DVD Features
- DVD Release Date: August 18, 2009
- Original Theatrical Release: April 10, 2009
- 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
- French and Spanish Language Tracks
- Subtitles: Closed Captioned
- Suggested Retail Price: 1 Disc DVD:$29.99, 2 Disc DVD:$39.99, 3 Disc BD Combo Pack $44.99
The Movie
All right, let’s get some truths out in the open right now. I’m a 41-year-old man and I like Hannah Montana. I, of course, don’t mean that in the creepy way it may sound. I actually like the show. The Disney Channel has delivered plenty of tween-aimed programming over the years. Most of which I could seriously leave behind and not miss. My daughter is 10, so needless to say, my house has had its fair share of Hannah over the last few years. She’s not a rabid, “Daddy, please pay ridiculous scalper money so we can see Hannah live!” type of kid. She enjoys the show and has watched it regularly, so being the involved Dad, so have I. And I have to say, Hannah’s not that bad. I can truly say that I enjoy the show. Miley Cyrus has a very likable quality as does her dad, Billy Ray. I think the supporting cast is pretty funny for the most part and her music, while not my usual 60’s and 70’s classic rock fare, is pretty decent pop. My daughter has certainly grown used to Springsteen and The Beatles being played in our house, but when it comes to her choosing her own, I’d rather have her listening to Miley Cyrus than most of the music I hear her peers listening to.
When Hannah hit the silver screen with her first full length feature film, I wanted to go see it with my daughter. As circumstances would have it, we missed the film in its theatrical run, so we were looking forward to the DVD’s release to see how the show and its characters translated to the movies. That’s a delicate balance. A 23 minute episode of Hannah Montana, with its laugh track, obvious studio setting and video look are a far cry from the look and feel of a cinematic release. A certain level of finesse is expected in film, and while the movie feels different and looks different, fans will still feel that it stays true to the series. All of the show’s regular cast make an appearance, with dad Robbie Ray (Miley’s real dad Billy Ray Cyrus) brother Jackson (Jason Earles) and best friend Lilly (Emily Osment) featuring prominently in the story. Show regulars Oliver and Rico (Mitchell Musso and Moises Areas) make what feels like an obligatory appearance in the beginning of the film and are there more for comic relief than figuring into the film’s plot line. New character Vita, played by Vanessa Williams, is a sort of uber-agent-assistant that seems to be contributing to Hannah losing her grounded Miley side while playing up her superstar borderline diva side. This culminates in the film’s opening with an over-the-top battle for a pair of designer shoes with supermodel Tyra Banks.
The shoe battle causes Miley to be late for Lilly’s Sweet 16 party and forces her to show up to the bash as Hannah. As Lilly leaves her own party hurt by her best friend’s actions, she reveals a little piece of Hannah’s secret, the name of Miley’s hometown in Tennessee, to a gossip columnist, Oswald Granger, played by British actor Peter Gunn. Granger eventually ends up in the small town looking for any secrets he can dig up on the pop star. Fed up with his daughter’s recent behavior, and her decision to perform in New York instead of attending her Grandma’s birthday, Robbie Ray feels that Miley needs to get back to her roots and rediscover herself and tricks her into a mandatory “Hannah Detox” in their rural hometown of Crowley Meadows, Tennesee.
Predictably, Miley fights the charm of her simple country upbringing at first until a few harsh words from Grandma Ruby (Margo Martindale) begin to bring her around. Helping her readjust to the simple life is cowboy heartthrob love interest Travis (Lucas Till) and a classic “let’s save the small town from the big developer” subplot. Robbie Ray gets his own love interest in the form of Stewart family farm “foreman”, Lorelai (veteran TV actress Melora Hardin.) Miley inadvertently agrees to get her friend Hannah Montana to perform at a “save the town” benefit and the usual dual personality chaos ensues including the ever popular, Mrs. Doubtfire-type-scene with dual dinner dates and quick changes in a closet. Miley soon gets caught up in her deceptions, of course, and her new guy inadvertently sees her half in and half out of costume, exposing her secret and perhaps costing her a new boyfriend.
Miley and Travis on the Stewart farm. © Disney. All Rights Reserved.
At the heart of the story though is Miley’s struggle with who she is and what she’s all about. In this aspect, the film leaves its television slapstick aside and takes a turn for the serious. The beautifully filmed backdrop of Tennessee helps aid this process. The phoniness of the usual TV settings that Hannah Montana fans are used to are incongruous to this type of story line. As a viewer, you’re brought into this world through the landscapes and the film camera is highly effective at sucking you in. You want Miley to embrace her hometown and her family and the simpler life, because of how it’s presented. I think Miley’s decision in the final scenes is a little surprising and the ending is a little too hokey, but I went with it. I’ll let you be the judge for yourself.
Miley sings “Butterfly, Fly Away” to her dad. © Disney. All Rights Reserved.
The Goodies
There are several Blu-ray only special features on the set. I’m still waiting for a Blu-ray player to find its way into this house, so I watched the standard DVD version of the film. That said, I have the 3-Disc set, so one day, when I finally upgrade to Blu-ray, I’ll see what I’ve been missing. These are the special features that are on both the 3-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack and the 2-Disc DVD.
Deleted Scenes with Director Commentary
There are a few deleted scenes presented by director Peter Chelsom. The first delves into a Jackson subplot explaining that he isn’t in college in Tennessee like his dad thinks, he is working at his cousin’s petting zoo. There is an unexplained scene in the finished film of Jackson at the zoo getting bit on the seat of his pants by an alligator in front of what appears to be a class trip. Personally, I would’ve cut the whole thing. I didn’t understand why he was there in the first place, and the movie could function without it. There are some extended scenes with Robbie Ray and Miley and 2 scenes with Jackson sicking his petting zoo animals on the reporter and distracting him with a Hannah wig selling operation. I actually think the distraction of the reporter should have been left in. He is seen snooping around town and then disappears for a while.
Bloopers
This is a fairly standard clip reel of bloopers and outtakes, mostly blown lines and laughs.
Music Video
Miley Cyrus’s video for her song “The Climb” is included here. It’s a combination of Miley singing her hit against some laser light backgrounds and footage from the film. I’m a big Howard Stern fan and even jaded Howard confessed he was a big fan of this song. I think it’s one of her better tunes as well and the video is worth a watch.
Backstage Disney
In a segment entitled “Find Your Way Back Home,” borrowed from Miley’s song of a similar name, both Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment take you on a tour of their hometowns, Franklin Tennessee and Los Angeles, respectively. Miley tours around Franklin with her mom and visits some local landmarks, her pre-school building, an ice cream shop and an open air mic cafe among other sites. They seem genuinely enamored with their hometown and this was a surprisingly enjoyable segment. Along the way, Miley adopts a pet cat. we then see her pick up a guitar and sing for a handful of people at the cafe. She says she is nervous because as opposed to a huge concert venue, she can see each person’s face here. She actually really does look nervous and vulnerable. It’s great to hear her actually sing, as opposed to hearing her pre-recorded voice throughout the movie. This appeared to be very real, she sang beautifully, and I think it’s the best part of the whole disc.
Emily Osment takes you on a tour of the certainly more familiar Los Angeles area stopping at The Hollywood Sign, the La Brea Tar Pits, Pink’s Hot Dogs and the Santa Monica Pier. Both of these segments were a pleasant surprise and were quite enjoyable.
The other segment here is “I Should Have Gone to Film School -With Jason Earles.” Jason takes on a tour behind the scenes on the film’s set, interview style, to uncover some eternal questions, such as “What does a best boy do? How about a gaffer and a grip?” and “What’s the difference between a director, a 1st assistant director and a 2nd assistant director?” Earles has some good comedic timing and makes the 15 minute segment pretty fun to watch.
Audio Commentary
The obligatory audio commentary from the director. Interesting and well spoken.
Disney’s Blu-ray is Suite
Disney Channel’s Dylan and Cole Sprouse tell us how cool Blu-ray is.
Audio, Video and Interface
The film looks great. As I said above, it’s nice to see these characters removed from their fake looking sets and put in real life locations. When I review a DVD, I always like to add that I’m not really an audiophile, but I would be able to decipher a bad mix. There’s no complaints with the sound on the disc. It sounded great through my regular TV speakers.
I can’t, of course, comment on any differences in the Blu-ray version.
The Final Evaluation
As I said above, I enjoy watching Hannah Montana with my daughter and I enjoyed watching this movie. I think that there’s something inherently likable about Miley Cyrus and I’m so hoping that she doesn’t crash and burn like several other major stars of her age. The movie took me to a different location, a place that i wasn’t used to seeing and the director used that location to the film’s advantage. The movie kept my interest and made me laugh. There was even a borderline tearjerker moment when Miley’s dual personality balancing act is crashing down around her. There’s a slow motion shot of her going through a set of revolving doors. As she’s tearing off her Hannah wig, she catches the eye of an adorable little girl, a Hannah Montana fan, coming in through the same doors. We saw the little girl in a previous scene – blonde hair, Hannah t-shirt, missing her chance to get an autograph. Miley has just disappointed her new love, caused her dad to give up his new girlfriend and now she has just devastated this little girl as she sees that her idol is essentially a phony. That’s a pretty heavy scene for a Disney Channel movie about a pop star.
If you have a daughter in this age range, you probably saw it in the theaters. If you happen to have missed it, pick up the DVD. The kids will love it and it will keep your interest as well. What more can you ask for in a family film?
