DVD Review: Teen Faves
From Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Hannah Montana Pop Star Profile
For the unfamiliar, "Hannah Montana" is a popular TV series on the Disney Channel that features teen Miley Cyrus as a California middle-school student who is also secretly a pop star. If you are a fan, you'll be anxious to add this new DVD to your collection.
The DVD contains four of the popular "Jake Ryan" (Cody Linley) episodes that explore Miley's dating relationship with a hot teen movie star who is attending her school. Episodes are: "New Kid in School", "More Than a Zombie to Me", "Good Golly Miss Dolly"(with guest star Dolly Parton), and "People Who Use People". The first DVD on the show came out last fall and also contained four episodes.
Video/Audio: "Hannah" is looking and sounding great. Good transfers from the TV show and both concert and interviews with Miley's family look and sound fine.
Special Features: "Nobody's Perfect" is a live concert performance by Hannah Montana and it's upbeat and fun. The song is also on the new CD "Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus".
In "The Real Miley Cyrus", you get a short behind-the-scenes look at Miley's life on set, with some comments by fellow castmembers. There is also a little interview with some of Miley's family members; mom Tish, younger sis Noah, younger bro Braison and half sis Brandi. Older half bro Trace, 18 who is starting his own music career, is missing from the mix. The group chats about life at home with the Cyrus clan.
Wrapping Up: More featurettes would have been nice but you are probably collecting these DVDs for the show episodes anyway so the bonus material is just a little perk.
High School Musical: The Concert Extreme Access Pass
We all know about the huge phenomenon that started as a TV movie and ended up topping the charts and creating a massive fanbase. The stars of the mega-hit went on a sold-out, 40-city tour with a concert version that included Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman, with Drew Seeley (who wrote "Get'cha Head in the Game") taking over the part played by Zac Efron on TV.
This is not a stage version of the movie. The concert showcases the songs with projection on a large stage screen of scenes from the movie in the bkg. Costumes are more flamboyant than in the actual movie; some are cute, some are just kinda bizarre. The real star of the live stage version is Corbin Bleu who can dance, sing and "sell" a song with a stage presence that far surpasses his co-stars. Fans of Zac Efron, who was off filming Hairspray during the tour, will be disappointed that he's not on the DVD but, replacement Drew is a darn good singer and he's cute too! Lucas Grabeel is the host of the DVD and does a perky good job. Monique doesn't get much to do and that's disappointing. You get the upbeat pop tunes and ballads from the movie and also performances of three new songs that are from solo albums by Vanessa, Ashley and Corbin.
Video/Audio: For a concert DVD, the look and sound is quite good although the huge stage (this DVD was entirely filmed during one concert in Houston, Texas) kind of overwhelms and swallows up the cast and you can tell that some of the vocals are from the pre-recorded soundtrack and aren't live.
Special Features: Opening act radio Disney fave Jordan Pruitt does four songs and you get a "U-Direct" feature that is interactive and lets you shuffle the order of the songs but I never really "got" how to do it. What is really good is the "On the Road" featurette that is again hosted by Lucas and shows the cast in their tour buses (there is one for guys and one for the girls). This reveals just how cramped and non-glam touring really is. The featurette takes the cast from one show's ending all the way to the next night's show. This is informative and fun.
You also get a much too short sneak peek at "High School Musical 2" as well. Obviously, more on this would have been better.
Wrapping Up: Hey, if you love the cast and the songs, you'll adore this fun concert CD with bonus songs by your fave stars. It presents cast and music in a different light and is a great addition to any "High School Musical" fan's DVD shelf!
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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.
