Todd Phillips invites you to embark on the ultimate odyssey of bad judgment, hilarious havoc, and madcap mayhem with The Hangover Trilogy. Join “The Wolfpack,” a.k.a. Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and Doug (Justin Bartha), as they endure a plethora of outrageous indignities — including a disaster-magnet Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) — in all three movies from the explosively funny “Hangover” franchise. Complete with an all-new documentary covering all three films.
For thoughts on The Hangover Trilogy, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
The Hangover Trilogy comes to Blu-Ray with the original releases of each film on their own disc. These films share a lot of the same qualities, so I will mostly be judging them as a group while pointing out noticeable differences when necessary. The first Hangover was released on Blu-Ray all the way back in 2009, and it is the one that struggles the most with the passage of time. The date VC-1 encode cannot compare to the more formidable AVC encodes of The Hangover Part II and Part III. The first film has minor issues with sporadic edge enhancement, artifacts, banding, and crush in the darker spaces. While they are only a few years after this one, the second and third installments are a pretty notable step up and still hold up well visually.
These latter two transfers represent the original intent beautifully. These films are stylistically hyper-saturated with colors pouring out of every frame in these unique locations. Where these transfers really shine is the impressive level of detail in even the subtlest aspects. Everything from the smallest facial details to the texture of the costumes and furniture is precisely detailed here. The picture is mostly clear throughout with only brief instances of murkiness and noise during a few darker scenes. These films sport surprisingly luscious cinematography, and that is showcased pretty well here. Warner Bros. could definitely stand to reissue the first film with a fresh upgrade, but this trilogy is pretty decent. If it ever got a 4K UHD Blu-Ray upgrade, it would likely look spectacular.
Audio Quality
As with the video side of the equation, the first film struggles slightly with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track compared to the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks that bring the house down with the final two films. None of these tracks are bad, but The Hangover is less immersive than its sequels with the poor implementation of the rear surround sound speakers. Environmental effects are a huge part of the experience, and the tracks for the sequels bring these elements to life quite capably. The use of the rear channels to create a fully enveloping world works quite well.
Dialogue and sound effects are appropriately balanced with the soundtrack where nothing gets lost in the track. Activity in the low end delivers quite a jolt during many of these presentations. Every film offers varying levels of kinetic activity that is suitable for the story they are telling, but each one feels powerful in its own right. These discs provide an audio experience that maintains a pleasing fidelity and is clear of any unwanted damage. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has done a fine enough job here.
Special Features
The Hangover
- Theatrical Cut (1:39:46) and Unrated Cut (1:47:53)
- Picture-In-Picture Commentary Track: Director Todd Phillips with Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis. Oddly, I could never get this to play with audio, only video over the normal movie soundtrack.
- Map Of Destruction: An interactive map that allows you to retrace each step of the boys’ Vegas misadventures.
- The Madness of Ken Jeong: An eight-minute series of deleted scenes and alternate takes with Mr. Chow.
- Action Mash-Up: A 35-second compilation of the action bits from the film.
- Three Best Friends Song: A minute-and-a-half-long extended version of the improvised song.
- The Dan Band!: A minute-long look at a rendition of “Fame”.
- Gag Reel: An eight-minute series of flubbed lines, laughing fits, goofing around, and more.
- More Pictures From The Missing Camera: A gallery of amusing photographs is provided.
The Hangover Part II
- Unauthorized Documentary: A nearly 26-minute “documentary” featuring an unexpected appearance from Morgan Spurlock, JJ Abrams, and more as an intrepid “documentarian” exposes the toxic production of the film.
- Behind The Story:
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- The Comedy Rhythm of Todd Phillips: A seven-minute look at the direction of Todd Phillips.
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- Not Your Everyday Monkey: A three-minute look at working with the monkey, Crystal.
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- Bangkok Tour with Chow: A three-minute in-character tour with Mr. Chow.
- Gag Reel: A five-minute series of flubbed lines, laughing fits, goofing around, and more.
- Action Mashup: A 46-second compilation of the action bits from the film.
The Hangover Part III
- Behind The Scenes
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- Replacing Zach – The Secret Auditions: A six-minute joke featurette about some potential replacements for the Alan character. This is funnier than most of the moments in the movie.
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- The Wolfpack’s Wildest Stunts: A five-minute look at the preparation for the extreme stunts in the film.
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- Zach Galifianakis In His Own Words: A two-and-a-half-minute humorous piece with Galifianakis.
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- Pushing The Limits: A nearly four-minute look at the issues that arise with shooting with animals and children.
- Inside Focus – The Real Chow: A nearly six-minute humorous exploration of who the real Ken Jeong is or if he exists.
- Action Mash-Up: A minute-long compilation of the action bits from the film.
- Extended Scenes: A two-minute selection of unused footage is provided here.
- Outtakes: An eight-minute series of flubbed lines, laughing fits, goofing around, and more.
Bonus Disc
- Wolfpack Only – The Hangover Retrospective: A 72-minute documentary is provided in which the cast, creative team, and other key figures come together to reflect on the trilogy with great interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, audition snippets, and more. If you are a fan of these films, this is a necessity.
Final Thoughts
The Hangover Trilogy was a phenomenon when it was first released, but it is one of the comedy franchises that has aged the quickest in the culture. What was once gut-busting comedy barely manages to elicit a chuckle these days. There is comfort in the familiarity of watching these performers, but the rewatch value for these has simply plummeted. If you still count yourself a fan of these films and you want to add them to your collection, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has delivered a package with a mostly strong A/V presentation and some compelling special features in one space-saving package.
The Hangover Trilogy can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.