22 Jump Street delivers on Blu-Ray, with a remarkably clear and vibrant 1080p transfer that beautifully delineates minute details while utilizing a broad and pleasing color palette. Scenes on the football field and on the beachfront are especially bursting with bright colors, but the transfer remains strong even during the darker, softer night sequences. Absolutely no flaws to report on this presentation.
Meanwhile, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is almost always sturdy, with the booming soundtrack proving its most valuable asset. Despite that, dialogue is typically crisp with a couple of minor offenses, and there are only a few instances where the audio track feels like it’s pulling its punches a little bit. None of it really detracts from enjoying the release, though, and more often than not, the track is rock-solid.
In terms of extras, the 22 Jump Street Blu-Ray is packing some serious heat. In addition to a DVD and UV digital copy of the film, the release includes almost two hours of extras, including:
- Audio Commentary
- Deleted & Extended Scenes (1:00:28)
- The Perfect Couple of Directors (9:36)
- Everything Is Better in College (7:49)
- Janning and Chonah (7:37)
- New Recruits (9:45)
- The Perfect Line (7:09)
- Don’t Cut Yet (8:36)
- Joke-A-Palooza (5:59)
- Line-O-Ramas (15:19)
- The Dramatic Interpretation of 22 Jump Street (9:59)
- Zook & McQuaid Scout Reel (2:17):
- Jenko Split (0:45)
- Previews
Of course, Lord, Miller, Hill and Tatum’s audio commentary track is a raucous affair, with plenty of joking around packaged with the requisite insights into the production. Fans will love the infectious energy that all four participants bring. The deleted/extended scenes are also hilarious, though a number are really stand-alone scenes that wouldn’t have kept the flow of the film going, so it makes sense why most of them were cut. “The Perfect Couple of Directors” is a behind-the-scenes featurette that looks at Lord and Miller’s successful partnership as well as the challenges of making a sequel. “Everything is Better in College” looks more broadly at the idea of going to college, and how the sequel worked to expand the story to be true to the college experience while also capturing the feeling of graduating from high school to college.
Other featurettes include one specific to Hill and Tatum’s camaraderie (“Janning and Chonah”), a piece about the newcomers to the franchise (“New Recruits”), an improv-specific featurette (“The Perfect Line”), an extended sequence shot from multiple angles (“Don’t Cut Yet”), two reel of unused gags (“Joke-A-Palooza” and “Line-O-Ramas”), the awful scout reel made by Jenko and Zook in the film, and a throwaway piece about Jenko doing a split. The real find among all the extras, though, is “The Dramatic Interpretation of 22 Jump Street,” in which Lord and Miller remove every funny bit of the movie to do a serious cut “for international audiences.” It’s just as side-splitting as the actual movie in its own way – watch immediately after the film for best results.
Although 22 Jump Street isn’t as fresh as the first film, it makes up for falling into some sequel tropes of its own by ruthlessly tearing down the very nature of sequels and doing it with the same smiling wit that made 21 Jump Street such a hit. Tatum and Hill improve on what was already one of the finest bromances in recent cinematic history, and even if 22 Jump Street doesn’t quite measure up to its predecessor, that it actually comes close in places is worth something. Don’t expect any more sequels like it, but this follow-up is a must-watch for fans of the original. And with its strong audio/video package and massive array of extras, there’s no reason not to pick up 22 Jump Street on Blu-Ray as soon as possible.
