Blu-ray

Not since Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake of Psycho have a witnessed as futile an exercise in filmmaking as this latest outing from former kings of comedy Peter and Bobby Farrelly.

However, while Van Sant may have been able to argue that his shot-for-shot remake was actually a cinematic experiment with some kind of artisitic meaning, The Three Stooges is a ham-fisted attempt at recreating the slapstick antics of the classic comedic trio. Only now with the addition of Larry David in drag, urinating babies and an entire sub-plot about the 'reality' show Jersey Shore.

Quite why anybody would actually spend an hour-and-a-half with this pale facsimile when they could better use the time to enjoy any of the 190+ genuine Three Stooges shorts simply boggles the brain.

Picture: If the film itself is like a sudden poke in the eye, Fox's Blu-ray release manages to sooth the pain somewhat with its AV credentials. The AVC 1.85:1 1080p encode isn't the sharpest we've ever seen, but there's plenty of fine detail in close-ups. Even more impressive in the overall clarity of the image and the vibrancy of the colour palette.
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: Considering the knockabout nature of the film's comedy, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix doesn't make quite as much use of the full soundstage as we would have liked. However, the goofy sound effects that accompany the on-screen violence have cleaned up very well in this lossless presentation and the dialogue sounds extremely natural.
Audio rating: 3.5/5

Extras: The bonus features kick off with eight deleted and extended scenes that run for a little over 9-minutes. What's the Big Idea? A History of The Three Stooges is an all-too short 11-min look back at the real Stooges accompanied by the filmmakers attempting to justify this new movie.

The Blu-ray also includes a trio of short behind-the-scenes featurettes: Knuckleheads: The Making of The Three Stooges (5-mins), Did You Hear That? The Three Stooges Sound Effects (4-mins) and Poifect! Casting The Three Stooges (9-mins). The second of these is arguably the most interesting, as it showcases the difficulties the filmmakers had in recreating the classic Three Stooges sound effects, which eventually led them to restoring and using the original audio elements.

Rounding it all off are a montage of 'highlights' from the film (3-mins), a screen test for the three leads (4-mins) and the theatrical trailer (2-mins).
Extras rating: 2/5

We say: A reasonable hi-def platter for a painfully unfunny and utterly pointless comedy reboot.

20th Century Fox, All-region BD, £23 Approx, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 2/5