"HANNAH MONTANA: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Miley Cyrus as MILEY/HANNAH MONTANA Emily Osment as LILLY Jason Earles as JACKSON Mitchel Musso as OLIVER Billy Ray Cyrus as ROBBIE Rated TV-G Studio: Disney Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
In case you’ve been living in a cave for the past year or so and don’t know who Hannah Montana is, she’s the main character in a television show about a girl named Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) who doubles as a rock star. The alter ego of Hannah Montana is insanely popular, but Miley is a bit of a wallflower in school. Her family has chosen for her to hide her identity to keep things real. The only friend who knows about her Hannah life is her best friend Lilly (Emily Osment).
This show follows Miley and Hannah’s adventures in school while she tries to protect her secret. Her father Robbie (played by Miley’s real-life dad Billy Ray Cyrus) and brother Jackson (Jason Earles) keep things interesting back home.
WHAT I LIKED
Although this show has been labeled as a “girl’s show” by viewers and reporters around the country, it is actually quite accessible to both boys and girls. There’s potential in the stories for both genders to like in that it’s really more a show about a kid trying to keep a secret identity and the zany antics of her family.
What’s nice about this DVD set is that you can watch the show in its infancy, before the whole Miley Cyrus media explosion. It started out as a run-of-the-mill Disney Channel show, and it’s nice to go back to the roots. There’s even the episode from “That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana” crossover miniseries, when “Hannah Montana” was the least known show.
Of course, being a guy, my favorite characters are Jackson and their dad. Those guys do crack me up.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Because this is the first season and the show hadn’t become a sensation yet, the production value is rather low-rent. I imagine that later years afforded a little larger budgets to make things cooler for a superstar.
Finally, there’s a little too much singing in the stories for me. I’m okay with the Radio Disney set lists they play, but I’m a little old to really bop along.
DVD FEATURES
I don’t think Disney was expecting this show to be as big of a hit from the beginning, or they might have put more on the bonus features. However, since this is the first complete season released by the Mouse House since the first season of “Lizzie McGuire,” it might be a good sign for future shows.
The DVD comes with a look at Miley Cyrus returning to her childhood home with her dad. There’s also highlights from the show and the kick-off episode of the “2008 Disney Channel Games” that the kids should enjoy.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Tweens, both girls and boys (although the boys probably won’t admit it).
