Dean Cundey's Honey We Shrunk Ourselves comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. There are no subtitles, but the soundtrack is closed-captioned. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence. This Disney/Buena/Vista release is difficult to recommend to anyone other than a person on the lookout for family-friendly entertainment.
This box set contains all of the Broccoli-family produced entries in the venerable James Bond franchise up to the Oscar winning Skyfall. Included are Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man With the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, License to Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall.
Wolfgang Petersen's do-or-die high-seas epic makes a smooth transition to DVD from Warner Bros. A gorgeous, anamorphic, 2.35:1 widescreen transfer and Dolby 5.1 Sound brings the titular storm howling to life. In addition, the disc is awash in extras, including a collection of commentaries from director Petersen, author Sebastian Junger, and key members of the visual effects team. Each provides unique insights into the making of the movie as well as into the real story that inspired it. The DVD also includes a "making of" special that first aired on HBO, a documentary on the real "perfect storm" of 1991, a host of storyboards and concept art, and the obligatory trailers and cast and crew bios. Overall, this DVD takes what was essentially a big-budget popcorn flick and outfits it with enough sights and sounds to make it a rather seaworthy addition to someone's collection.
MGM brings Mel Brooks' science fiction farce Spaceballs to DVD with both widescreen and standard versions on the same disc, and 5.1 Surround Sound, though the movie's lackluster production values make it difficult to discern the quality of the transfer. Still, for fans of actor/writer/director Brooks, the full-length commentary (originally recorded for the laserdisc release) includes his trademark quips and a genuine appreciation of the actors and other collaborators on the film. He has an amazing memory for the details of their careers before and after working with him. It's also refreshing for a director to mock his own work, as well as laugh at the comic bits he has undoubtedly seen dozens of times. In a brief behind-the-scenes featurette, cast members John Candy, Rick Moranis, and others talk about the pleasure of working with Brooks and share stories of on-set goofiness. Basically, for fans of Brooks' unique comic sensibilities, the DVD makes a worthwhile evening's entertainment.