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Steve Barron's big-screen treatment of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes to DVD with a pair of transfers. The widescreen image preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is preferable to the standard full-frame transfer. An English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Stereo. English, French, and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include the original theatrical trailer, character biographies, and an interactive game that is played by using the DVD remote control. This is a fine disc from New Line that should entertain Turtles enthusiasts.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Randall Wallace's action film The Man in the Iron Mask comes to DVD with a choice of images. The widescreen anamorphic transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is preferable to the standard full-frame transfer. A closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1, while a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. English, Spanish, and French subtitles are accessible. In addition to a director's commentary track, the disc contains the theatrical trailer, alternate versions of the titular mask, and a collectible booklet. This is a very good disc, made all the more appealing thanks to its inexpensive list price.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
You So Crazy is virtually devoid of extra features except for the basic theatrical trailer and a biography. The preview fails to show any scenes from the film, and instead takes the creative route of stressing its uncensored and crazy elements. The biography provides some nice background on Martin Lawrence's successful career. It's a good overview for viewers new to this comedian, but it fails to provide anything beyond the elementary information. This entire concert takes place on a simple, dark stage with no variations of any kind, lessening the importance of pristine visuals due to the simplicity of the colors and camera shots. Unfortunately, this full-screen transfer falls short of the expected picture level for this concert film. It resembles VHS in the sense that it falls short of the level of clarity normally associated with the DVD format. The images lack any major defects, but they also contain a significant level of grain and haziness that is surprising. Though not detracting too much from the concert, this lesser transfer is definitely noteworthy. Martin Lawrence spends the entire concert talking, with no music in the background and with a surprisingly low level of crowd noise. This essentially limits the 2.0-channel Dolby Surround transfer to the basic task of making sure his words are understandable. It succeeds in this aspect, and the sound moves nicely from the speakers in a clear manner. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it serves its purpose.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Children's baseball gets a new look in the Keanu Reeves sports vehicle Hardball. Paramount has done a great job at making sure this 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer looks clear of almost all defects or imperfections. With deep black levels and solid color schemes, this is an excellent looking image. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround in English. This soundtrack is very enveloping with directional effects used through both the front and rear speakers. Also included on this disc are Dolby 2.0 Surround tracks in English and French, as well as English subtitles. Hardball includes a vast array of extra features, starting with a commentary track by director Brian Robbins and writer John Gatins. This commentary track is very informative (the director has a lot to say on the production), if a bit dry. "The Making of Hardball" is a basic short promo spot for the film that features interviews with the cast and crew. Three deleted scenes are included that were justifiably left on the cutting room floor. Finally, there are some commercials, a theatrical trailer for the film, and the music video "Hardball" by Lil Bow Wow, Lil' Wayne, Lil Zane, and Sammie.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Roland Joffe's infamous adaptation of The Scarlet Letter comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer that fails to preserve the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. 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. Seeing as this was one of the most reviled films of the nineties, it is easy to understand why Disney/Buena Vista would release such a sparse DVD.
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Randal Kleiser's Honey I Blew Up the Kid 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 reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
For those who just can't get enough of everyone's favorite SNL madman, Lions Gate Home Entertainment provides another healthy dose of Will Ferrell with this hilarious release. Presented in 1.33:1 full-frame, the image is accompanied by audio rendered in closed-captioned English Dolby Digital Stereo. In addition to the feature presentation, this disc also allows viewers to access such bonus materials as a photo gallery, dress rehearsals, and other television appearances.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Kate Hudson stars in this light comedy from director Gary Marshall, which has been given a sturdy presentation for its release on DVD. Raising Helen has been given a letterboxed transfer to disc in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, which has also been enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 x 9 monitors. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1; in addition to the original English-language audio, an alternate dubbed soundtrack in French has been included, as well as optional subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. Bonus materials include an audio commentary from director Marshall and screenwriters Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, a collections of bloopers and deleted scenes, and a music video by Liz Phair.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Director Rawson Marshall Thurber was not only lucky enough to get first-rate comic talents Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn to star in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, he also managed to get them to take part in the commentary track recorded for the film's initial DVD release. The three are very entertaining mixing explanations of how they honed the film to be as funny as possible with humorous asides about Fox's rules on what can be said during a DVD commentary. The film itself is presented in a standard full-frame transfer that fails to preserve the original theatrical aspect ratio. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. Deleted scenes with optional director commentary, a blooper reel, and a featurette on how to play dodgeball are all available for viewing. The best extra, however, might be the ability to read the screenplay, which offers a valuable lesson to up and coming comic filmmakers that if it is funny on the page it is far more likely to be funny on screen. Those who prefer widescreen versions of films should be aware that such a version of the film does exist on a different DVD release that also offers the same fine extras as appear on this disc.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Yes!! It is very much worth it. They make your tv look the very best that it can in your setting. I would recommend anyone doing this with a tv 42" or larger.