Mrs. Doubtfire - DVDfile.com Review
10-07-99, 09:45 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: USA
Posts: 720
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That is one ugly woman...!
Four years before he picked up his first Oscar for Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams had received one of his many Oscar nominations for his portrayal of a divorced father masquerading as an elderly British nanny. I was really happy to see Williams finally win in 1997, mainly because I thought he was (no offense to Tom Hanks) robbed in 1993. Williams is one of the performers who continues to impress me and even though most people just see him as the maniac ad-libber that roles in films like Good Morning, Vietnam, Aladdin, and Patch Adams exploit, it's his quieter, more subdued roles where I think Robin Williams excels.
Williams portrays Daniel Hillard, an out-of-work voiceover actor, whose world comes crashing down around him as he is faced with the heartbreak of his divorce. When his ex-wife, Miranda (Sally Field), wins primary custody of their children, Daniel is forced to do something he's never done before, be without his kids. In an act of desperation, Daniel creates an alter ego capable of infiltrating his former home undetected to spend time with his children, the elderly British housekeeper Mrs. Doubtfire.
Robin Williams, as usual, brings hysterically funny moments to this role, but also carries much of the heartbreaking pain of a man who loses his life as he's always know it. Just the look in his eyes can relate more sorrow than other actors can emote with entire monologues. Sally Field also plays her character with the realism of a mother who knows that her children need their father, but can't escape the pain and anger that divorce can produce. Other performances are also note perfect with Pierce Brosnan bringing an unexpected twist as a man from Miranda's past who returns to romance his former flame and the three children living the confusion of two completely separate lives. The unique element of this film and its performances are that there are no villains. Every character has a real purpose and a real personality.
As a child of divorce, there are several levels on which Mrs. Doubtfire affects me. It is one of the few films to tackle the subject of divorce and make an attempt to portray the realistic side and how it touches the lives of everyone involved, even children. There generally aren't happy endings in divorce and usually everyone involved, especially the children, have tinges of guilt over the demise of a marriage. Mrs. Doubtfire has over-the-top comedy interspersed with gut-wrenching drama and it pulls off both with wonderful results.
There are a handful of films released in the past ten years that I think will go on to be considered classics. Mrs. Doubtfire is a film that I think will have that kind of enduring appeal. As a comedy, it's relentlessly funny. As a drama, it's incredibly touching and real. This is the type of movie that brought people together when it was released theatrically. I remember seeing it at a sold out sneak preview and the experience of hearing the audience howl with laughter at the outrageous restaurant finale is something that we don't generally get to appreciate with most comedies. Director Chris Columbus and Robin Williams had an incredible passion to get this film made and to make it funny and believable. It may border much of the time on farce, but I buy into it a great deal easier than I do most other comedies.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Unfortunately, Fox has decided yet again to go back and recycle another unsuitable five-year-old laserdisc master. This non-anamorphic widescreen disc has exactly the same problems that I continually find with these old lazy efforts that do more harm than good. The main difference between the old laserdisc and this new DVD is the lack of LD's fairly common video noise. Other than that, they're way too close to make me happy.
This DVD has WAY too much artifacting from the old D-2 master. The opening shot in chapter 2 is exactly what I'm talking about. The horizontal lines of the house siding shimmer and wave and right off the bat, draw your eye and completely ruin the flow of the opening of the movie. Move to the first shot in chapter 3 and you'll see the same thing. A telephone wire runs across the screen from left to right and can't figure out which line of resolution it's supposed to be in so the line tends to pulse, flickering a line above and one below and destroying whatever involvement you have in the story at that point. This artifacting is annoying and continuous and you'll probably spend more time watching it than you do anything in the story.
Colors seem respectable, although I did notice that strong reds tended to wander on over to the adjacent color and bloom a bit. There is a modicum of digital edge enhancement but not to the extent that it will take your eyes off the artifacting. This is a poor effort from a studio that seems to be so hit-and-miss lately. Mrs. Doubtfire deserved better and it's too bad that Chris Columbus, who was very proud of the photography, has this to show for his work.
Audio: How Does It Sound?
Mrs. Doubtfire contains a Dolby Digital 5.0 soundtrack. The best way to describe it is actually as a 3.0 with musical surround envelopment. There were only a small handful of surround effects and no discrete action in any of those. Instead the surrounds are used for Howard Shore's score with everything else being exiled to the front three channels. Everything sounds balanced and dialog is always clear. Let's be honest, this is a comedy and historically comedy doesn't lend itself to big, overproduced soundtracks. There have been exceptions, but this isn't one of them. This is primarily a mono movie with stereo music to accompany it. Nothing to write home about, but it serves its purpose. An English 2.0 stereo track is also included that provides more surround envelopment overall, but narrows the front soundstage as does the 2.0 stereo French track. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
In 1995, Fox released a $100 laserdisc box set of Mrs. Doubtfire and fortunately most of the best features have been transplanted here for under $30.
Chris Columbus' running commentary runs on audio track 4. His commentary was unlike any I had heard before it. Instead of sitting in front of a monitor and recalling any bits of detail he could remember, he sounds as if he had gone through the film already and made notes of everything he wanted to mention. He then scripted his commentary to be read at the appropriate moments of the film. What this method accomplished was a very methodical and VERY organized director's track. He's doesn't suffer from the all too common problem of a director talking himself out near the end of the film. He knows everything that he wants to say and affords it all the proper time and space.
Another feature from the LD was a fairly lengthy interview segment with the cast and crew. I remember this section being quite a bit longer than the eight minutes of footage presented here. I do know for sure that some of the footage is not included. Somewhat puzzling as to its omission, but you won't know anything's missing unless you saw the LD. Or just read this paragraph. Sorry.
The animated sequence that opens the film is presented in both the rough pencil version and the completed full color version. What is shown is quite a bit longer than what is ultimately seen in the final film. Interestingly, this small animated background piece was actually framed and animated in the same 2.35:1 ratio that the surrounding film is. An interview with the animator, the legendary Chuck Jones, is presented discussing the genesis of the animated sequence and its evolution.
There is a small, but informative, section elaborating on the Academy Award winning make-up in Mrs. Doubtfire. First up are the original make-up camera tests with Williams improvising and wisecracking in a variety of different accents and with several of the other cast members. Next, you'll get to actually see the process involved in transforming Robin Williams into Mrs. Doubtfire. This footage is accompanied by an audio explanation of the four-hour ordeal by make-up artist Ve Neill.
A half-hour's worth of deleted scenes have been included. Unlike most deleted scenes segments, however, these have all been edited and mixed with score to provide a more final version of the stuff cut out. Many of these scenes are absolutely a riot and I'm somewhat disappointed that they were not offered up in some sort of branching feature, where you'd be able to play an extended cut. I'm particularly fond of Mrs. Doubtfire's gardening advise to his former nosey next-door neighbor. Another thing I'm puzzled about here is that the laserdisc also had a commentary with Chris Columbus that could be chosen for the deleted scenes, which is not on the DVD. This helped to better define what the individual scenes were, where they belonged, and why they were cut. Be careful, the deleted scenes aren't chapter coded, so if you hit next on the remote, you'll have to start all over.
Finally, the advertising material is presented in another truncated form. The original teaser trailer is presented full-frame/mono with no real concept of what the film's about. The longer trailer is also on the disc in full-frame/mono and tells you much more than was previously available. A television spot is the last feature on this disc and features quotes from a variety of critics praising the film. Again, some of the missing promotional content are the one-sheet designs and, I believe, some newspaper ads.
Parting Thoughts
This is a real toughie. I was far from impressed with the video quality of Mrs. Doubtfire. The audio I can almost forget and forgive, but the video quality is what I would consider a crime against film. The supplements are wonderful and definitely on par with stuff that Universal or Warner puts on their discs, but the damn picture just really ruins it for me!
Source: DVD File.com
Reviewed by Cliff Stephenson on October 7, 1999
[This message has been edited by ed (edited 10-07-1999).]
Four years before he picked up his first Oscar for Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams had received one of his many Oscar nominations for his portrayal of a divorced father masquerading as an elderly British nanny. I was really happy to see Williams finally win in 1997, mainly because I thought he was (no offense to Tom Hanks) robbed in 1993. Williams is one of the performers who continues to impress me and even though most people just see him as the maniac ad-libber that roles in films like Good Morning, Vietnam, Aladdin, and Patch Adams exploit, it's his quieter, more subdued roles where I think Robin Williams excels.
Williams portrays Daniel Hillard, an out-of-work voiceover actor, whose world comes crashing down around him as he is faced with the heartbreak of his divorce. When his ex-wife, Miranda (Sally Field), wins primary custody of their children, Daniel is forced to do something he's never done before, be without his kids. In an act of desperation, Daniel creates an alter ego capable of infiltrating his former home undetected to spend time with his children, the elderly British housekeeper Mrs. Doubtfire.
Robin Williams, as usual, brings hysterically funny moments to this role, but also carries much of the heartbreaking pain of a man who loses his life as he's always know it. Just the look in his eyes can relate more sorrow than other actors can emote with entire monologues. Sally Field also plays her character with the realism of a mother who knows that her children need their father, but can't escape the pain and anger that divorce can produce. Other performances are also note perfect with Pierce Brosnan bringing an unexpected twist as a man from Miranda's past who returns to romance his former flame and the three children living the confusion of two completely separate lives. The unique element of this film and its performances are that there are no villains. Every character has a real purpose and a real personality.
As a child of divorce, there are several levels on which Mrs. Doubtfire affects me. It is one of the few films to tackle the subject of divorce and make an attempt to portray the realistic side and how it touches the lives of everyone involved, even children. There generally aren't happy endings in divorce and usually everyone involved, especially the children, have tinges of guilt over the demise of a marriage. Mrs. Doubtfire has over-the-top comedy interspersed with gut-wrenching drama and it pulls off both with wonderful results.
There are a handful of films released in the past ten years that I think will go on to be considered classics. Mrs. Doubtfire is a film that I think will have that kind of enduring appeal. As a comedy, it's relentlessly funny. As a drama, it's incredibly touching and real. This is the type of movie that brought people together when it was released theatrically. I remember seeing it at a sold out sneak preview and the experience of hearing the audience howl with laughter at the outrageous restaurant finale is something that we don't generally get to appreciate with most comedies. Director Chris Columbus and Robin Williams had an incredible passion to get this film made and to make it funny and believable. It may border much of the time on farce, but I buy into it a great deal easier than I do most other comedies.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Unfortunately, Fox has decided yet again to go back and recycle another unsuitable five-year-old laserdisc master. This non-anamorphic widescreen disc has exactly the same problems that I continually find with these old lazy efforts that do more harm than good. The main difference between the old laserdisc and this new DVD is the lack of LD's fairly common video noise. Other than that, they're way too close to make me happy.
This DVD has WAY too much artifacting from the old D-2 master. The opening shot in chapter 2 is exactly what I'm talking about. The horizontal lines of the house siding shimmer and wave and right off the bat, draw your eye and completely ruin the flow of the opening of the movie. Move to the first shot in chapter 3 and you'll see the same thing. A telephone wire runs across the screen from left to right and can't figure out which line of resolution it's supposed to be in so the line tends to pulse, flickering a line above and one below and destroying whatever involvement you have in the story at that point. This artifacting is annoying and continuous and you'll probably spend more time watching it than you do anything in the story.
Colors seem respectable, although I did notice that strong reds tended to wander on over to the adjacent color and bloom a bit. There is a modicum of digital edge enhancement but not to the extent that it will take your eyes off the artifacting. This is a poor effort from a studio that seems to be so hit-and-miss lately. Mrs. Doubtfire deserved better and it's too bad that Chris Columbus, who was very proud of the photography, has this to show for his work.
Audio: How Does It Sound?
Mrs. Doubtfire contains a Dolby Digital 5.0 soundtrack. The best way to describe it is actually as a 3.0 with musical surround envelopment. There were only a small handful of surround effects and no discrete action in any of those. Instead the surrounds are used for Howard Shore's score with everything else being exiled to the front three channels. Everything sounds balanced and dialog is always clear. Let's be honest, this is a comedy and historically comedy doesn't lend itself to big, overproduced soundtracks. There have been exceptions, but this isn't one of them. This is primarily a mono movie with stereo music to accompany it. Nothing to write home about, but it serves its purpose. An English 2.0 stereo track is also included that provides more surround envelopment overall, but narrows the front soundstage as does the 2.0 stereo French track. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
In 1995, Fox released a $100 laserdisc box set of Mrs. Doubtfire and fortunately most of the best features have been transplanted here for under $30.
Chris Columbus' running commentary runs on audio track 4. His commentary was unlike any I had heard before it. Instead of sitting in front of a monitor and recalling any bits of detail he could remember, he sounds as if he had gone through the film already and made notes of everything he wanted to mention. He then scripted his commentary to be read at the appropriate moments of the film. What this method accomplished was a very methodical and VERY organized director's track. He's doesn't suffer from the all too common problem of a director talking himself out near the end of the film. He knows everything that he wants to say and affords it all the proper time and space.
Another feature from the LD was a fairly lengthy interview segment with the cast and crew. I remember this section being quite a bit longer than the eight minutes of footage presented here. I do know for sure that some of the footage is not included. Somewhat puzzling as to its omission, but you won't know anything's missing unless you saw the LD. Or just read this paragraph. Sorry.
The animated sequence that opens the film is presented in both the rough pencil version and the completed full color version. What is shown is quite a bit longer than what is ultimately seen in the final film. Interestingly, this small animated background piece was actually framed and animated in the same 2.35:1 ratio that the surrounding film is. An interview with the animator, the legendary Chuck Jones, is presented discussing the genesis of the animated sequence and its evolution.
There is a small, but informative, section elaborating on the Academy Award winning make-up in Mrs. Doubtfire. First up are the original make-up camera tests with Williams improvising and wisecracking in a variety of different accents and with several of the other cast members. Next, you'll get to actually see the process involved in transforming Robin Williams into Mrs. Doubtfire. This footage is accompanied by an audio explanation of the four-hour ordeal by make-up artist Ve Neill.
A half-hour's worth of deleted scenes have been included. Unlike most deleted scenes segments, however, these have all been edited and mixed with score to provide a more final version of the stuff cut out. Many of these scenes are absolutely a riot and I'm somewhat disappointed that they were not offered up in some sort of branching feature, where you'd be able to play an extended cut. I'm particularly fond of Mrs. Doubtfire's gardening advise to his former nosey next-door neighbor. Another thing I'm puzzled about here is that the laserdisc also had a commentary with Chris Columbus that could be chosen for the deleted scenes, which is not on the DVD. This helped to better define what the individual scenes were, where they belonged, and why they were cut. Be careful, the deleted scenes aren't chapter coded, so if you hit next on the remote, you'll have to start all over.
Finally, the advertising material is presented in another truncated form. The original teaser trailer is presented full-frame/mono with no real concept of what the film's about. The longer trailer is also on the disc in full-frame/mono and tells you much more than was previously available. A television spot is the last feature on this disc and features quotes from a variety of critics praising the film. Again, some of the missing promotional content are the one-sheet designs and, I believe, some newspaper ads.
Parting Thoughts
This is a real toughie. I was far from impressed with the video quality of Mrs. Doubtfire. The audio I can almost forget and forgive, but the video quality is what I would consider a crime against film. The supplements are wonderful and definitely on par with stuff that Universal or Warner puts on their discs, but the damn picture just really ruins it for me!
Source: DVD File.com
Reviewed by Cliff Stephenson on October 7, 1999
[This message has been edited by ed (edited 10-07-1999).]
