Scrooged!!
11-11-99, 01:53 AM
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Great! Bill Murray! It's especially appropriate at this time of year. Great anamorphic transfer by Paramount! Beautiful. Also a surprisingly nice 5.1 soundtrack. Funny stuff!!! Recommended!!!!
11-13-99, 04:55 AM
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Sorry, but blame Paramount. Their the ones who forgot to send me my advance review copies. HEY!!! Come On! Expect great discs from Paramount. I think they've got it down.
Next time you see a disc you want by Paramount...Pre-Order it(Apocolypse Now,Chinatown)
Next time you see a disc you want by Paramount...Pre-Order it(Apocolypse Now,Chinatown)
11-13-99, 12:24 PM
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I dont know much about the DVD release but the movie its self is great. A classic that should be watched every Christmas.
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11-14-99, 11:33 PM
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Scrooged
Paramount / 1988 / 100 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Reviewed by Cliff Stephenson on November 9, 1999
God Bless Us Everyone!
Christmas movies, a genre so specific that they always get hidden away for ten-months every year until they're all unleashed on us during the months of November and December. Scrooged is movie that almost defies that classification, a movie so wonderfully wickedly funny that it should be enjoyed year-round. A modern day retelling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the story is so ingrained into our psyche that I felt I would forgo the normal story synopsis and tell a production story that exemplifies the spirit of the film.
Richard Donner is a director that I have long admired. For whatever reason, while he is definitely an A-list director, he's never really gained the status of others like Spielberg or Cameron. In fact, most people don't even know that he is the man who directed the Spielberg produced 1985 film The Goonies. But with successes like the Lethal Weapon films, the original Superman and a healthy chuck of its first sequel, and Maverick, I think Donner is man who is extremely under-appreciated. It may just be that he's too nice to reach that highest rung on the Hollywood ladder.
Case in point, Scrooged. As the story goes, during the film's Christmas 1987 production, Donner lobbied hard to get the cast and crew vacation time between Christmas and New Years. Paramount, afraid that the production would run behind schedule and overbudget, refused. So Donner, with a clause in his contracts that he has the power to hire and fire anyone he wants, fired the entire cast and crew on Christmas Eve. This entire entourage was then re-hired on the day after New Years and production resumed just as it would have had Paramount relented and granted them the Christmas vacation. That's the spirit of Christmas.
More evidence of Donner's care and compassion for his casts and crew can be found in the commentary for Lethal Weapon 4. There he details how he wanted to give the entire crew photo credits at the end of the film. Fearing Warner Bros. would say no, he refused to ask them, did it his way, and by the time the film was released it was too late for Warner to say anything about. That's a good director and one you don't hear many stories about. A man who cares as much about the people who work with his as he does about the film he's making, and that's why I'll always dig Richard Donner.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
This first-ever widescreen release for Scrooged is done right with a beautiful anamorphic transfer. Colors are strong and natural with no bleeding from color to color. Black level is solid with excellent shadow detail. The picture is finely detailed overall with a striking amount of fine detail without artifacting. There's a small amount of film grain seen from time to time but nothing that will ever really draw your eye. I'm so happy that this film finally sees the light of day on DVD and even happier that it was given this great a picture. For whatever reason, at one point in the film, the subtitling for one line of dialog activated even though the subtitles were off. This was a repeatable problem on my Pioneer, but when checked on the Toshiba, it didn't happen. Weird.
Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The newly created Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is better than average. The Danny Elfman score is breezy and smooth with plenty of great dynamic range and surround envelopment to it. Effects are slightly centered with the occasional breakout the left and right channels. Surround use is frequent and even splits in a few situations. Dialog is clear and free of masking from the music and effects allowing Bill Murray's smarmy wisecracks to come through loud and clear. Thanks for that, because that's the whole reason to watch this film. A wonderful soundtrack that steps up above most of the other attempts in the comedy genre. English and French Dolby Surround tracks are also included with only English Captions available.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
The film's wonderful original trailer is presented in anamorphic widescreen and mono sound. It's a great trailer and I'm glad to finally be able to see it again.
Parting Thoughts
I remember seeing Scrooged the very first showing the day it opened, not only because I was anxiously awaiting what I thought would end up being a hilarious movie, but also because there was a rumored teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade attached. I wasn't disappointed by either and am so happy that Scrooged has now come home in such a spectacular presentation.
Source: dvdfile.com
Paramount / 1988 / 100 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Reviewed by Cliff Stephenson on November 9, 1999
God Bless Us Everyone!
Christmas movies, a genre so specific that they always get hidden away for ten-months every year until they're all unleashed on us during the months of November and December. Scrooged is movie that almost defies that classification, a movie so wonderfully wickedly funny that it should be enjoyed year-round. A modern day retelling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the story is so ingrained into our psyche that I felt I would forgo the normal story synopsis and tell a production story that exemplifies the spirit of the film.
Richard Donner is a director that I have long admired. For whatever reason, while he is definitely an A-list director, he's never really gained the status of others like Spielberg or Cameron. In fact, most people don't even know that he is the man who directed the Spielberg produced 1985 film The Goonies. But with successes like the Lethal Weapon films, the original Superman and a healthy chuck of its first sequel, and Maverick, I think Donner is man who is extremely under-appreciated. It may just be that he's too nice to reach that highest rung on the Hollywood ladder.
Case in point, Scrooged. As the story goes, during the film's Christmas 1987 production, Donner lobbied hard to get the cast and crew vacation time between Christmas and New Years. Paramount, afraid that the production would run behind schedule and overbudget, refused. So Donner, with a clause in his contracts that he has the power to hire and fire anyone he wants, fired the entire cast and crew on Christmas Eve. This entire entourage was then re-hired on the day after New Years and production resumed just as it would have had Paramount relented and granted them the Christmas vacation. That's the spirit of Christmas.
More evidence of Donner's care and compassion for his casts and crew can be found in the commentary for Lethal Weapon 4. There he details how he wanted to give the entire crew photo credits at the end of the film. Fearing Warner Bros. would say no, he refused to ask them, did it his way, and by the time the film was released it was too late for Warner to say anything about. That's a good director and one you don't hear many stories about. A man who cares as much about the people who work with his as he does about the film he's making, and that's why I'll always dig Richard Donner.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
This first-ever widescreen release for Scrooged is done right with a beautiful anamorphic transfer. Colors are strong and natural with no bleeding from color to color. Black level is solid with excellent shadow detail. The picture is finely detailed overall with a striking amount of fine detail without artifacting. There's a small amount of film grain seen from time to time but nothing that will ever really draw your eye. I'm so happy that this film finally sees the light of day on DVD and even happier that it was given this great a picture. For whatever reason, at one point in the film, the subtitling for one line of dialog activated even though the subtitles were off. This was a repeatable problem on my Pioneer, but when checked on the Toshiba, it didn't happen. Weird.
Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The newly created Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is better than average. The Danny Elfman score is breezy and smooth with plenty of great dynamic range and surround envelopment to it. Effects are slightly centered with the occasional breakout the left and right channels. Surround use is frequent and even splits in a few situations. Dialog is clear and free of masking from the music and effects allowing Bill Murray's smarmy wisecracks to come through loud and clear. Thanks for that, because that's the whole reason to watch this film. A wonderful soundtrack that steps up above most of the other attempts in the comedy genre. English and French Dolby Surround tracks are also included with only English Captions available.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
The film's wonderful original trailer is presented in anamorphic widescreen and mono sound. It's a great trailer and I'm glad to finally be able to see it again.
Parting Thoughts
I remember seeing Scrooged the very first showing the day it opened, not only because I was anxiously awaiting what I thought would end up being a hilarious movie, but also because there was a rumored teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade attached. I wasn't disappointed by either and am so happy that Scrooged has now come home in such a spectacular presentation.
Source: dvdfile.com
11-16-99, 01:20 AM
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I can't believe the guy from DVDfile.com posted on my thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am the CREATOR!!!!
DVD is Blessed!!!!
All HAil the coming!!!!!!
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am the CREATOR!!!!
DVD is Blessed!!!!
All HAil the coming!!!!!!
