Coming to America

Posted on 28. Jun, 2007 by Ryan Erb in 1.85:1, 1080p, AVC MPEG-4, Collector's Edition, Comedy, Dolby Digital 2.0 (French), Dolby Digital 5.1 (English), Paramount, Reviews

Other than seeing bits and pieces of this film on TV over the past few years its been quite some time since I saw this film in its entirety. Like with most movies from the past I openly welcomed the chance to check out Coming to America and see if it lived up to what I remembered.

Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy, Norbit) is a Prince from the fictitious country of Zamunda, where he is the heir to the throne, yet remains severely unhappy with his life. He finally snaps when his parents (James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair) present him with an arranged marriage. He refuses to go through with the marriage and along with his servant Semmi (Arsenio Hall) he travels to New York City in hopes of finding a bride that he loves and respects. After a few mishaps and awakenings to how things are done in America, Akeem finds an apartment in Queens where he is also employed at the fast food restaurant McDowell’s. Here he falls in love with the daughter of the owner; both are oblivious to his real identity which works both for and against him. The rest of the movie follows Akeem?s efforts to win over Lisa and have her hand in marriage.

Coming to America isn?t a laugh out loud type of movie; although I didn’t fall off my chair in laughter I did still enjoy the charm of this movie and the frequent chuckles I got out of it. Most of all I enjoyed the humor behind Akeem’s attempts to adjust to life in America, and his interactions with his servant Semmi.

All-in-all, I enjoyed this movie, even though it wasn’t as funny as I remembered, or would have expected out of Eddie Murphy in the 80’s. Still I would recommend a rental, or even a bargain bin purchase on SD, but as far as shelling out for it in hi-definition, that really depends on just how much you like this movie.

Video

Presented in a 1080p 1.85:1 aspect ratio and encoded in MPE4, Coming to America comes to Blu-ray with some good looking results, especially considering the movie is nearly 20 years old. The opening shots were among the best looking in the film, more specifically when Eddie Murphy is in his red bed everything looks crisp and surprisingly sharp, not only that the details were rather impressive as well. Once he comes to America the colors become bleaker, but this is clearly to enhance the New York feel. Although this transfer isn?t entirely comparable to some of the newer Blu-ray releases, considering its age I was impressed that there was only the occasional soft and grainy looking scene. Aside from the few problems this video transfer had it is a massive upgrade of the DVD and should be checked out by fans of the film.

Audio

Paramount has included a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, and to put it bluntly this was rather disappointing, although that?s what you come to expect out of an aged comedic movie. The track with exception for the odd scene was completely front heavy, and unfortunately even the dialogue had some inconsistencies. There are a few scenes where distinct audible noises are present, usually in quiet dialogue scenes. However there was the occasional scene that will make use of all channels, but they are very few and far between. The soundtrack was the only aspect that consistently used all channels, so you can expect the typical 80?s heavy drum to rock your living room. On the plus side there were no balancing issues, all and all this audio track was nothing special, but for its age I will give it some credit.

Special Features

The special features are rather disappointing but still a good watch for fans of the movie, just not an abundance of them.

Prince-ipal Photography - A 25 minute look into the making of the film, starting in the early stages of pre production, to the release of the film and everything in between. Includes some interesting cast and crew interviews.
Fit for Akeem: The Costumes of Coming to America - A 18 minute featurette focusing on the creation of the costumes used in the film, more specifically the African costumes.
Character Building: The Many Faces of Rick Baker - 13 minutes in duration, it follows the makeup jobs of Rick Baker, more specifically his work on making Eddie Murphy playing multiple roles.
Composing America - An 11 minute look chronicling the musical talents of Nile Rodgers.
A Vintage Sit-Down with Eddie and Arsenio - Excerpts from interviews with Eddie and Arsenio that have not been seen in nearly 20 years.
Photo Gallery
Theatrical Trailers

Final Thoughts

Coming to America is an enjoyable movie to watch, it will have you laughing several times, but it just wasn?t enough for me. The scene I enjoyed the most wasn?t even intended to be overly funny, but it includes a nice cameo from a young Samuel L. Jackson. Aside from being just slightly above average in the film department, I felt the audio was pretty average as well. The picture, although not overly impressive, did look rather nice considering its age. The special features were rather dismal, but overall this is quite a nice jump from the DVD version and I would recommend fans of the movie give it a purchase.