Film

This film was released only four years after the infamous attempt to bug the Democratic offices in Watergate, which spurred the entire course of events in this film. This was a bit of a passion piece for Robert Redford as he began production while its main characters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (who would be played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, respectively) were still reporting on related elements. Redford spent tireless hours, acting officially as the producer and star, researching the stories and the characters in order to deliver a compelling but painfully accurate adaptation.

By making these two reporters the main characters, the film became more of a detective story instead of merely a dramatization for what could easily have been a documentary. By seeing the actual methods these two men apply to uncover the details of Watergate, and “follow the money,” makes the audience all the more engaged in their findings. This, despite the fact that most everyone knows exactly how the film ends well before it begins.

The script by William Goldwin is top notch. It does not hurt that he had a very talented cast to deliver it, but he certainly does capture more than just the facts from the original stories/books he is adapting. As well, Goldwin had the benefit of strong direction by Alan Pakula. In particular I thought he made outstanding use of deep focus shots that depict Woodward typing away in the background, while actual news footage of Nixon plays in the foreground. They made for beautifully orchestrated reminders of how real these incidents, along reporter’s magnificent efforts, were.

Video

Widescreen 1.85:1. The film has aged some, and this is not the cleanest transfer onto Blu Ray I have seen. It looks fine on an HD screen but most definitely hazier than any release from the last 10 years would look.

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 in English as well as French and Spanish 1.0. I’d say that very little has been boosted to make the film seem grander, but there is just so little to boost. The chattering of typewriter keys and anxious tones of voices are about as boisterous as it gets. This film does not require much by the way of a major sound, but certainly some more effort could have been made into immersing us into a newsroom atmosphere, sonically. Mind you, they did not fail, just fell a bit short from their potential.

Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

Special Features

Commentary by Robert Redford: This man had his fingers in all parts of the film’s productions and recalls everything with enthusiasm. He does take long breaks to watch with us and starts many thoughts with “the idea here was.” All in all, he provides some very nice tidbits.

The next three featurettes all have a similar format, with an elderly sounding narrator, a patriotic score that never ceases, and the general vibe of a television special.

Telling the Truth About Lies: The Makinng of All the President’s Men: Compilation of interviews with the stars, producers, reporters, as well as Woodward and Bernstein themselves. A few of the interviewees imply that this sort of story could not be created today, in the way it was back in the 70s. Indeed, this is a rare case that could only exist because of the time it happened.

Woodward and Berstien: Lighting the Fire: Many speak of the same interviewees now speak about how inspirational Woodward and Bernstein became. The way they worked this story became the high water mark for any up and coming American journalist.

Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat: Perhaps the most iconic character from the film, famous for being illuminated only by his cigarette ember as he feeds hints to Woodward inside an empty parking garage.

Now that Deep Throat has been revealed as former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt, we get to see a miniature biography on the man instead of some nearly cryptozoological account of a mysterious persona. Trained directly under J. Edgar Hoover, some suspect that his motivations for revealing these clues came as a combination of patriotism and revenge for not being selected to replace Hoover when the opportunity arose. A nice profile of a terribly interesting person/situation.

Pressure and the Press: The Making of All the President’s Men: Similar to what is documented in the previous trio, only this was made very close to the actual premiere of the film, which makes its tone interesting in contrast. The events are still very fresh and the mysteries (including Deep Throat) remained up in the air. An interesting piece that helps add some extra context to how people might have reacted closer to the time of the events and film’s debut.

5/27/1976 Dinah! With Jason Robards: A strange looking talk show where Dinah and Robards discuss the film. A nice enough interview that, like the previously mentioned featurette, helps add some emotional context to people’s first reactions to the film.

Trailer: The tone gives another hint towards the significance of the time of iots release.

This edition also comes with a very large booklet that includes a Timeline, Biographies of the actors and a review. The packaging simulates a very nice quality hard cover book. All very nice.

Final Thoughts

The story is undeniably interesting and important, with or without the film, but the fact about how tight Redford got with Woodward and Bernstein to deliver a dramatic retelling of their quest, along with its close proximity, time wise, to the original story makes this a rare occasion where a new medium does not sensationalize the history it depicts, it becomes a direct part of it.

Film

Scott is VERY close to having it all. He’s a first stringer on his basketball team, but they are the worst in the state. He finally gets the attention of the prettiest girl in class, but that’s only because he drops off stage supplies for her play. His friend is the coolest guy in school, but he’s always too busy getting kicked out of liquor stores and straight into the awaiting fists of rival school bullies. To top it all off, like many teenagers, he’s feeling new feelings, and getting hair where there wasn’t hair before…except puberty isn’t just giving him a squeaky voice, it’s turning him into a freaking werewolf!

What starts as a secret he shares only with his father and best friend “Styles,” blows up at a basketball game where the town ends up rallying behind his furry form because it not only makes him hairy, but gives him super strength, speed, and senses. After single handedly winning a basketball game, Scott, in his wolf form, becomes an instant superstar on and off the court. Besides, in this sleepy Nebraska town, there isn’t a whole lot going on so attending school with a ‘teen wolf’ is a nice change of pace for everyone.

This film runs the aforementioned ‘teen comedy formula’ rather smoothly. All the character archetypes are here, such as the cool friend, the girl-next-door love interest, the hot-girl lust interest, the token fat friend, the cocky jock rival, the overly mean vice-principal, and the underdog protagonist (yes, eat that “dog” pun right up in this case). Heck, the formula is so prolific in this film that the wolfman aspect that made it unique becomes all but a forgotten side-reference when it comes time to have the “big game” at the climax of the film.

Michael J. Fox, in true form, remains the perfect teen to root for. He may be going through the motions at times, but he does it with the sort of clumsy charm that makes this sort of oddball film work.

The film does have some odd editing choices, some of which make for now legendary WTF moments (for lack of a more graceful term), such as the revealing of the jocky villain’s odd stomach tattoo without explanation, or worst of all, the man with his fly open, exposing himself during the dying seconds before the frame freezes before the ending credits (look that one up on the internet folks…you’ll see why it’s so infamous). This was Director Rod Daniel first film, and his lack of experience shows. On top of that, he did not exactly go onto great things (such future gems include sequels to Beethoven and Home Alone). But it is easy to look past its minor flaws to see an entertaining enough 90 minutes of cinematic…not gold, ummm…lets just say cinema.

Video

Widescreen 1.85:1. For a dated transfer, things are looking pretty good. For a film that wasn’t even given a menu screen, it just plays in a loop, some dedication went into ensuring that there was little fuzziness in the picture, just whatever was there in the previous DVD release.

The AVC is running at 38 MBPS, which is comparable, if not higher, than what I’ve seen for action films released within the last 3 years, never mind a comedy from over 25 years ago.

Audio

English Mono DTS-HD master Audio as well as Spanish and French Mono available. For a mono track(s), things sound pretty darn good. All the background sounds of big crowd (in school or at basketball games) blend well with the music and dialogue without causing interruptions. A well treated track whose only hindrance is not being offered in a more full bodied stereo or surround. Personally, I have no problem with a Mono track so long as its mixed well, and here is a good example.

Special Features

None.

Final Thoughts

As mentioned before, this film will doubtlessly make for a safe buy on many a sales rack at your local movie retailer. A perfectly fine transfer onto Blu-ray for this film. All in all, it’s just some good, hairy fun.

I was somewhat curious about reviewing my first “true” black and white film (Young Frankenstein was the first I had reviewed), and was equally curious to see how much charisma the relatively young Elvis of 1957 possessed.

Film

This movie was an absolute surprise.  Instead of the fun-filled lightweight eye candy that Viva Las Vegas was, Jailhouse Rock was actually somewhat seedy and serious.  Elvis plays a blue-collar worker (Vince Everett) who is sent to jail to serve a sentence for manslaughter, all result of defending a woman in a bar fight.  In jail, his cellmate is a former professional musician Hunk Houghton (played by Mickey Shaugnessy), who teaches him some guitar, and gets him onto a television show broadcast from the prison.  Bags of fan mail ensure, and after his release, Vince seeks to establish a career as a performer.

A chance encounter with a record company employee, Peggy (played by the late yet lovely Judy Tyler) helps launch Vince’s career.  She helps him get his first record deal, and he treats her like dirt, glowers at her parents, insults her parents’ guests, then sex appeals her into submission.  Success is almost instantaneous, giving Elvis license to slap around music executives, sass lawyers, use the word sexy (this was 1957), be reasonably lecherous, and belittle Hunk.

One of the most enjoyable parts of this film is that Elvis’ character is a class-A jerk.  Rude to the warden, rude to ladies, rude to prospective employers, grunting, scowling, and silent, it was almost as if Elvis was channeling a James Dean “lite” for this film.  Cool, yet rebellious, this movie was quite a bit different from the fluffy movies to come.

The story certainly does feel 1950’s, with a linear and uncomplicated narrative, and characters who are wonderfully somewhere between caricature and fully fleshed out.  Musical numbers are an appropriate part of the film and not intrusive.  The behind the scenes view of the 1950’s recording industry felt authentic.

Video

Would it be possible to believe a black and white movie could look better than many modern color films?  The print of this film was absolutely gorgeous.  Beautiful shading, sharp edges, minimal and appropriate grain, wonderful blacks – what else does one want?

The cinematography was equally nice, with excellent use of depth of field, and wonderful framing in almost every shot.  My only question is, “How can Jailhouse Rock look so good when Elvis on Tour (filmed 15 years later) looks like a VHS tape?”

Audio

An absolutely superb job was done with the TrueHD remix of the original mono track.  Voices and vocals are spread nicely across the entire front soundstage, and some information surprisingly shows up in the surrounds.  LFE data is expectedly nominal.

So how does this film get such a high score? It’s all in the music, baby.  The quality of the musical numbers is fantastic, and well above the quality one normally hears in 50’s vintage recordings.  The sound in this film puts a number of my Elvis CDs and LPs (that’s a record for you kids out there) to shame.  Sharp and clearly defined instruments combined with the natural timbre and resonance of Elvis’ voice to make the music number magical.

Special Features

This disc comes with very few special features.  Considering all are in 480p, I’m assuming these are a carry-over from the DVD release of the film.

Included are the theatrical trailer (boy, trailers sure sucked back then), and a 15-minute featurette “The Scene that Stole Jailhouse Rock”; mainly interesting due to hearing how Lieber & Stoller hated what Elvis did with their songs.  Finally, there is a boring commentary from the author of “Elvis in Hollywood”, delivered in a humorless monotone.

Final Thoughts

After enjoying Viva Las Vegas and hating Elvis on Tour, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Jailhouse Rock.  Was I ever pleasantly surprised by the quality of the audio and video, the surliness of Elvis, and the coherence and weight of the plot.  Not only do I give this disc a “Buy It” recommendation, I can recommend the 3-Disc Elvis Blu-Ray Collection on the strength of this disc and Viva Las Vegas.  Both films offer an interesting snapshot into a time that more and more seems foreign to our own with each passing day.

For my last movie, I held back Blazing Saddles, the film that truly rocketed Mel Brooks to fame, and earned him the financial chops to produce atypical films such as Young Frankenstein and Silent Movie.

It has been more than two decades since I had seen this movie, and I was extremely curious to see how much I had remembered about it, and if it was as funny and crude as I thought.

Film

Possibly in its time, this film was groundbreakingly hilarious, due to its crudity and its genre-bending take on the Western.  However, the past 36 years have not been kind to the film, as there has been many, many films that have bent genres and oozed crudity in much larger volumes than Blazing Saddles (Team America: Wold Police is the most extreme example I can think of).  Really, Mr. Brooks’ film is very tame by today’s standards.

The story has the typical simplicity of a traditional Western.  Railroad hits quicksand, railroad must be rerouted through peaceful town, Attorney General (Harvey Korman) sends thugs to terrorize the town to drive down the cost.  Terrified townsfolk need a sheriff, same Attorney General convinces the dimwitted Governor (Mel Brooks) to hire an African-American sherrif figuring the townsfolk will run off.  Said sheriff (Cleavon Little) acquires a sidekick (The Waco Kid – Gene Wilder) who helps him win over the townfolk, and fight off the ruffians.  The film culminates with an over-the-top fight scene that is funny, jarring, and surprising.

Oddly enough, the main feeling I had after watching the film was disappointment.  Here I was expecting a classic humorous masterpiece, and instead found a poorly-paced, overtly crude, surprisingly unfunny film.  Certainly there were funny bits, but I found these to be even more poorly paced than those in a reputedly poorer film, High Anxiety.  And much of the humor was of the shock variety, not the truly funny variety.

In fact, this reminded me of my impression of Young Frankenstein.  Despite both films being considered legendary comedies, and were loved by many, both left me cold.  It was one of the rare films where I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Video

Much like the film itself, the video also left me feeling cold.  Color lacked a certain saturation, and film grain was distractingly noticeable in many parts of the film.  Although I do expect grain in a film of this vintage, the amount in brightly lit shots was surprising.

Although it is an adequate picture for a film of this vintage, it is simply adequate.

Audio

Even though this film did receive a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio remix, it was one of the most “mono” surround presentations I had seen.  Crushed dynamics, center-localized sound, and little LFE or surround info.  In two words “not great”.

Sadly enough, there are a number of older films that have received a much better audio treatment than Blazing Saddles.

Special Features

All of the special features are in SD, and all appear to have come from a previous DVD release of the film.  Included are the trailer, deleted scenes, a long featurette about the film, a very short featurette about Madeline Kahn, and the TV pilot of a proposed Blazing Saddles–based TV show.  Also included is a long and meandering commentary with Mel Brooks; it is less a description of the film, and more a series of anecdotes.

Final Thoughts

After saving Blazing Saddles as the grand finale of The Mel Brooks Collection, I was ultimately disappointed with it.  I expected a funnier film, and one that would have improved greatly from the transfer to Blu-ray.  Unfortunately, the story did not age well, the video and audio presentations were just so-so, and the special features brought nothing new to the table.

If you love the movie, buying the Blu-ray would mean an excellent upgrade to your collection.  If you remember the movie fondly, I’d skip it, as a viewing in this day and age may make you wonder what you liked in the first place.

As Mr. Brooks’ second directing effort (his first being the conspicuously absent The Producers), it would be interesting to see what his later work evolved from, and how much his early work was influenced by others.  Did the movie deserve its obscure status, or was it worthy of more attention as part of the Mel Brooks legacy?

Film

I found this movie surprisingly difficult to categorize.  In fact, of all the Mel Brooks films I’ve seen, this was the least “Mel Brooksian” of them.  It had elements of older-style comedies, the Three Stooges, and even a bit of Monty Pythonesque lunacy.  Really, this made the film a bit challenging to watch, as it borrowed so heavily on the work of other diverse films in the comedy genre.

Like most folk tales, the story was quite simple to follow.  Matveevich Vorobyanov (played straight by Ron Moody) is a former aristocrat who has fallen on harder times since the Russian Revolution.  However, he discovers from his mother-in-law (on her deathbed) that she hid jewels from the communists in one of the chairs from the family’s old dining set.  Since this furniture was seized during the revolution, Vorobyanov must now search across Russia for the chairs.

As part of her deathbed confession, the Mother-in-law also admits the hiding of the jewels to her Russian Orthodox priest, Father Fyodor (Dom DeLuise).  He immediately cuts his beard, and heads off on his own quest for the jewels.

Complicating matters is that a vagabond con man (played by the velvety-voiced Frank Langella) gets word of Vorobyanov’s quest, and extorts Vorobyanov into including him the search for the chairs.

Many hijinks follow, including Father Fyodor’s stalking of a party official, and Vorobyanov’s attempts at acting.  Their adventures lead them to Siberia, the Black Sea, and Moscow, all in an attempt to find the chairs first and extract the jewels.

Generally this was an entertaining film, though much of Mr. Brooks’ trademark over-the-top humor was absent.  The story was told in a linear and traditional manner, and although slow at times, Mr. Brooks did the original material a great service.

The three main actors were a bit of a mixed bag.  Ron Moody was asked to play a caricature, and he did so very well, maintaining a credible mix of greed and nobility.  His increasing obsession with the jewels and their worth progressed nicely as the movie proceeded.

Frank Langella was also very good in his role of a con man.  With a rich baritone voice, dashing good looks, and a suave demeanor, he offers an excellent counterpoint to the increasingly frayed and reckless Vorobyanov.

However, Dom DeLuise puts in one of the poorer performances of his career.  Any moral standing he may have had as a Father is never apparent in the film, as he shows nothing but green and avarice throughout.  In many ways, Father Fyodor appears to be in the story to provide comic relief; it is unfortunate that he really isn’t that funny.

The pacing of the film is also a bit tedious.  Although there are some funny scenes (enjoying a free lunch at the railroad engineers’ club, chasing a high wire artist for a chair, faking epilepsy as part of a panhandling scheme), these are simply too few and far between.  And although Frank Langella oozes con man from the moment we see him, he simply isn’t given quite enough to do.

Overall, it is interesting to contrast this to later Mel Brooks films as it has very little resemblance to them.  And overall, this is not a bad thing, as Mr. Brooks’ development of a madcap frenetic comedy style is what earned him his reputation as a director.  Although this was a good film, it is nowhere near as memorable as Mr. Brooks’ other work.

Video

In the entire box set, this is the first film in which I was disappointed with the video quality.  Grainy, soft, with irregular lighting and sharpness, this appears to have been a straight transfer from film to Blu-ray.

On the positive side, there was little evidence of heavy digital post production, as I did not spot excessive noise, macroblocking.  However, this was already evident through the relatively poor picture quality.

Audio

As stated in my review of High Anxiety, I expect a lack of dynamic range, a strong front-loading, little LFE information, and muffled dialog in a film of this vintage.  As expected, this film had the poorest audio track in the collection so far.

As per the glossy book included in the collection, this film was under budgetary constraints, and I believe the sound is where this is felt the most.  Muffled and centre focused, with a lack of dynamics or crispness, the overall presentation is passable.  In fact, I’m not sure one would find a great jump in quality by changing from the DTS-HD to the Mono tracks.

Special Features

This film doesn’t deserve even half a disc, as it only includes one special feature, this being Mel Brooks trailers.  That’s it, and again reflects the almost “afterthought” treatment this film received as part of the collection.

Final Thoughts

This film was somewhat entertaining, though lacking in the areas we enjoy in a Blu-ray (sound, picture, extras).  In short, this film appeared to have received the lowest level of special treatment for its inclusion in a Blu-ray set, though how much this was a product of the source material is hard to tell.

Overall, this was the poorest movie in the collection so far; I have a much higher likelihood of watching Young Frankenstein again than I do this film.

Mr. Brooks has never struck me as a subtle humorist, and I had some worry that a comedy-musical-drama about World War II and Nazism could be taken from funny to farcical under his guidance.  Perplexingly, I also had high expectations at the same time – with such rich subject matter, and a stellar cast, this movie had the potential to be really good.  And in short, this movie was really good, the type of comedy I grew up on, and the type that seems to have fallen out of favor with the viewing public.

Film

Set on the eve of World War II, Mel Brooks plays Frederick Bronski, an apparently “famous” Polish actor who takes pride in his portrayal of Hamlet in his Excerpts from Hamlet.  In art imitating life, his wife Anna Bronski is played by Mr. Brooks’ very talented wife, the late Anne Bancroft.  As owners and lead actors in a Polish theatre company, not all is rosy between the couple, as Mrs. Bronski is feeling her importance to their success is being minimized.  This is illustrated early in the film with one of the best visual jokes I’ve ever seen (when Frederick is shown a poster for their upcoming performance of The Merry Widower).  Mrs. Bronski has her own issues, including her encouragement of advances being made to her by a dashing Polish airman, Lt. Sobinski (played by Tim Matheson).

As we historically know, the Germans invaded Poland, leading Lt. Sobinski to find himself flying for the free Polish forces in England.  There, he and his comerades give names of friends and family who are in the Polish Resistance to Professor Siletski (played well by Jose Ferrer), a traitorous agent who secretly wishes to give the information to the Nazis.

Although Lt. Sobinski gives a cryptic message of love to be taken to Anna, he later deduces Professor Siletski’s plan, and is asked by officials to go to Poland to keep Dr. Siletski from delivering this list of names to the Gestapo.  However, since Anna’s name appears on the list of people to send messages to, the Bronskis are drawn into this drama, as is their entire theatre company.

The decision to have Alan Johnson direct the film may have been the most important decision Mr. Brooks made for the quality of this film.  Mel Brooks-directed films share a certain manic “over-the-topness” that would have been inappropriate for To Be or Not to Be.  This is a story that makes fun of Nazi Germany and the self-aggrandizement of actors, yet still has serious overtones such as the Gestapo, the invasion of Poland, and the Holocaust.  Although humorous, the material requires a sensitivity and finesse to make it funny, while never losing sight of what Nazism actually meant.

Despite its grim subject matter, this is easily one of the funniest and wittiest movies I’ve seen in a very long time.  The chemistry between the actors is palpable, and their interaction is superb.  Classic comedic timing is apparent on every joke, and laughs are for the viewer to figure out – they are not handed to the audience with auditory clues or over the top visuals (a la American Pie).  The surrounding cast are as superb as they get, with standout performances from George Gaynes, Charles Durning, and James Haake.  However, special mention goes to Anne Bancroft for playing Anna in a wry and comedic way, to Mel Brooks for toning down his schtick when the script calls for it, and to Christopher Lloyd, who steals every scene he is in as a hapless SS man.

In the end, this is a very funny movie that demonstrates how good comedy can be, especially when understated humor meets over-the-top humor.  It also makes great use of classical elements of comedy, including visual jokes, running gags, caricature, and classic timing to make the audience laugh.  I cannot recollect the last time I had seen a film where I have laughed out loud this much, many times at my surprise in finding a joke that wasn’t all that obvious.  Smart, funny, and a bit melancholy, this is what a comedy should be.

Video

Again, the producers of this box set have done an excellent job with the video restoration of this film.  Although the grain we would expect for an early 80’s movie is there, enough is cleaned up so that it doesn’t become distracting in 1080p.

However, there were some issues with the presentation, most notably the soft focus that seemed to be used on Anne Bancroft from the midpoint of the film-on.  These scenes simply have a quality not congruent with the rest of the exceptional visuals in this film.  There are also scenes where there are color bleed issues, such as when Frederik returns from his meeting with the Gestapo then finds Lt. Sobinski in his bed – his shirt looks like a light bulb in the dark room.

Set design must have been done well, as they all look great and pop with color (especially the luxuriously appointed theatre interior).  Costumes were also equally well done, and the fabrics and detail truly shine in HD.  Originally a choreographer, the exactness in Director Johnson’s eye plays out well through this film, creating a great visual landscape that translated very well to Blu-ray. 

Audio

As an early 80’s film, I expected the audio presentation to be a bit of a mixed bag.  And true to form for movies of this era, it was.

Firstly, the score by John Morris is superb, and itself contains very wry and ironic themes while accompanying the movie.  It is not often one hears “Deutschland Uber Alles” incorporated slightly off kilter into a soundtrack.  Through the DTS-HD MA presentation, this score shines.

Dialog is also very clear through the centre channel, though it seems to be a bit mixed-down or muffled.  Although volume levels are good, a certain crispness or sibilance was missing.  We do suffer from the early 80’s issue of lack of dynamic range and spatializing, with the LFE channel being sadly underused, much like the surrounds.

All-in-all, an average audio presentation for a film of this era – nothing great, but better than serviceable.

Special Features

Much like Silent Movie, To Be or Not to Be did not receive a solo Blu-ray release, and we therefore find a skinnier feature set on this disc.  Included are a trivia pop-up track (a good one by the way), an isolated score track, a short HD featurette on Bancroft and Brooks working together, a short vintage promo piece (in SD), three short interviews (also in SD), plus trailers for this film and other Mel Brooks films.

Generally, not an overly impressive special feature set, with the main HD featurette being charming yet below the standard of the one that accompanied Silent Movie.

Final Thoughts

Although the “extras” of this film were minimal and the audio presentation was pedestrian, the video presentation was quite good, with the film itself being wonderful.  Well-acted, possessing a sensitivity to the subject matter, and delivering comedy in an intelligent and witty way, this is a movie I know I will watch again.

Although not a “traditional” Mel Brooks movie, I have not seen a film that better highlights his ability as an actor.  Nor have I seen a film in recent memory show how closely related comedy and tragedy are.

And unfortunately, I am again giving a “Buy It” recommendation for a film that is only available as a part of this collection.

Second up for review was 1974’s Young Frankenstein, a film from which I had seen various scenes, but never sat through the whole film.  Of all the Mel Brooks movies, this one appears to have the most loyal following, and I was intrigued again by Mr. Brooks making an atypical movie (a horror movie throwback in black and white) in the 1970’s.

Film

This film has a very loyal and dedicated audience who can likely fire off lines at will from various points in the movie.  I am not one of these, and I find it highly unlikely that I will ever become one of them.  After watching the movie, I admired Mr. Brooks’ skill with the camera, and loved Gene Wilder’s lunatic acting as the Young Frankenstein (Frawnk-en-steen!), but found the movie generally uninspiring.

The plot is straightforward enough – the young Dr. Frankenstein is a respected medical teacher and doctor, who has attempted to distance himself from his nefarious ancestor who brought the dead to life.  However, a reading of his dead grandfather’s will (I think it was his Grandfather’s – the geneaology in the film is a bit confusing) ends up with Dr. Frankenstein moving to Transylvania (which has nothing to do with Frankenstein) and discovering the lab where the original monster was made.

Although originally opposed to reanimating the dead, he comes across the original Dr. Frankenstein’s journal, and decides that it may work, and that he too, can bring back the dead.  Of course, problems are caused when Igor (Eye-gor, effectively played by Marty Feldman) has an accident, and destroys the brain that Dr. Frankenstein wanted, replacing it with an abnormal (Abby Normal) brain.

So, the poor monster goes off on his adventures (mimicking those from Universal’s iconic “Frankenstein”), followed by an attempt to prove to the townsfolk that the monster is really not a monster (via a musical number).  Will Dr. Frankenstein be able to save his monster from the townsfolk?  How will he resolve his relationship with the luscious Inga (Terri Garr) and his tightly wound fiancé (Madeline Kahn)?

On the plus side, this is a beautifully shot movie, and shows Mel Brooks’ love of the old Universal horror films.  Superimposing images over people’s faces, using different styles of screen wipe, the well-timed thunder and lightning, and use of lighting and shadows is truly a love letter to these classic movies.  A special mention also goes to Cloris Leachman, who as Frau Blücher steals every scene she is in.  She has an ability to make hot milk and Ovaltine sound like a nasty and naughty thing.

However, the humor in this movie fell flat for me.  Whereas in Silent Movie, slapstick and over-expression was needed due to a lack of dialog, it fails to elicit much laughs here.  Kneeing an old man in the groin?  Not really funny.  Using a corpse’s hand as yours?  Not really funny.  Getting spun in and stuck in a revolving bookcase.  Still not funny.

Some scenes were bit more humorous, and the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” number was one of the best parts of the film.  However, these laughs were too few for me to consider this a comedic masterpiece.  Double entendre, juvenile humor, and penis jokes can only carry a movie so far.

Video

This is a difficult movie to score, as it was deliberately made to look like an old Universal horror film.  Shot in black and white, there was plenty of grain and noise throughout the movie; overall, it had a very natural “old and soft” look to it.

Favorably, the film did not appear to have much digital noise or artifacting, which suggests that its restoration was done carefully and neutrally.  However, it is difficult to score it higher than I have, and I am left to ponder if the picture on Blu-ray is substantially better than that of an upscaled DVD.

Audio

Although the soundtrack is advertised in being in DTS-HD MA, there appears to have been a deliberate attempt to make the film sound as close to mono as you can through 5.1 speakers.  The dynamic range resembles that of an AM radio station, and I could not discern any real sounds coming from the surrounds or LFE.  Even the thunder had no rumble.

Again, this lack of dynamic range appears to be a deliberate attempt to make the movie sound like an old Universal horror film.  And although this has a true sheen of authenticity, this isn’t the reason I have a Blu-ray player and a surround sound system.

Special Features

Where Silent Movie fell short on special features, Young Frankenstein has an excellent mix of both older material (from previous DVD releases), and newer material for the Blu-ray.  This is not surprising, as Young Frankenstein has also received a solo Blu-ray release as well as its inclusion in this package.

Although I am not a big commentary fan, Mr. Brooks’ commentary on this disc is very good, and in many cases, funnier than the movie.

Also included are a very good trivia track, deleted scenes (both SD and HD ones included), comments on specific scenes in the making of the movie (Inside the Lab), two HD featurettes (It’s Alive, Transylvanian Lullaby), and a number of recycled SD features (Making FrankenSense, Production Photos, Interviews, Trailers, TV Spots, and Outtakes).  The quality of these is mixed, but the volume is good, and should have lasting appeal to fans of the film.

Final Thoughts

It is rare that I am as disappointed by a movie as I was with Young Frankenstein.  After hearing for years about it’s legendary status, I was truly underwhelmed by this film.  And although the visual and audio presentations were consistent with Mr. Brooks’ vision for a comedic version of a Universal horror film, laughs were simply in too short a supply.

For real fans, this Blu-ray is available as part of this package, as well as a standalone Blu-ray.

Therefore, when The Mel Brooks Collection showed up in my docket for review, I was quite intrigued.  Not only did it contain the Mel Brooks movies I had missed, it also contained movies that I had loved when younger.  However, this is also a formidable task reviewing nine (yes, nine!) movies, so I beg the reader’s patience as I wander through this box set.

First up for review was 1976’s Silent Movie, a film I had never seen before, and one that had intrigued me.  As a boy, I loved both Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy silent shorts, and I was curious to see how well Mr. Brooks could deliver a modern version of this art form.

Film

As a silent movie, one can check their expectations for character development at the door.  Like most movies of this genre, visuals become the medium of comedy, with a large emphasis on slapstick humor and visual gags.  However, the plot is quite easy to follow, even though much of it is delivered through tersely-worded intertitles.  Mel Brooks plays Mel Funn, a famous movie director who’s career has taken a downward turn due to a drinking problem. 

Funn is determined to make a comeback through his new screenplay for a silent movie.  Presenting this idea to the “Chief” of Big Picture studios (Sid Caesar), he is told he can make his movie if he can get big stars to be in it.  We also discover that a lot is riding on this movie, as Big Picture Studios is doing poorly financially, and has become a hostile takeover target by the New York conglomerate, Engulf & Devour.

Accompanied at all times by his associates Dom Bell (Dom DeLuise) and Marty Eggs (Marty Feldman), the three engage in all nature of gags to enroll actors in the silent movie, including Burt Renyolds, Anne Bancroft, James Caan, Liza Minnelli, and Paul Newman (plus a phone call to Marcel Marceau). 

Of course, each actor who signs on to the movie is announced through the silent movie technique of putting important events on the headlines of newspapers (that accompanies another running gag involving the newspaper seller).  Nervous with the number of famous actors signed on, Engulf & Devour tries to derail Funn through having a sexy nightclub singer Vilma Kaplan (Bernadette Peters) pretend to fall in love with him.  More visual gags follow, and lead up to an appropriately over the top and satisfying ending.

At first I found the film to be a bit disconcerting to watch, as I am used to today’s modern “talkies”.  However, it did not take long to settle into the flow of the movie, made even easier by the extremely funny sequence with the first big star (Burt Renyolds).  The natural gift for physical comedy that Brooks, DeLuise, and Feldman all posses was never more evident than in the scene with Liza Minnelli, which had me laughing out loud.

Overall, this was a very different, yet very funny movie.  The three main leads make full use of their overexpressiveness and facial expressions to convey emotion, feeling, and thought (plus slip in some naughty dialog for you lip readers).  The score is cheery and upbeat (and provides it’s own jokes at times), and includes appropriately off-time sound effects.  It was also an admittedly nostalgic trip down memory lane for me, seeing actors I grew up with featured as “stars” – no one was bigger than “The Burt” in the 1970’s, and we forget how adorably cute Liza Mannelli was when younger.

More importantly, this film does have re-watchability  I can picture viewing this a few more times, simply to try and pick up more inconsistencies between the actors lines and the intertitles, or to catch additional gags I may have missed the first time.

Generally, I was very pleased that this was the first movie out of the collection that I watched.    

Video

I really liked the visual appearance of this movie, though am somewhat hard-pressed to say why.  It truly had a 70’s feel to it.  The sets were 70’s.  The actors were 70’s.  Even the color, tone and grain of the film was 70’s.

However, it was a brightly colored, reasonably sharp, and clean version of the 70’s.  As expected, grain was present, but lent a nice softness to the picture without being distracting.  Dark areas had no issues, suggesting Fox did a loving restoration of this film.  In many ways, it looks as if the Blu-ray reflects what the director wanted. 

Audio

Audio is trickier with a movie of this vintage, and the folks at Fox did a very nice job with the DTS-HD MA presentation of the film.  The score is expansive and moves nicely around the listener, as do sound effects and ambient sounds.  With no dialog (excepting one word), centre channel levels are not an issue.

However, the presentation is far from perfect, as there is no LFE information to speak of, and they dynamic range of the sound is very limited.  Although the top end has good dynamics (highlighted by the main theme in the score), the low end is sadly lacking. 

In summation, the sound is very good for a 1970’s movie, but below the high standards that have been set by some other restorations.

Special Features

It is difficult to rate the special features for this disc, as The Mel Brooks Collection comes with a lovely hardbound book discussing Mr. Brooks and his career.  However, for review purposes, I will rate what is on the disc only.

For Silent Movie, what is on the disc is not very much.  Included are the trailer for the film, trailers for other Mel Brooks films, a trivia track, and a feature on silent movies, and their inspiration for Silent Movie (in many ways, an homage to Buster Keaton).

Although a generally uninspiring collection of extras, the featurette was very well done, and also in HD.

Final Thoughts

Internet opinion seems to be somewhat divided on this film.  There are those who seem to love it, and those who are not enamored with it.  I gladly place myself in the first camp, as I do enjoy well done physical comedy and sight gags; this movie is chock full of both.

Furthermore, I admire Mr. Brooks for doing something different, especially in the formulatic and contrived 1970’s.  It is likely that Silent Movie was a parody of what Mr. Brooks had to actually go through to get it made, making it even more admirable.

Unfortunately, as of the date of this review, this film is currently only available on Blu-Ray through the collection.  Despite this, I will give it a “Buy It” recommendation.

After reading the books, I was excited to discover that an animated version of the book existed, and lobbied hard to get my buddies to rent it when we were having a movie night.  And after we all sat back and viewed the movie, we looked at each other with the same expression on our faces: “What in heck was that?”

So the question is, after 28 years of watching various forms of animation, have I gained a new appreciation for Ralph Bakshi’s labor of love?  Does being on Blu-ray make the movie any better?

Film

Thinking back on all the animation I’ve watched over the years, I have difficulty recalling any animated movie that is quite as intrinsically ugly as this one.  Being on Blu-ray actually exacerbates this problem.  Washed out and stylistic backgrounds, inking issues, and the horridly ugly rotoscoping (using live actors as the basis for animation) makes this a visually unappealing movie.

Moreso, I could also criticize the color palette used, the lack of quality control of the animation, the bad 1970’s era sound effects, and the poor visualization of the scenes and characters.  In glorious 1080p, all of these flaws are held up for the viewer to see, and they become so distracting that they affect one’s ability to watch and enjoy the movie.

What is most egregiously lost in this film is the beauty and emotiveness of Tolkien’s writing in the Lord of the Rings.  An attentive reader can feel tranquility, compassion, happiness, apprehension, awe, and fear through Tolkien’s beautiful narrative.  This emotional resonance is mysteriously absent from the movie; it feels rushed, grim, and unhappy.  Worst of all, this film takes characters that we love (or hate), and makes us feel apathy for them.  Then, in culmination of this, it only tells the first half of the Lord of the Rings story – this move was not successful enough for the studio to green light the second half.

Being upfront, I am not a huge fan of Ralph Bakshi’s work.  Although I do have a age-based fondness for his somewhat psychedelic Spider-Man TV series, I thought Fritz the Cat was exploitive rather than groundbreaking.

Mr. Bakshi stated that he was a fan of the books, motivating his desire to make this film.  However, there had to be some sort of external pressure (budget?  Release date?) that resulted in this movie being as poor as it was.

For someone who loves the books, this film is a bitter disappointment.  For one who has never read the books, the film is incomprehensible.

Video

This is, bar none, the worst looking Blu-ray I have seen to date.  Unfortunately, I believe this is not due to the transfer and encoding – it is mainly due to the poor quality of the masters.  Considering the limited appeal of this release, it is difficult to imagine a circumstance under which  Warner Brothers would put resources into a full restoration of this film.  And they didn’t disappoint, with the film looking like it came straight out of a 1970’s film canister.

As mentioned in the “Film” section, there are quality control issues with inking throughout the movie, there is noise and dust speckles in almost every dark area, animations lack a certain grace, and the backgrounds are washed of life and color.  Worst of all, the rotoscoping that looked horrible on VHS looks even more horrible in Blu-ray.

It has been suggested that the rotoscoping was done to save money, as it was a quicker and easier process than drawing frames from scratch.  To me, rotoscoping looks like someone solarized a real person, and inserted their image into the film; something that looks absolutely horrid, and out of sync with the rest of the movie around it.

Audio

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio presentation of this movie was actually quite good considering the age of the material.  As can be expected, the dynamic range was very limited, missing that sharp clear top end and firm rolling bottom end.  A lot of the sounds happen in the midrange section of the audio spectrum, and a lot of them happen in the front speakers.

Generally not a bad presentation.  Although the voice acting is rather tepid, it goes well with the poor quality 70’s era sound effects.  Generally, I’m not quite sure how any Hobbit wearing the ring could stealthily disappear with a giant flash of light and a magic sound straight out of Hanna-Barbera’s Shazzan.

Special Features

Not much here for special features – just a half-hour SD documentary about Ralph Bakshi’s career, his impact on Hollywood, and his making of Lord of the Rings.  Generally this is an okay piece, but nothing special.  Even though my review copy also came with a Digital Copy, I’m not sure (considering the movie) that it adds much value.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes different films we view impact us differently depending on where we are in our lives.  Moves that I found funny as a teen I now find juvenile.  As a parent, teen movies give me the shudders, as I wouldn’t want my kids engaging in the behaviours I see on screen.  And movies that I didn’t appreciate as a younger person can often resonate with me now in a way they couldn’t when I was young.

Unfortunately, some movies that disappointed me when I was younger continue to disappoint me when I am older.  Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings is one of these.  Summed up in one sentence, this film is an ugly, gloomy, emotionally flat disservice to one of the best fantasy stories ever written.  Even a $0.99 7-day rental might be a bit overpriced for this film.

The African Queen also has an intimidating pedigree.  Nominated for four Academy Awards, it has become legendary for the danger and hardships director John Huston exposed the cast and crew to.  Filming in wild parts of the Belgian Congo, legend has it that Bogart and Huston avoided the sicknesses that afflicted all other cast and crew by drinking only Scotch.  Legend also has it that Huston stalled production in his obsession with hunting an elephant, later fictionalized into “White Hunter, Black Heart”.

As a film, The African Queen continually appears on AFI’s “100 years, 100 movies” list, has been selected for preservation in the U.S. Film Registry, and was the source of Humphrey Bogart’s only Academy Award.  How well does it survive its restoration to Blu-ray?    

Film

One of the challenges of viewing a movie of this vintage is being able to tie up one’s cynicism when watching it.  When a movie was made in a less cynical time, and is about an even less cynical time, it can be a challenge not mocking or expressing incredulity at what one is viewing. 

To properly enjoy this film, the viewer has to mentally shift their frame of reference away from what they expect in a current movie.  If one can successfully do this and place the movie in the context of when it was created, they will be treated to a perfectly satisfying movie that defies being labeled with a single genre.  Action, adventure, romance, and comedy are all in the movie, with many chuckle out loud moments.

The plot of the movie was quite simple.  Rose Sayer (Katherine Hepburn) and her brother Samuel  (Robert Morely) are prim and proper British Methodist Missionaries in German East-Africa at the start of WWI.  Humphrey Bogart is Charlie Allnut, a coarse Canadian steamboat captain who provides a link to the outside world through his mail deliveries to the Sayers.

When Germans visit the Sayer’s village, round up the locals, and burn down all of the town structures, Samuel is struck by a German soldier, leading to dementia and death.  Left on her own, Rose decides to flee with Charlie.  Upon learning Charlie has a number of supplies and explosives that he was unable to deliver to a local mine due to unrest caused by the war, Rose devises a plan where she and Charlie can assist the war effort (and gain revenge for her brother’s effective murder).

To carry out this plan, the African Queen must negotiate through two sets of rapids, escape by a German river fort, then be turned into a torpedo to sink a German boat which is preventing Allied attacks into German East-Africa.  Although Charlie seems to think this is a path to certain death, he agrees to help Rose, leading to their adventures throughout the movie.

One cannot argue with the quality of the performance of the leads, especially considering the filming conditions.  Katherine Hepburn is superb playing Rose in three different ways – prim and proper, thrill seeker, and doting girlfriend.  Humphrey Bogart is also excellent, transforming from a drunken ruffian, to an able sailor and tradesman, to a doting boyfriend, to a heroic figure.

Overall, this is a perfectly satisfying movie, with the exception of a few plot holes.  Even considering the era of the movie, Charlie and Rose’s rapid romance seems quite a bit implausible, especially considering the rigidity with which Katherine Hepburn plays Rose in the movie’s opening scenes.  Rose’s transformation from an uptight missionary to a thrill-seeking adventurer also happens with startling speed.  The number of well-timed rain storms, positioning of the sun, and the ultimate fate of the African Queen all work out 100% in favor of our protagonists.  However, once we strip away our modern-era cynicism, we are left with something that has been missing from many movies for a very long time – innocent, guileless, clean, and optimistic entertainment.

Is this a good movie?  Absolutely!  Is it a great movie?  Unfortunately, no, and I believe that much of this movie’s endearing popularity relates more to its unique location (for the time), and the other legends, tales, and controversies that surrounded its production.  The movie itself is lightweight, perfectly satisfying as entertainment, but missing the necessary gravitas that I believe truly legendary movies need.     

Video

With the incredible advancement in video standards over the last ten years, we as viewers have come to expect movies which have been highly produced to exacting standards.  We have been spoiled by superb special effects, incredible use of green screen techniques, and the advent of CGI.  Each of these can make movies look like reality (or even create new reality), and it raises the viewer’s expectations of how scenes should look. 

Unfortunately, this sort of technology was not even dreamt of or even conceivable in 1951, and when a movie of this era is transferred from film then digitally restored, it will highlight all flaws and limitations in the original work.

Starting with the bad, being in 1080p reveals models that look like models, action scenes that appear different between long focus and close up shots.  Film treatments to create the visual effect of buzzing mosquitoes look nothing like an attack of mosquitoes.   The early Technicolor print also presents challenges, with less depth of or consistency of tone then I’d like, and oddly shaded flesh tones.  However, the film gets a pass on these from me, as to clean these up or reshoot them would destroy the original fabric of the movie.  As an almost 60-year old movie we simply have to live with these shortcomings.

However, Paramount did a smashing job with the digital restore of this movie.  Colors are bright, grain is appropriate and present, and digital noise is only obvious in certain scenes.  By no means is the picture perfect, and it can be a bit soft at times, but the overall quality of it exceeded my expectations. 

Audio

The audio is mono.  Not really much you can do with that.  Surrounds?  No.  LFE?  No.  Generally, everything sounds like it is coming out of the dashboard speaker of a ’76 Plymouth Aspen.  The score can be jarring and distracting, and sometimes dialogue fades off so that you cannot hear exactly what was being said.  Not a great presentation all around.

Although I would normally not dock a movie of this era as badly as I did The African Queen, one only has to listen to the enhanced soundtrack Disney included on the older Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to hear what can actually be done with a mono track.  For all of the effort Paramount put into the video presentation, it would have been nice for the soundtrack to have received a little attention as well.

Special Features

I was honestly disappointed with the level of special features on this disc.  For one, even a small booklet discussing the movie, or a commentary with one of the people who feel this is a legendary movie (Leonard Maltin anyone?) may have been illustrative of what I may be missing.  Apparently other goodies (Hepburn’s memoir of making the movie, a CD of a radio play of the movie, and some other collectibles) are available in the Commemorative Box Set, not the Standard version I reviewed.

The only special feature contained on the standard issue BRD is the excellent documentary “Embracing Chaos: Making The African Queen”.  Although this includes some of the elements I would have looked for in a commentary, as a separate feature it loses some immediacy to the movie.  However, as a feature on its own merit, it is as equally entertaining as the film itself.

Unfortunately, when I compare this level of features with those on the Studio Canal release of Le Mépris, it is rather underwhelming.

Final Thoughts

I am always challenged when reviewing a movie that is a “classic” or “legendary”.  In some cases, I find the film has remained as relevant as it was when released, retaining a feel of currency even in our ever-changing world.  Other times, I find that the movie earns a reputation more based on the era in which those who apply the labels of “legendary” and “classic” were born.

Take Star Wars, Episode IV as an example.  I first saw this movie as a seven-year old, and proceeded to use my allowance to religiously view it bi-weekly until it ended its theatre run.  To older critics at the time, it was “space opera” and “melodramatic”.  To me, it is a “legendary classic”, and a movie I will always cherish as I saw it through the uncolored eyes of a seven-year old.

I think The African Queen falls into this same conundrum.  It had the good fortune to be produced in a golden era of Hollywood films that gave genesis to a whole generation of future filmmakers and critics.  I imagine many of them viewed this movie through uncolored youthful eyes; theirs seeing the wild and verdant river in Africa in the same way I saw Tatooine and the Death Star.  The striking visuals and wild frontiers portrayed in both of these movies provided rich nourishment so appreciated by the young imaginations of movie goers.   

However, when we take The African Queen out of the context of when it was made, and look at it as a movie on its own merits through adult eyes, it is a good, not a great movie.  It also feels like an old movie.  And although its transfer to Blu-ray comes with a beautifully restored visual, the skinny special features and poor sound relegate this title to a rental.