HOME   News   Reviews   Adv Search   Features   My DVD   About   Apps   Stats     Search:
  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
  • None
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Featurette

Slap Shot 2 - Breaking the Ice

Universal/Universal . R4 . COLOR . 96 mins . M . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Another low budget sports movie which involves a nasty money-hungry corporate giant taking over a small, unsuccessful ice-hockey team and bringing them to the big league… but at a cost. It's not a terribly original concept, but it’s with pleasure I announce that Slap Shot 2 tries to break free of this clichéd scripting. Although not drastically, the sequel to Slap Shot (a classic sports film in its time) takes a slight spin away from the usual and sees the evil corporate giant trying to take the blood and violence out of ice hockey, which to me makes as much sense as trying to take the dirt out of mud wrestling, but let's continue nonetheless.

Stephen Baldwin plays the captain/coach that the entire team looks upon with respect and admiration, even if his career is riddled with stuff-ups. The infamous Hanson brothers from the original picture are back, hell-bent on keeping the old-school hockey violence in the game. Gary Busey plays the nasty, money-hungry evil corporate giant guy, and does a pretty unconvincing job of it. One minute he wants to clean the violence out of the game and then the next he looks like he’s about to hit somebody, I suppose years of substance abuse will do that to an actor...

Slap Shot 2 is quite a fun movie with a good balance of action, comedy and bar-room brawls. The storyline touches on the corruption and influence that television and the media has on sport, and on people as a whole. More importantly though it’s an enjoyable 90 minute ride that the whole family can enjoy… after you send the little kids to bed that is - come on, it’s a sport movie, you’ve got to expect sex, violence and lots of bad language!

  Video
Contract

The video is presented in a lovely aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is widescreen enhanced. Overall the transfer is quite adequate, the detail is high, and grain levels are reasonable. The colours are all well rendered and look realistic without any problems. Aliasing pops up on a few occasions, but is only ever minor and brief. This is a single layered disc with few extras, so there is no layer change. There are also no compression problems. Overall the transfer isn’t flash, but it does the job without much fault.

  Audio
Contract

The audio is on a similar standard to the video, presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 it does the job without going to any extreme efforts. The surrounds get a good work out during the appropriate scenes, and the subwoofer pumps when it can. The dialogue is generally quite clear and in synch at all times. The soundtrack isn’t terribly impressive, but on the other hand it doesn’t really have any major faults.

  Extras
Contract

The extras include a brief featurette, which is much in the tradition of most featurettes these days, being nothing more than an extended trailer. There are actually a fair few behind the scenes interviews, and a brief look at this film and the original.

There are also some theatrical trailers for this film, the original Slap Shot, The Skulls II, and Tremors 3.

  Overall  
Contract

Slap Shot 2 is a nicely compiled disc, that is worth giving a spin whether you’re a sports buff or not. The transfer is reasonably clean and the film itself should provide a few laughs. Overall it’s a surprisingly enjoyable B-grade action/sports film that is well worth checking out.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1782
  • Send to a friend.

    Cast your vote here: You must enable cookies to vote.
  •   
      And I quote...
    "Blood, guts and bad language. Slap Shot 2 has everything a good sports/action movie needs..."
    - Nathan Clark
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-636
    • TV:
          LG 80cm
    • Speakers:
          Pioneer
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
      Recent Reviews:
    by Nathan Clark

    Any Which Way You Can
    "...a fun action movie with just the right combination of witty one liners and jaw breaking action."

    Mutant X 1.2
    "Poor acting, boring bad guys and pathetic storylines. These are two episodes of this dull series that should be well and truly avoided at all costs."

    Mutant X 1.1
    "...there is nothing here we couldn’t see during the animated 7:30am Saturday cartoons."

    American Psycho 2
    "If you like seeing a pretty, but insanely twisted, little girl stab a lot of innocent people then this is the film you’ve been looking for all your sad, sad life..."

    The Steven Seagal Collection 1994-1997
    "...this collection might not be the best bang for your buck, allthough there really are plenty of bangs available for those who can stomach all the rough acting. "

      Related Links
      None listed

     

    Search for Title/Actor/Director:
    Google Web dvd.net.au
       Copyright © DVDnet. All rights reserved. Site Design by RED 5   
    rss