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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Cast/crew biographies
  • Production notes

The Nutty Professor (1996)

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 91 mins . M15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Hello, and welcome to the exciting world of Hollywood! In this crazy, mixed up town we call home, we just can't leave well enough alone! As we always say, if a film works once, it'll work twice! Why reinvent the wheel? People don't want change! They want old stories with new special effects! Right? Right!!

In this remake of the 1963 Jerry Lewis film, Professor Klump (Eddie Murphy in astounding Rick Baker-created makeup), a shy and painfully overweight geneticist, creates a formula that miraculously turns his 400-pound frame into the human equivalent of a racing bike seat. The problem is that when he's the thin Buddy Love, he's also loud, obnoxious and out of control. Adding to this, the potion has a habit of wearing out at the most inopportune times, leading to 'hilarious consequences'. Ah-hah. Ah-ha-ha-hah.

If you find fat people and fart gags really, REALLY, funny, then strap on a diaper, 'cos you're about to wet yourself. Though I prefer my humour to be a little more cerebral, I still found the film reasonably amusing, but my sides were in no danger of splitting. The most effective scenes were the Klump dinner table scenes, where Murphy plays five characters at once (Why? Hey, it's the 90s!).

Will Buddy ruin Sherman's chances with the lovely Miss Purty (Jada Pinkett)? Or will Sherman triumph, get the girl and learn that it's what's inside that counts?

C'mon, dolt, this is Hollywood! What do YOU think???

  Video
Contract

Like most comedies, the cinematography is very bright and 'hyperreal'. The cinematographer worked on all three Home Alone films, and the look of this film is similar. There is no 'mood' to the picture whatsoever, and the anamorphically-enhanced 1.85:1 widescreen transfer has a false, glossy look. I suppose people must like it, but it looks like Beverly Hills:90210 to me.

Having made my personal gripe, I have to say that the transfer is extremely good. Sharpness is high, and colour fidelity is excellent. Incidentally, watching a film with black actors is a good way to see how well your TV can reproduce colour. Most Japanese sets reproduce browns so poorly they look purple. This is because the colour temperature is raised to make the TV stand out in the showroom, but you'll suffer once you get the set home, and sadly, there's not much we can do about it as consumers except get opinions on the net, read reviews and shop carefully.

Shadow detail is excellent, with deep blacks, and the lack of grain in the source print means we shouldn't expect to see any problems from MPEG artifacting. There are very few film artifacts either, although they are there.

  Audio
Contract

Again, like most comedies, the soundtrack is practically glued to the front three speakers in order to not distract the audience, although there is some subtle surround envelopment during crowd and night scenes, and the very occasional aggressive split surround effect. The soundtrack is produced very well, the music is nicely recorded and and I didn't notice any glaring use of looping. The score was one of the most annoying elements of the film for me, going for the obvious 'comedy music' (waa, waa, whaaaa!) style, though that may have been a homage to the original 1963 movie.

Though the packaging claims the only sound and subtitle options are English, there are in fact several audio/subtitle options for the film. Bring your Portuguese friends around, it's going to be a blast!

  Extras
Contract

Not much here at all:

  • Production Notes - A fairly basic explanation of Murphy's makeup ordeals required to play the fat Klump as well as five other characters.
  • Cast and Filmmakers - Yay, filmographies!
  • Theatrical Trailer - In fullscreen, and with an incorrectly encoded soundtrack. The mono music is in the centre channel and all dialogue and the voiceover and in the left channel.

  Overall  
Contract

A disc that looks and sounds fine, and would be an entertaining rental, but a 'keeper'? Probably not. Most comedies don't have much staying power after the first couple of viewings, but I'd definitely check it out if you're a fan of the light and fluffy.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=193
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      And I quote...
    ""
    - Paul Dossett
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Rom:
          Pioneer 103(s)
    • MPEG Card:
          RealMagic Hollywood Plus
    • TV:
          Mitsubishi Diva 33
    • Amplifier:
          Yamaha DSP-A1
    • Speakers:
          Richter Excalibur
    • Centre Speaker:
          Richter Unicorn
    • Surrounds:
          Richter Hydras
    • Audio Cables:
          Monster RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Monster s-video
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