Mystery Men (HD-DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: D     Film: D

 

 

During the counterculture of the 1960s, the rise of funny superheroes arrived and at times, the result could be funny product.  The animated Filmation series Hero High series in the 1980s was the last of this original wave, then the genre took on a new and darker course.  Kinka Usher’s Mystery Men (1999) is an incredibly lame attempt to update the idea, based on a Dark Horse comic.

 

Ben Stiller leads a band of loose-ended, would-be heroes who eventually find a villain to battle, or we would not have a film.  The one-note, one-joke fest lasts over two long hours and even a cast that includes Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Kinnear, William H. Macy, Claire Forlani, Eddie Izzard, Lena Olin, Wes Studi, Paul Reubens, Geoffrey Rush and Tom Waits cannot save this overproduced mess.  Not even a cult item, the heroes is it spoofing are from 20 to 30 years ago if you think about it.  It is pretty forgettable, so no thinking required.

 

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 VC- 1 digital High Definition image should have been decent and this was issued in the old and now defunct digital High Definition D-VHS format.  Unfortunately, this is barely better than a DVD with detail and depth issues that are poor throughout and even limits in the color the film and Director of Photography Stephen H. Burum, A.S.C., intended on the vibrant side.  The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix is a bit better, but is also dated and sometimes goofy down to Stephen Warbeck’s score.  Extras include deleted scenes, soundtrack presentation, feature-length audio commentary by the director, spotlight on location piece and a featurette about the comic book.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo