Big – Extended Cut (1988/Fox Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B Film:
B-
When you
consider the films and roles that Tom Hanks did in the 1990s, it’s hard to
fathom some of his early works in the 1980’s and wonder how a comedic
one-dimensional actor could transform into an actor that would star in films
like Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Saving Private
Ryan, and many other strong dramatic roles.
In Penny Marshall’s film 1988 film Big,
Hanks puts on perhaps one of his best roles of that era as he plays a 13-year
old boy who wishes he was bigger, then transforms overnight into a full-blown
adult, but is still a teenager on the inside.
He can’t convince his parents that he is really their son, so that leads
him into a job for a corporate toy manufacturer, where he climbs the ladder
quickly due to his close ties with his youth.
Looking
back on the film after 20+ years it’s interesting how the film has aged,
sometimes for the better and sometimes not.
While the suspension of belief must be held quite high to convince us
that Hanks is really a 13-year old inside, we see his child-like antics on the
outside and how this plays out with interesting results, including the love
interest he finds in Elizabeth Perkins.
The film never incorporates any type of special effects, which would
have dated the film dramatically; instead we get a fairly clever script pieced
together in such a way that helps make the plot work, even if it wears a bit
thin towards the end, especially since the film runs two-hours, which is a
mistake for any comedy.
For this
Blu-ray release Fox has issued Big
in what they are calling the extended cut, which runs 130-minutes, and that is
about 30 too long anyway, but the slightly shorter theatrical cut is also
included and is the preferred version as it feels more taut overall. There are also several extras included as
well, such as the AMC Backstory,
along with 8 deleted scenes, and several smaller featurettes that bring a bit
of a retrospective feel to the film, the film is often cited as a minor classic
of the 1980s.
From the
technical side of things, the 1080p digital High Definition transfer for this
release brings the film its true detail and definition for the first time at
home, previous versions of the film on DVD were poor in color, contrast, and
overall picture fidelity, not to mention the resolution that standard
definition suffers from. There are still
some limitations here though as the film still feels a bit dated and certain
scenes appear less refined than we are used to seeing on Blu-ray. Maybe the transfer is still a bit grainy
overall, but some fans prefer that look.
The audio
presentation is a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix (from the old analog Dolby SR
mix) that is solid throughout, although the film seldom becomes fully engaging
like more modern mixes are, but considering the films intentions and primitive
sound design of an 80’s comedy, the mix works about as well as it can.
- Nate Goss
