Better Off Dead 4K (1985/CBS*)/Bride Hard (2025/Magenta Light Blu-ray)/Clueless 4K (1995/30th Anniversary Steelbook/*both Paramount 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Friendship (2025/A24 Blu-ray)/Paw Patrol: Fire Rescue (2024 - 2025/Nickelodeon DVD)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B/B+ Picture: B-/B-/B/B/C+ Sound: B-/B/B/B/C+ Extras: C-/D/C+/C+/D Main Programs: C/C-/C/C/C+

Now for a mix of comedies that are very mixed in themselves...

Savage Steve Holland's Better Off Dead 4K (1985) is a John Cusack comedy that goes out of its way to be part of the cycle of dumb comedies being made in the 1980s along with several geek/genius films and the like. He plays Lane, a semi-depressed teen with ineffective parents, a potential new girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss) and more high school happenings. When a cocky skiing ace at school gets in the way of the two of them, he decides to take the guy on.

Still touching on suicide at times, this has a cult following, but is a sloppy film at times, more apparent today than ever. Supporting work by Diane Franklin, Curtis Armstrong, Kim Darby, Vincent Schiavelli, David Odgen Stiers and an on-the-rise Rick Rosenthal helps keep the film afloat, but you'll either love it perpetual dumbness and flaws or just have to be patient to get what you can from it. Even if you are only so impressed like myself, you should still be able to see at least some of its appeal, appeal enough that its making it to 4K disc before so many other great comedies.

Some narrative in jokes include a Luke Cage/Dr. Doom Marvel Comics storyline and sending up the classic skiing sequence in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, it has some sense of shamelessness. Now you can see for yourself if it works for you or not as restored here as it is going to get.

Extras include Digital Movie, while all the disc adds is an Original Theatrical Trailer. The same gang later made One Crazy Summer, which we reviewed in its recent Blu-ray debut here:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15976/Boss+Baby:+Family+Business+4K+(2021/Universal+4K

Simon West's Bride Hard (2025) is a music video director (Rick Astley's great clip for his classic Never Gonna Give You Up) to sometimes high profile feature films (Con Air, the first Lara Croft film) that never seem to work, yet here he is again making another feature film decades later. This time, Rebel Wilson, Anna Chlumsky, Anna Camp, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Gigi Zumbado play brides whose weddings get interrupted by a gang of mercenaries. How? Why?

It does not matter because nothing here is believable, funny or adds up much. Wilson in particular seems to have a built-in device or gadget more advanced than the most expensive AI program around to find the worst possible scripts out there to sign for. Some would say this is in bad taste, while others would say much worse. Stephen Dorff even shows up, but to no avail.

I doubt this will even get cult status, but warn that it might get some Razzie Awards, so we'll see.

There are no extras.

Amy Heckerling's Clueless 4K (1995) is the well-upgraded version of the writer/director's hit that most people like, but I found remarkably predictable and not as good as the likes of Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982,) the unusual Johnny Dangerously (1984) the still-mixed Loser (2000) yet still better than the Look Who's Talking films (1989, 1990) and National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) so Alicia Silverstone's slacker answer to Hello Dolly (and no singing!!!) meets Austen's Emma is still talked about.

I am not necessarily the audience for this film, but it reminded me how much I missed Brittany Murphy and how unimpressed Stacey Dash always left me. Paul Rudd is a plus, the rest of the cast not bad, it does mock the shallow side of teen living in its time. It also quits while its ahead (almost) at about 97 minutes and is more than a one-joke film, but that still only did so much for this viewer. A time capsule in unexpected ways now, some may say it is why we have seen declines in actual society where we should not have them, but I'll give Heckerling credit that the film has just enough ironic distance to it to disagree with that.

Extras in a solid slipcase packaging include Digital Movie, stickers, postcards and Polaroid pictures in a collectibles envelop, while the discs add:

• Clue Or False Trivia Game

• The Class of '95 (18:30)

• Creative Writing (9:38)

• Fashion 101 (10:45)

• Language Arts (8:08)

• Suck 'N Blow: A Tutorial (2:46)

• Driver's Ed (3:48)

• We're History (8:49)

• and 2 Original Theatrical Trailers: Teaser Trailer HD (1:57) and Theatrical Trailer HD (2:34).

Andrew DeYoung's Friendship (2025) is one of those mumblecore comedies that wants to be slowly funny, thinking the laughs will be more meaningful, realistic or impactful, but it does not exactly adds up. Tim Robinson and Kate Mara are married and living in a decent neighborhood, but when a new neighbor (Paul Rudd, here again) moves in, he starts to want to get to know him and be his best friend.

A twist on the 'unwanted guest' cycle of comedies that usually did nto work versus something more profound (married man has sudden gay feelings or the like) is not a disaster, but it tries not to be the louder version of such films (What About Bob?, Mr. Wrong) down to Paul Rudd holding back more than usual. In that I can see why some people enjoy this one, but A Real Pain it is not. At least the makers tried a different take on all this.

Extras include a Feature Length Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Andrew DeYoung, Director of Photography Andy Rydzewski, and Conner O'Malley
○ Deleted Scenes
○ ''Men Talking in the Dark'' Extended Q&A with Eric Rahill, Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson, and Andrew DeYoung
○ Conner O'Malley Extended Garage Scene
○ and Six Collectible Postcards with Behind the Scenes Photography.

Finally we have Paw Patrol: Fire Rescue (2024 - 2025,) our first look at the series in eight years (!!!) and DVD singles are still being issued. Nickelodeon has kept the show a favorite even beyond what some expected and it has changed little, sticking to what has now become more than a formula and even survived the bizarre collapse of superhero movies which the show has at least a slight attachment to genre-wise.

The energy level is about the same, though maybe not what it once was. Five double episodes are included and it does not seem like the show has peaked yet. Wonder how long this will last? We'll see. Young kids may only see action, but this show has plenty of comedy, intended and not.

There are no extras, though we get two hours of shows.

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Better Off Dead 4K is not always stunning, but it has its moments with usually color-accurate scenes and the outdoor skiing footage is really good. It is easier to see the improvements hen comparing to the 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Blu-ray version with more softness and less color fidelity. The film is not shot in any extraordinary way, but is consistent with how comedies looked at the time, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix does what it can to upgrade the old monophonic audio. Guess A&M Records decided to skip the stereo.

The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Clueless 4K is as colorful as you'd expect, as the film revels in that, just making it the best performer here, with the 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Blu-ray version just no match in color, detail or depth. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on both disc versions are just fine for what it is, holding up well enough and as good as the film will ever sound.

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Bride Hard is an uninspired HD shoot with so so color and nothing too memorable, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is consistent, but professional at best, so the playback is as flat as the film.

The 1080p 1.66 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Friendship is an HD shoot that tries to have some character and that helps it a bit, but it is still limited visually despite the effort and the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is good, consistent and often on the quiet side befitting the drama/comedy. This is all good, but I wonder if this would play batter in 4K or not.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Paw Patrol episodes are on par with the many DVDs we've covered in the series before and the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes on the shows are just fine too, with the look a little better since the CGI animation has improved a bit since it first was launched. Impressive the show is still running.

- Nicholas Sheffo