Back
To The Future 4K: 40th Anniversary Trilogy
(1985 - 1990/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray Set)/But
I'm A Cheerleader 4K
(1999/Lionsgate 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Dave
Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly
(2000/HBO/Warner DVD)/George
& Mandy's First Marriage: The Complete First Season
(2024 - 2025/Warner DVD Set)/Rafferty
& The Gold Dust Twins
(1973/Warner Archive Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A-/B Picture: B/X/C/C+/B Sound: B+ &
B/B-/C+/C+/C+ Extras: B-*/C/D/D/C- Main Programs: B- B-
C/C/C/C/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Rafferty
& The Gold Dust Twins
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
a new group of comedy releases, some of which even offer a little
more, or try...
Robert
Zemeckis' Back
To The Future 4K: 40th Anniversary Trilogy
(1985 - 1990) is back in 4K in a slightly updated version of the 4K
set issued a few years ago. We reviewed the Blu-ray-only 30th
Anniversary Set at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13903/Back+To+The+Future:+30th+Anniversary+Trilogy+(19
The
man journey of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) continues to find fans,
though I have to admit I am not one of them, though I am in the
minority who likes the second film the best. The first was good, but
a little overrated to me and the third and final installment just did
not deliver as I thought it should have the both sequels
underperformed in their original release. Still, these have aged a
bit better than many expected and the set is certainly worth a look.
*Extras
in this solid slipcase packaging for this more basic edition include
Digital Code, while the Blu-ray discs repeat the same extras as the
previous
Blu-ray set and then some, including (per the press release):
An
Alternate Future: Lost Audition Tapes (NEW): Get a glimpse of the
BACK TO THE FUTURE that could have been with rare audition footage
featuring now-famous celebrities.
Ben
Stiller
Kyra
Sedgwick
Jon
Cryer
Billy
Zane
Peter
DeLuise
C.
Thomas Howell
The
Hollywood Museum Goes BACK TO THE FUTURE (NEW): Join
Co-writer/Producer Bob Gale on an intimate tour of an exhaustive
exhibit of the films' props and memorabilia.
BACK
TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL Behind the Scenes (NEW): Get a sneak peek
at the new musical show including a Q&A with the cast and
creative team plus two new song recordings.
Cast
and Creative Q&A
Original
Songs
Gotta
Start Somewhere
Put
Your Mind To It
Could
You Survive The Movies? BACK TO THE FUTURE (NEW): Explore the magic
and science of BACK TO THE FUTURE and find out which laws of physics
were actually violated in this special episode of the popular
YouTube series.
2015
Message from Doc Brown
OUTATIME:
Restoring the DeLorean
Looking
BACK TO THE FUTURE
The
Script
Casting
Marty McFly
Christopher
Lloyd Reflects on Doc Brown
The
DeLorean Time Machine
Building
Hill Valley
Prepping
for the "Johnny
B. Goode"
Scene
The
Score
Rushing
the Cut
The
Legacy
BACK
TO THE FUTURE: The Animated Series
Brothers
(Season 1, Episode 1)
Mac
the Black (Season 2, Episode 1)
2015
Commercials
'JAWS
19'
Trailer
Hoverboard
Commercial
BACK
TO THE FUTURE bonus FEATURES ON 4K Ultra HD & BLU-RAY:
Deleted
Scenes (Commentary by Producer Bob Gale available)
Tales
from THE FUTURE: In the Beginning...
Tales
from THE FUTURE: Time to Go
Tales
from THE FUTURE: Keeping Time
Archival
Featurettes
Michael
J. Fox Q&A
How
He Got the Role
The
Character of Doc
Working
on a Film and TV Series at the Same Time
Shooting
BACK TO THE FUTURE II and III Together
DeLoreans
Special
FX and Stunts
The
Appeal of BACK TO THE FUTURE
Shooting
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Behind
the Scenes
Huey
Lewis and the News "The
Power of Love"
Music Video
Theatrical
Teaser Trailer
Join
Team Fox
Q&A
Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis and Producer Bob Gale
Feature
Commentary with Producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton
*Only
on the Blu-ray disc
BACK TO THE FUTURE II bonus FEATURES ON 4K
Ultra HD & BLU-RAY:
Deleted
Scenes (Commentary by Producer Bob Gale available)
Old
Terry and Old Biff
"Dad's
Home" (Extended Version)
Pizza
Scene
Jennifer
Faints (Extended Version)
Old
Biff Vanishes from Car
Burned
Out High School
Marty
Meets Dave
Tales
from THE FUTURE: Time Flies
The
Physics of BACK TO THE FUTURE with Dr. Michio Kaku
Archival
Featurettes
Behind
the Scenes
Theatrical
Trailer
Q&A
Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis and Producer Bob Gale
Feature
Commentary with Producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton
*Only
on the Blu-ray disc
BACK TO THE FUTURE III bonus FEATURES ON
4K Ultra HD & BLU-RAY:
Deleted
Scene (Commentary by Producer Bob Gale available)
Tales
from THE FUTURE: Third Time's the Charm [FEATURED BONUS]
Tales
from THE FUTURE: The Test of Time [FEATURED BONUS]
Archival
Featurettes
The
Making of BACK TO THE FUTURE Part III
Making
the Trilogy: Chapter Three
The
Secrets of the BACK TO THE FUTURE Trilogy
Behind
the Scenes
ZZ
Top "Doubleback"
Music Video
FAQs
About the Trilogy
Theatrical
Trailer
BACK
TO THE FUTURE: The Ride
Q&A
Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis and Producer Bob Gale
and
a Feature Length Audio Commentary with Producers Bob Gale and Neil
Canton
PLUS!!!
You can see from the image we chose of the even more loaded version
of this set that it adds even MORE EXTRAS! So if you are a fan or
just curious, you have all kinds of options to choose from.
Jamie
Babbit's
But
I'm A Cheerleader 4K
(1999) is a comedy about a gal (Natasha Lyonne) whose parents send
her to essentially a 'heterosexual manners' school when they suspect
she is a lesbian. More than a one-joke comedy, it still has its
limits and lands up being uneven, except maybe for some of its more
intended audience.
It
looks good and the supporting cast including RuPaul, Cathy Moriarity,
Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey, Richard Moll, Eddie Cibrian and Wesley
Mann actually gel well together, helping the screenplay and film's
flow. Lionsgate thought well enough of it to give it a 4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray release and it makes sense, but now that I caught up with it
in its entirety, can see why it is still popular.
Extras
include
Digital Copy, while the disc adds an Original Theatrical Trailer,
Feature Length Audio Commentary with Director Jamie Babbit, Costume
Designer Alix Friedberg and Production Designer Rachel Kamerman, new
Featurette Beyond
the Pink and Blue: A Conversation with Jamie Babbit
(12 min.,) additional featurettes But
I'm A Cheerleader Class Reunion
(21 min.,) Making
But I'm A Cheerleader... In 1999
(8 min.) and But
I'm a Composer: A Chat with Pat Irwin
(5 min.) and student film Discharge
(3 min.).
Dave
Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly
(2000) is an HBO special when the stand up comic was still on the
cutting edge, had all kinds of crazy (often untrue rumors) about his
personal life and was bold before he got strangely political and his
reputation never recovered despite his career continuing as much as
it has. This hour-long HBO special taped at the Lincoln Theater in
Washington, D.C., where he is from, this has some laughs and other
moments are not as good, but a few moments have aged oddly after all
that has happened a quarter-century later and counting.
Made
a few years before his hit TV series Chapelle's
Show,
it is interesting to see him at his early best, but many now will be
let down by how things turned out and that he did not stick to where
he said he was coming from. Still, its worth a look for the curious
or for just a few laughs.
There
are no extras.
George
& Mandy's First Marriage: The Complete First Season
(2024 - 2025) is one of the rare hit spinoffs of a hit spinoff, like
Good
Times
came from Maude,
which came from All
In The Family.
In this case, the hit comes from Young
Sheldon,
which comes from megahit sitcom The
Big Bang Theory
(all shows reviewed elsewhere on this site) so its success is rare
indeed, while shows like Law
& Order,
CSI,
NCIS
or even Star
Trek
do not count because they are all from the original, singular show
that starts them all.
The
title characters (Montana Cooper and Emily Osment) are in love,
dealing with slight toxic dysfunction already in major display on the
previous series and can they make things work? Well, the teleplays
are a mixed bag, with the main issue being the humor approach that
worked for the previous shows is not working as well here and is
therefore,
not as convincing. As far as the style of humor, it is somewhere
between Mama's
Family
with less broadness and the recent cycle of such Southern-flavored
shows like those of Reba McEntire. A good cast with some good
moments here and there, unless you really loved Young
Sheldon,
you will probably get bored quickly. For those who like this
approach, you'll enjoy it more than this writer, who is a huge Big
Bang Theory
fan. Now you can see for yourself.
There
are no extras.
Dick
Richard's Rafferty
& The Gold Dust Twins
(1973) has Alan Arkin as a former military man now teaching people
how to drive while juggling his alcoholism when he is drinking alone
one afternoon and meets two gals (Sally Kellerman and a pre-One
Day At A Time
Mackenzie Phillips) who decide to kidnap him!
Of
course in real life, this would turn out to be a disaster, now more
than ever. Since this is an early 1970s Hollywood New Wave film,
they actually become friends more or less and land up helping each
other. Yup, a real time capsule and note, this is meant to be a
comedy. Cheers to the use of hit songs, Artie Shaw adding
instrumental in hopes of duplicating his remarkable work on What's
Up Doc?
a year before and a solid supporting cast that includes Alex Rocco,
Charles Martin Smith, Barbara Colby, Arch Johnson, Richard Hale, Ted
Gehring, Lilian Randolph, Harry Dean Stanton and Louis Prima as
himself.
Nice
try and the great Donfeld did many of the costumes where applicable,
but this is more of a curio that went for broke in its own away, yet
could finds a cult status at some point. Glad Warner Archive decided
to issue this restored on Blu-ray.
The
only extra is a very rough pan & scan Original Theatrical
Trailer.
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 all three Future
4K
films are
not only really good, but have some surprisingly good demo moments I
was not expecting. Try the sequence in the second film where we
visit the year 2015. Color, detail and depth are more impressive
than you might expect and matches how good this looked on a mint 35mm
film print.
The
lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems)
outdo the older sound upgrades, but still show the age of the film
soundtracks in some respects (some dialogue, some sound effects) yet
still top the 5.1 lossless mixes form the old Blu-ray versions also
included.
Those
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition images on the regular Blu-ray
discs with their DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes repeat the older Blu-rays and
were fine for their time, but cannot compete with their new 4K
counterparts visually or sonically, despite the fact that the trilogy
had 70mm blow up magnetic 4.1 Dolby surrounds film prints made. The
Atmos still finds sound to get out of those soundmasters these older
discs missed, for whatever reason, so these are included for
convenience.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Cheerleader
4K
has some great color and fine shot, but depth, detail and even
definition can be mixed and inconsistent, for whatever reason.
Still, color impresses the way Clueless
4K
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) recently did. The
lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is not bad, but shows the limits of the
film's budget. The combination is still likely as good as the film
will ever look or sound.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Rafferty
can be rough, but was issued at the time in 35mm dye-transfer,
three-strip Technicolor prints, which are now very valuable if you
can find one
in any print including 16mm or even Super 8. Director of Photography
Ralph Woolsey, A.S.C. (The
Great Santini,
The
Pack,
Lifeguard,
Fire
Sale,
The
Mack,
Black
Eye,
The
Strawberry Statement,
The
New Centurions,
Mother,
Jugs & Speed)
uses the widescreen frame well and tends to be too forgotten for al
of his work. Also responsible for some great TV work, he lived to be
104!
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix really shows its age,
just handling the hit records and Arte Butler score. The combination
is fine, if not spectacular and mostly authentic to its original
theatrical release.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on both DVDs are on the soft
side, but especially the older Chapelle
concert, as expected, while both offer lossy Dolby Digital. George
has lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound on all if tis episodes, while
Chapelle
has lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo that is not much better or worse
because it does not suffer the mixdown issues George
has. Both would be better lossless.
To
order the
Rafferty
& The Gold Dust Twins
Warner Archive Blu-ray,
go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
-
Nicholas Sheffo
