Encino Man

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Theatrical Trailer(s)	None
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	1992	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	84:50 Minutes	Other Extras	None
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Movie
Region	2,4	Director	Les Mayfield
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Brendan Fraser Sean Astin Pauly Shore Megan Ward Mariette Hartley Robin Tunney
Case	Amaray
RRP	$36.95	Music	J. Peter Robinson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	MPEG	None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Dolby Digital	2.0
16x9 Enhancement		Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s) French (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s) Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	?	Smoking	No
Subtitles	French English for the Hearing Impaired	Annoying Product Placement	Yes, just a little
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Obviously, this film is not going to win any awards for its acting or its script, but it is certainly very funny. Brendan Fraser's performance as the caveman almost carries the entire film, and from watching him at work, it became obvious after a while that the man was destined to go places. Pauly Shore is basically playing Pauly Shore dork character number three hundred, but the fact that this is one of the earlier incarnations of that much-loved character, backed up with some solid performances from the rest of the cast, makes it tolerable. It is also interesting to see a younger Robin Tunney wander aimlessly around this film as if there is nothing between her ears, as it makes one understand why they cast her in The Craft several years later. Why cast an intelligent woman who might question the banal idiocy of your script when you can have one who's been in a film that makes your pet project look like Shakespeare by comparison?

    Obviously, if you're expecting something refreshing and intelligent, then this is not the movie for you. On the other hand, if you want something to laugh at for ninety minutes, Brendan Fraser's rendition of a caveman living in the era of convenience will provide a few good chuckles. Pauly Shore is no better and no worse than his usual self in this film, and the rest of the cast are merely props for Fraser to react to. It is certainly interesting to see how Pauly Shore has gone on to become one of the worst blights on one-joke comedy, appearing in such films as Son In Law and Jury Duty, whereas Brendan Fraser has since established himself as a serious actor in films such as The Mummy.

Video

    As this note suggests, Encino Man was released under the name of California Man in Europe, and the credits on the Region 4 DVD release of this film have been altered to reflect this. Given that this film was advertised in this country under the name Encino Man, I don't think that a version of this film with the credits intact was too much to ask for under the circumstances.

    The film is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, but it is not 16x9 Enhanced. In spite of this, the transfer is very sharp, with a lot of detail apparent in each and every frame in defiance of the limited vertical resolution. Still, it is quite a pity that this film has been limited in this manner, as a new transfer for the future shape of television would have been a nice touch, given the subject matter. The shadow detail is very good most of the time, although some of the darker portions of the transfer have a distinct lack of detail that betrays the limited budget the film was shot on. This is especially noticeable during the sequence in which our nerdy heroes visit a bar with Link, as many long-range shots show a distinct lack of detail in the actor's face under the disco-like lighting. Thankfully, no low-level noise was allowed to creep into the darker portions of the transfer.

    The colour saturation was also reflective of the budget, with the myriad of tones apparent in each scene being subdued and restrained for the most part. Pauly Shore's costumes were the exception to this rule, but they tended to be more oversaturated than anything else, but any problems with the colour balance certainly aren't the fault of the transfer.

    MPEG artefacts were not noted at any point, with the resolution of this transfer being exceptional. Film-to-video artefacts were mostly absent from the transfer, with only the occasional instance of aliasing coming from the usual culprits. Film artefacts were a mild problem during the opening credits, but settled down to a more acceptable rate when the film got underway.

Audio

    Having said that much, the music in this film consists of two major sources: a score by one J. Peter Robinson, and some contemporary (for the time, anyway) numbers by various bands. The actual score music was completely unnoticeable to the extent that I didn't realize there was any until I verified this fact by checking the Internet Movie Database. The contemporary music, on the other hand, enhances the story and general mood of the film in a way that this sort of music is usually incapable of. The most notable example of contemporary music in this film is that performed by Infectious Grooves, a side project of notorious Venice Beach based vocalist Mike Muir.

    Perhaps the packaging was not quite so inaccurate after all, as the English soundtrack is, for all intents and purposes, a Stereo soundtrack with next to no surround elements to speak of. The only time I distinctly heard my surround channels doing anything was during the scenes at the bar and at the prom, where elements of the contemporary music can be heard in the surrounds. Much of this film is based on dialogue, with the jokes being carried by culture clash and social hierarchy, so the absence of surround channel usage is not a particular problem for this film. The subwoofer, on the other hand, was frequently called into action in order to support the sounds of earthquakes and the music, with various other sounds receiving a light pulse from the LFE channel for good measure. All in all, the subwoofer supported the film well without calling attention to itself, which is remarkable considering how little effort was made to make use of the surrounds.

Menu

• Theatrical Trailer
• Short Production Featurette

    The video quality is very good, but would have been better still with 16x9 enhancement.

    The audio quality is unremarkable.

    I'm getting a little tired of having to report that there are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall