LiarLiar


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Comedy Theatrical Trailer(s) Yes, 1
Rating Other Trailer(s) None
Year Released 1997 Commentary Tracks None
Running Time 82:54 minutes Other Extras Production Notes
Cast & Crew Biographies
RSDL/Flipper No/No
Cast & Crew
Start Up Movie
Region 2,4 Director Tom Shadyac
Studio
Distributor

Columbia Tristar
Starring Jim Carrey
Maura Tierney
Jennifer Tilly
Swoosie Kurtz
Amanda Donohoe
Cary Elwes
Case Transparent Amaray
RRP $34.95 Music John Debney

 
Video
Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None MPEG None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Dolby Digital 5.1
16x9 Enhancement Yes Soundtrack Languages
Region 4
English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Soundtrack Languages
Region 2
English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
German (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
French (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Miscellaneous
Macrovision Yes Smoking No
Subtitles
Region 4
English for the Hearing Impaired Annoying Product Placement No
Subtitles
Region 2
English for the Hearing Impaired
Portuguese
Danish
Finnish
Polish
Dutch
Swedish
Norwegian
Czech

Plot Synopsis

    "My Dad's a Liar!" proclaims Max Reede (Justin Cooper) when the topic at school is what the childrens' fathers do for a living. "Oh, you mean a LAWYER!" replies his teacher. The trouble is, Max is closer to the truth than his teacher. Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) is a lawyer who has built a career out of lying. He lies to everyone; his work colleagues, his secretary, his mother, his ex-wife Audrey (Maura Tierney) and, worst of all, he lies to his son.

    Max, at his fifth birthday party, is so disappointed that his father fails to show up, despite promising Max he would come, that he wishes that for just one day his father would be unable to lie. Max's wish comes true, much to the consternation of Fletcher who has a divorce case going to trial the next day - and he is unable to lie!

    LiarLiar is a combination of patent pending Jim Carrey slapstick comedy and some touching drama. There are a lot of belly laughs, as well as the occasional tear-jerker moment.

Transfer Quality

Video

    Warner Advanced Media Operations were responsible for the compression of this disc.

    This is an excellent transfer, and is of reference quality.

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer was razor sharp and crystal clear throughout. Shadow detail was excellent and there was no low level noise.

    The colours were beautifully rendered throughout, with vivid greens and rich browns on show.

    There were no MPEG artefacts seen. There were no film-to-video artefacts seen. Film artefacts were exceedingly rare.

    Subtitles must be selected from the menu. The actual selections available are dependent on which Region the DVD player is set to.

Audio

    The audio tracks available on this DVD are dependent on the Region that the DVD player is set to in the same way as for subtitles. They are only selectable via the menu.

    There are five audio tracks on this DVD; English Dolby Digital 5.1, German Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded, French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded. I listened to the English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand, but there was some minor distortion in the dialogue at times.

    There were no audio sync problems with this disc.

    The score by John Debney suits the movie nicely. There are times when it is light, times when it is frenetic, and times when it is unabashedly romantic, all nicely tied in with the plot of the movie.

    The surround channels had only limited use for music.

    The .1 channel supported the music, but did little else.

Extras

    There are only limited extras on this disc.

What's Missing / What's Extra

    The Region 1 version of this disc is a Full Frame transfer only. It does not have a widescreen 16x9 enhanced presentation on the disc.

Menu

    The menu design is plain but effective. It is not 16x9 enhanced.

Theatrical Trailer

    This is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, non 16x9 enhanced, and with Dolby Digital 2.0 surround sound.

Production Notes

    These are detailed, interesting and easy to read.

Cast & Crew Biographies

    These are also detailed and easy to read.

Summary

    LiarLiar is an entertaining film.

    The video quality is of reference quality.

    The audio quality is good, but unremarkable. There is some slight distortion in the dialogue.

    The extras are limited.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Michael Demtschyna
8th August 1999

Review Equipment
DVD Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output
Display Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 16:9 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Amplification 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer
Speakers Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer