Multiplicity

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - Dolby Digital City
Running Time	113 minutes	Commentary Tracks	None
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Other Extras	Production Notes (DVD Case)
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region	4	Director	Harold Ramis
Distributor	Columbia Tristar	Starring	Michael Keaton Michael Keaton Michael Keaton Michael Keaton Andie MacDowell Harris Yulin Richard Masur
RRP	$34.95

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	No	MPEG	None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Dolby Digital	5.1
16x9 Enhancement	Yes	Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 ) English (Dolby Digital 5.1) French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
Macrovision	Yes
Subtitles	English French Dutch Arabic

    Now, we have two Dougs (both played by Michael Keaton). Doug 1 decides to be a home body and spend more time with his family. Doug 2 takes over at work. All is well and peachy until one day when Doug 1 takes Laura out to dinner. An extremely funny scene follows.

    Presently, Doug 1 realizes that he is still overworked at home, and so Doug 3 (Michael Keaton) is created. Doug 3 is more artistically-inclined than Doug 1 or 2, so he fits in well as a homebody. Soon, however, Doug 2 and 3 decide that they need a Doug 4 to help them with the more menial tasks that neither of them like. Being a copy of a copy, so to speak, Doug 4 came out a little blurry.

    Doug 1 manages to hide the other Dougs from Laura until one day when Doug 1 decides he needs some time out and gets Doug 3 to cover for him. A complete disaster ensues.

    The movie now takes a left-hand turn and becomes a romantic comedy for the last 20 minutes, where everyone manages to live happily ever after.

    The plot of this movie is quite thin, and is quite chequered in its quality. At times, it is very funny, at other times it drags somewhat, and it changes direction completely towards the end. The Doug special effects are superb, with each Doug frequently interacting both with the environment and with the other Dougs, but a snappier script would have helped.

Video

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer was razor sharp at all times. Shadow detail was very good, with no low level noise marring the picture, though most of this movie is shot quite brightly.

    The colours were vivid and fully saturated, except for the opening titles, which I felt were marginally muted in colour saturation.

    No MPEG artefacts were seen. Only trivial film-to-video artefacts were present, with a tiny bit of aliasing in the odd scene once or twice. I saw no film artefacts whatsoever. This is another squeaky clean transfer.

Audio

    Dialogue was crisp and clear at all times, though admittedly there wasn't a lot of competition from the surrounds. At times, the dialogue was strictly up-front-and-centre.

    The musical score is unremarkable, but pleasant to listen to.

     The surround channels were only lightly used for music and occasional outdoor ambience. Much of this movie is concentrated on the front-and-centre soundstage.

    The .1 channel, after being worked very hard by Godzilla and The Fifth Element recently, took a rest during this movie, except for some very minimal use by the music.

    The theatrical trailer is present, presented with a 4:3 aspect ratio and with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.

    The Sony Pictures DVD Centre and the Dolby Digital City trailers are present on this disc in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.

    There are also some limited Production Notes on the inside front cover of the DVD case.

    The video quality is perfect, and earns another reference rating.

    The audio quality is spot-on without being overly exciting or enveloping.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Michael Demtschyna
21st December 1998