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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

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Released 9-Oct-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Featurette-On-Set Home Video
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer-The Secret Policeman's Ball; What's Up Tiger Lily?
Trailer-The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
DVD Credits
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1977
Running Time 83:23 (Case: 85)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By John Landis
Studio
Distributor
Ned Topham
Umbrella Entertainment
Starring None Given
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Kentucky Fried Movie is a classic sketch-comedy spoof from the makers of Flying High, Hot Shots and more recently, the Naked Gun movies.

    Written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and directed by John Landis, KFM is a bit like Flying High meets Saturday Night Live. A variety of comedy styles are employed, ranging from crude slapstick to obscure satire. There are no stars and no narrative, and while many of the jokes miss their mark, some hit their target. A lot of the humour is now very dated, such as the spoofs of US television commercials, game shows, or news programs, which often have references to 'current events', such as Watergate. The highlight, for me, is the brilliant spoof of Enter The Dragon entitled A Fistful of Yen.

    I first saw KFM when I was in school, and I absolutely loved it (even though it was already quite dated back then). I recall renting, and re-renting it on video. Now, years later, it is a little disappointing to watch it again, as I remember it being much funnier. It is interesting, however, to consider the various careers of those involved with this low-budget shocker. For example, a much younger Rick Baker did the makeup effects, and for (what I assume to be) budgetary reasons, he also plays the gorilla that appears in the movie!

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is limited by the dated source material. A variety of sources are used, including 1970s video tape. The transfer often appears aged and grainy.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness, and the shadow detail are both severely lacking.

    The colour has suffered with age, and skin tones often have an orange tint.

    MPEG artefacts appear in the form of slight pixelization throughout. Film-to-video artefacts are evident in the slight telecine wobble, most noticeably during the opening credits. Small film artefacts appear throughout, but they are never distracting.

    There are no subtitles present on the disc.

    This is a single-layered, single-sided disc.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio sounds flat, mono, and worn throughout.

    Originally released theatrically in mono, the only audio option on the disc is English Dolby Digital Stereo surround encoded (192Kb/s), which focuses on the centre channel.

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are acceptable.

    There is no traditional score, but a variety of music appears throughout. No individual is credited with having composed a musical score for the movie.

    The surround sound mix is completely front-heavy. I didn't hear anything of any value out of the rear speakers, nor the subwoofer.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    Surprisingly, there are a few extras, all presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Menu

    A simple menu.

Theatrical Trailer (2:22)

    Standard trailer with Dolby Digital stereo surround audio.

On Set Home Videos (18:43)

    Behind-the-scenes 8mm 'Home Movies' by David and Jerry Zucker.

Umbrella Propaganda

    Three trailers for other Umbrella DVD releases: The Secret Policeman's Ball, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, and What's Up Tigerlily?

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    KFM was released on DVD in Region 1 almost three years ago.

    The Region 4 DVD misses out on:

    The Region 1 DVD misses out on:

    I would favour the R1 release.

Summary

    If you're a fan of the genre, then Kentucky Fried Movie won't disappoint.

    The video quality is disappointing, but watchable.

    The audio quality is acceptable, albeit very front-heavy.

    The extras are limited.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Brandon Robert Vogt (warning: bio hazard)
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayGrundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony STR DE-545
SpeakersSony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer

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