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.
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.
Next Friday (2000)

Next Friday (2000)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD
Released 16-Jan-2001
Cover Art

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Black Comedy	Menu Animation & Audio Scene Selection Anim & Audio Dolby Digital Trailer-Rain Theatrical Trailer Alternate Ending Music Video-You Can Do It-Ice Cube Music Video-Money Stretch-Lil' Zane Biographies-Cast & Crew Audio Commentary-Steve Carr (Director) & Ice Cube (Producer/Writer)
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	94:03
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Steve Carr
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Ice Cube Epps. Mike John Witherspoon Tamala Jones Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Jr.
Case	C-Button-Version 1-Dual	Starring
RPI	Box	Music	Terence Blanchard

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

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

Plot Synopsis

Friday is the story of Craig (Ice Cube) in the "hood". Next Friday is the story of Craig (Ice Cube) in the suburbs. Deebo (Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Jr.), who Craig beat up in the first film, is about to break out of prison and as a result of this, Craig is all set to lay low in the suburbs with his cousin Day-Day (Mike Epps) and his Uncle Elroy (Don D.C. Curry) in a place called Rancho Cucamonga. But of course, troubles arise in the form of the three Joker brothers, lead by Big Joker (Jacob Vargas).

Faced with a similar plot situation to that of Friday, Next Friday is a little more exciting but not a better film overall. The loss of Chris Tucker is a big one (it is also the reason why the film was moved out to the suburbs), and lowers the comedic elements of the film, with the film relying more on slapstick humour than genuine comedy. Ice Cube even mentions in the commentary that he didn't want the actors to act funny - rather he wanted the audience to appreciate the film for its story and its more scripted comedy set pieces.

Next Friday is a bit more accessible for everyone than Friday was, but Chris Tucker's loss is keenly felt. See the original first.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

Next Friday is blessed with a better transfer than Friday. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. It is encoded with Auto Pan & Scan information.

The sharpness level is excellent, showing fine facial details as well as background details, which blended a bit in Friday. Shadow detail is definitely the best quality of the transfer besides colour. During the later scenes, especially the outdoor ones, finer details are picked up that would normally be omitted in a transfer of lower standards than this one.

The colour is simply exemplary. The suburb presented is a very, very bright one, so colour had to be up to par. Check the scene in Pinky's for perfect reproduction of the... well... pink! Of course, no chroma noise or colour bleeding was apparent.

Grain was mostly absent from the transfer, and when it was visible it was only a minor annoyance. Some very small cases of aliasing were present. I only noticed one mark on the print which was quite pleasing.

English subtitles unfortunately defaulted to on with my DVD player.

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

Audio

A perfectly suitable audio mix is present on this side of the disc - suitable for a comedy that is.

There are three audio tracks on this side of the disc; the default English 5.1 soundtrack, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded mix and an English Audio Commentary in Dolby Digital 2.0. I listened to the 5.1 soundtrack and to the audio commentary.

Dialogue was clear at all times.

Audio sync was perfect at all times.

The surround channels were used mainly for ambience. No real split surround effects were heard, but this isn't exactly the type of film that you could expect to have a enveloping soundtrack. Also, music was pumped through the surround channels. This was backed up by the subwoofer, which was only really used for music.

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

Extras

A decent quantity of extras are present on this disc, with the highlight being the commentary. All are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and are 16x9 enhanced.

Dolby Digital Trailer - Rain

Is this becoming the new Dolby Digital City? I am starting to think so, as it is just as loud and boring as its colleague.

Theatrical Trailer (1:50)

A decent trailer that gives away too much about the movie it promotes. Small amounts of grain are exhibited with some spots on the print popping up as well.

Alternate Ending (1:15)

A welcome extra that fleshes out the storyline a little more. This seemed to be the better ending as it ties up some loose ends, but unfortunately it was dropped from the final cut. The video quality varies - at one point it changes from night to day in a split-second.

Music Video - Ice Cube - You Can Do It (3:57)

Not normally my style of music but I didn't mind it too much. This clip was grainy and also exhibited some low-level noise. It has Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded audio.

Music Video - Lil' Zane - Money Stretch (4:01)

I won't mention anything about the style of music this time but the clip is quite funny at the start, with the main bad guys getting together. The clip was of better quality than the Ice Cube one, being without the slight artefacts exhibited by the Ice Cube music video. It has 2.0 surround-encoded audio.

Biographies - Cast & Crew

Biographies for Ice Cube, John Witherspoon, Mike Epps, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr., Don D.C. Curry, Jacob Vargas, Justin Pierce, and Tamala Jones.

Audio Commentary - Steve Carr (Director) and Ice Cube (Producer, Writer)

This has to be one of the oddest commentaries I have ever heard! The commentary starts with Director Steve Carr's voice being manipulated to flow with the music. Also, sound effects are used during the commentary by Steve Carr. The two participants have been recorded separately and then mixed very closely together so that they nearly sound like they are in the same room. As for content, Ice Cube seems to be the more knowledgeable of the two, explaining some interesting plot points and also outlining the audience the film was targeted towards. On the other hand, I found Steve Carr to be very annoying. The planned jokes were bad enough (very bad in fact) but he didn't offer any of the insightfulness that Ice Cube did.

R4 vs R1

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

In Region 1 this disc is available separately as a New Line Platinum Edition.

The Region 1 version misses out on:

Nothing.

The Region 4 version misses out on:

Featurette-Making Of.
DVD-ROM supplements
Blooper Reel.
Original Cast Auditions.

Some interesting extras found on the Region 1 make it the winner.

Summary

Next Friday is another sequel that is a lesser film than its predecessor.

The video quality is nearly perfect.

The audio is well-suited to this type of film.

The extras are interesting.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	Pioneer DV-626D, using Component output
Display	Toshiba 34N9UXA. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder	Built in to DVD player. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
Amplification	Yamaha CX-600 Pre-Amp, Yamaha MX-600 Stereo Power Amp for Mains, Yamaha DSP-E300 for Center, Teac AS-M50 for Surrounds.
Speakers	Main Left and Right Acoustic Research AR12s, Center Yamaha NS-C70, Surround Left and Right JBL Control 1s

Other Reviews NONE