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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.
Look Who's Talking Too (1990)

Look Who's Talking Too (1990)

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Released 2-Dec-2003

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Trailer-Look Who's Talking Now, Stuart Little, Hook
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1990
Running Time 77:00
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Amy Heckerling
Studio
Distributor

Sony Pictures Home Entertain
Starring John Travolta
Kirstie Alley
Olympia Dukakis
Elias Koteas
Twink Caplan
Bruce Willis
Roseanne
Damon Wayans
Gilbert Gottfried
Mel Brooks
Lorne Sussman
Megan Milner
Georgia Keithley
Case ?
RPI $44.95 Music Billy Idol
David Kitay


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish 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 English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Dutch
Arabic
Bulgarian
Czech
Danish
Finnish
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Swedish
Turkish
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes, Quick gag with the two kids

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

Plot Synopsis

    When you are on a good thing, make a sequel. As a result of the success of 1989's Look Who's Talking, a harmless comedy from director Amy Heckerling about a talking baby, we got the second offering Look Who's Talking Too just a year later. The original starred a man whose career was technically floundering at the time, John Travolta teaming up with Kirstie Alley as the bumbling adults awaiting the arrival of young Mikey (voiced by Bruce Willis). That film offered some charm and a few decent laughs, with most of the humour derived from toddler toilet humour as we, the viewer, became privy to the 'thoughts' of the baby unleashed upon the big bad world for the first time. Unfortunately the sequel simply reprises much of the same humour which, at the end of the day, falls pretty flat.

    Since the last film ended, part-time pilot instructor and taxi driver James (Travolta) has moved in with Mollie (Kirstie Alley) and are raising their son Mikey (voiced again by Bruce Willis). The couple quickly conceive another child and it's the arrival of this bundle of joy, Julie (badly voiced by Roseanne Barr), that provides the main thrust of the story. James and Mollie have been having difficulty in their relationship, further exasperated by the arrival at their home of Mollie's good-for-nothing brother Stuart (Elias Koteas). This tension culminates in James moving out and not seeing the kids very often. Meanwhile, Mikey has taken it upon himself to induct Julie into the ways of kids and the household, in between learning new things for himself such as potty training.

    It's a fairly predictable story that has many of the predictable gags that we saw in the first film and laughed at then, but now seem just a little tired. Willis seems to have some fun with the role of Mikey, but Barr is really all at sea with the voice of the infant Julie. You almost cringe a couple of time, especially when the youngster is about to chuck a tantrum. She is really not switched on to this role at all and it really does just sound like she is merely reading from a script in a studio.

    Much like the earlier film, the funniest part of this one is the opening credits sequence. The same scene of rampant sperm on their way to fertilise the unsuspecting egg and the amusing conversation that occurs along the way is without a doubt the highlight of an otherwise tired film.

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

Transfer Quality

Video

    Overall this is a fairly ordinary video presentation, hovering really only just above acceptable standards much of the way through.

    Presented in an aspect of 1.78:1 it is also 16x9 enhanced. The original theatrical aspect was 1.85:1 so this is pretty close.

    Sharpness varies greatly. It drops to quite alarming levels on some of the interior scenes that are particularly poorly lit. Most of the scenes in the children's play areas and exterior shots are quite good. Thankfully there is no major edge enhancement present. Grain is present most of the time and is especially noticeable on the background walls in the interior shots, but this is really not that bothersome.

    The colours are not what I'd call vibrant or highly saturated. They are fairly bland and wishy-washy most of the time, so much so that you really feel like you are watching a late 1980s television show. There is little chance of colour bleeding or oversaturation with this transfer, though thankfully skins tones look natural enough to not cause any concern.

    There were no apparent MPEG artefacts, and the image really isn't sharp enough for problems such as aliasing to be a concern. There are quite a few smaller film artefacts pretty much constantly evident throughout, and a general look of print grime is also fairly obvious. Take a look at 20:05-20:08 for probably the worst case of dirt and general artefacts.

    There are numerous subtitles present. The English were the only ones I viewed and they appeared to have no major problems, apart from the odd word or two being left out.

    This is a single layered disc only so there is no layer change with which to contend.

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

Audio

    If the video is fairly dull the audio is really uninspiring. Overall it is a pretty lacklustre audio presentation.

    The audio has a flatness to it that seldom sees it spring to life to any great extent. All of the dialogue and most of the additional sounds come through the centre speaker, with little left/right separation and basically no surround use of any note.

    There are five Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround tracks present. These are German, French, Italian, Spanish, and of course English. I listened to the English track and verified the presence of the others.

    Dialogue is clear enough, but is still hampered by the general lack of fidelity. It dominates through the centre channel. There are no apparent audio sync problems.

    The musical score is by David Kitay. It's fairly typical of the genre. Some of the songs used in the film are excellent, including the classic Jealous Guy by John Lennon.

    There is essentially no surround channel use. Likewise for the subwoofer.

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

Extras

Trailer

    Three bonus trailers for other Columbia Tristar titles. Featured here are Look Who's Talking Now, Hook, and Stuart Little.

R4 vs R1

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

    Apart from a minor difference in the trailer content, the only other difference between the Region 1 and 4 versions is the soundtracks available.

    The Region 4 disc misses out on;

    The Region 1 disc misses out on;

    Unless the soundtrack options are important to you, there is nothing to sway me in favour of either disc. I'll declare it a draw.

Summary

    Look Who's Talking Too continues with pretty much the same plot and the same jokes as its mildly more humorous predecessor. As a result it is a mere pale imitation of the original.

    The video quality is average, slightly grubby at times with a little loss of focus on occasions.

    The audio is fairly flat and lifeless.

    There are effectively no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Darren Walters (It's . . . just the vibe . . . of my bio)
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDLoewe Xemix 5106DO, using RGB output
DisplayLoewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationHarmon/Kardon AVR7000.
SpeakersFront - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10

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