The Burbs (1989)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Teaser Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1989
Running Time	97:10
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Joe Dante
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Tom Hanks Bruce Dern Carrie Fisher Rick Ducommun Corey Feldman Wendy Schaal Henry Gibson Brother Theodore Courtney Gains Gale Gordon Dick Miller Robert Picardo Cory Danziger
Case	?
RPI	$19.95	Music	Jerry Goldsmith

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English 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
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Remember the days when Tom Hanks' movies were usually dodgy comedies rather than Academy Award nominees? Remember the time when Carrie Fisher was still trying to get acting jobs that didn't involve Star Wars? Remember when Corey Feldman and his hair appeared in every second movie that required a kid/teenager? If you answered yes to all these questions then, like myself, you are probably starting to use expressions like "young people these days..." and "I could use a nap", and you might also remember this little movie from 1989.

    Hanks plays your average suburbanite, Ray Peterson, who lives in a "quiet" cul-de-sac with his wife, Carol (Carrie Fisher) and son, Dave. Ray is on holiday, and it's obvious that he is trying to relax after being rather stressed (it's not really clear why he is so stressed, but it seems to be work-related). However, his plan to have a relaxing week does not eventuate, partly due to his curiosity concerning the weird neighbours who've moved in next door, and largely due to his paranoid neighbour, Art (Rick Ducommun), who is convinced said weirdos have got dead people buried in the back garden.

    The neighbours in question - the Klopaks - have recently moved into the area, and it's unknown what happened to the previous owners of the house. Couple this with the fact that they get up to strange things in the back garden at night, have weird noises coming out of their cellar, let the house get totally rundown, and almost never venture out into the open during daylight, and you've got a whole lot of suburban paranoia in the making.

    Ray, Art, and another neighbour, Mark (Bruce Dern playing a bumbling, but well equipped Vietnam veteran), decide it's time to find out what's going on in their neighbourhood, and they set about it in the only way they know how. Meanwhile, Ray's wife is nagging him to leave the Klopaks alone and just take it easy for a week, and the teenage son of another neighbour, Ricky (Corey Feldman), just wants to have his friends over to watch this warped neighbourhood-watch scheme unfold.

    Director Joe Dante has done his fair share of horror-themed movies and TV episodes, but he doesn't seem to mind taking the Mickey out of them here. This film is part spoof, part social commentary, and part Tom Hanks doing his 1980s thing. It doesn't exactly stand up to analysing though, since it's really just a light hour and a half of fairly harmless, mindless entertainment.

    The movie has a somewhat claustrophobic feel to it, since it looks like it was filmed on a Hollywood back-lot, and until the conclusion we really only see a handful of people on-screen. I think, though, that this works to good effect - drawing the viewer into these characters' rather small world, and making you feel a part of the proceedings. The script isn't great, the performances of the actors aren't wonderful, the story isn't anything to write home about, and there's nothing too memorable about the whole affair, but somehow it just all comes together to make for a decent bit of fun.

    I don't know what really makes a film into a cult classic, and I wouldn't for a moment suggest that this comes into that category, but it is one of those movies that I've asked people about, and their reply is usually along the lines of "Oh yeah, I remember that one - it was pretty cool. I haven't seen it for years though!". I'm struggling to really come to a solid conclusion about my opinion here (in case you hadn't noticed), so I'll make one last attempt by saying that it's a quirky comedy, which a lot of people will like, and some people won't, but I don't think it's a movie that you could really feel strongly about one way or the other.

Video

    This transfer is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness is more than acceptable after the first few minutes of the film. For some reason there is quite a bit of grain in the opening scenes, but then it magically disappears for the most part. From then on details are nice and clear, with a good example of this at 65:36. Shadow detail is good in general, but in some of the indoor scenes it is a little lacking. I'm not sure if this is inherent in the source (deliberately dim for the sake of the mood), or is a problem with the transfer.

    Colours are well saturated and accurate, with a mix of bright daylight outdoor scenes, and some dark indoor scenes with softer colouring. I didn't notice any problems in this department.

    Film to video artefacts are almost absent, with no signs of edge enhancement and very minimal aliasing (despite the sharp transfer). Film artefacts can be seen in the opening minutes (along with the grain that appears during this period), but after that they are very rare (and small).

    There is one subtitle stream on this disc; English for the Hearing Impaired. I sampled these subtitles and found them to be easy to read, as well as very accurate. There is one scene where Ray is arguing with Carol, where the start of the conversation is almost inaudible. I didn't even think we were meant to be able to hear it clearly, but the subtitles give the full conversation.

    There is no layer change on this single-layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Originally broadcast in Dolby Stereo, the film has been given a transfer on this disc that puts some more recent 5.1 efforts to shame.

    There is one track on this DVD; English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s).

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, except for the occasional conversation behind closed doors, from a distance (such as the one mentioned in the subtitles section above). Audio sync is spot on.

    The musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith suited the mood of the film, with some overdramatic themes at the right times. Generally, it doesn't really jump out at you, but sits in the background doing its job. Not one of Jerry's best, but even his mediocre ones more than fit the bill.

    Using Prologic II processing, this stereo soundtrack had a surprising amount of surround activity (more than many 5.1 soundtracks I've heard). Noticeable examples are at 2:40, 27:33, 30:02, 42:15, and ... well, you get the picture. This effectively adds to the atmosphere of the movie.

    Like the surrounds, the subwoofer had a surprising amount to do as well, with any dramatic or stormy scenes benefiting from the subwoofer support (such as at 26:48, 75:24, and 80:16).

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Teaser Trailer (1:28)

    This trailer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and is of a poor, grainy quality.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Alternate ending.
• Production notes.
• Film highlights.
• Bios.
• French Dolby Surround track.

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Nothing

    Although the Region 1 disc does have more extras, unless you require the language alternative they aren't very substantial. Region 1 is the winner, but only by a narrow margin, and unless you're a rabid fan of the movie, I think the local copy would more than suffice.

    Note that, according to US reviews, the Region 1 version of this disc has a video transfer with digital compression artefacts throughout. Our Region 4 version only displayed these in the opening scenes of the movie, so it might suggest we have a slightly improved transfer.

    A quirky movie that will probably not appeal to everyone, but which a lot of people will enjoy watching on a winter's evening. I'd certainly recommend a rental, even if it's just to remember what Tom Hanks was like when he just did comedies.

    For a small title given a budget release, this is a more than acceptable transfer.

    At times it's hard to believe this is a 192Kb/s stereo track. A nice full, clear soundtrack, especially if you have Prologic II processing capability.

    There's only a teaser trailer in the extras department.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall