Blind Date (1987) |
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Blind Date (1987) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Romantic Comedy |
Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Sleepless In Seattle, My Best Friend's Wedding, Trailer-As Good As It Gets, Jerry Maguire |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1987 | ||
| Running Time | ? | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Blake Edwards |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Kim Basinger Bruce Willis John Larroquette William Daniels George Coe Mark Blum Phil Hartman Stephanie Faracy Alice Hirson Graham Stark Joyce Van Patten Jeannie Elias Herb Tanney |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $14.95 | Music | Henry Mancini |
| 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) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | 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 | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes | ||
Bruce Willis plays Walter Davis, a workaholic. His entire focus in life is work, spending little to no time on his personal life or appearance. Walter, who has no time for social engagements must now find a date to take to his company's business dinner with a new important Japanese client. His brother, played by the late great Phil Hartman, sets him up with his wife's cousin, Nadia (Kim Basinger). However, Walter is warned that if she gets drunk, she loses control and goes wild. In predictable fashion, Nadia has a skinful and sets in motion a series of events that will totally change Walter's life, especially when they encounter Nadia's ex-boyfriend David, played by the hilarious John Larroquette.
Bruce Willis proved with Moonlighting that he has a knack for comedy. Blind Date showcases this talent, but it is John Larroquette who steals the show. Larroquette is so good as Nadia's manic ex-boyfriend David that the film suffers every time he is absent from the screen. Sure Willis and Basinger put in solid performances and generate a number of laughs between them, but Larroquette is simply a comedic tour de force. John Larroquette proved with the long running sitcom Night Court (1984-1992) that he was a supremely talented comedian, so it is not surprising that director Blake Edwards makes full use of Larroquette's talent to elevate what could have been formulaic material. Blind Date is a terrific comedy that continues to generate laughs 17 years later.
Blind Date has been presented in its original aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and is enhanced for widescreen viewing.
Like the other recent Columbia Tristar catalogue releases, we are presented here with a very decent transfer indeed. The picture is reasonably sharp with no aliasing issues, however there is a slight halo effect present throughout. Black levels are solid with reasonable shadow detail and there is little in the way of grain or low level noise interference.
Colours are natural, although they do appear slightly washed out, probably due to the age of the print.
There are occasional film artefacts present, but nothing to detract from the enjoyment of the film.
Columbia have again delivered the goods. Now, if only the other studios would follow their lead...
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The film has been given five audio tracks, all in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. The tracks are in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. The English track is reviewed here.
The film's dialogue is crisp and clear with little in the way of audio sync problems, save those that are not a result of ADR tampering.
The film's music, as with nearly all of Blake Edwards' films is by Henry Mancini. The score fits the film like a glove and propels the story forward with ease.
Surround channel usage is minimal, with occasional directional effects audible through the rear channels.
The subwoofer is a little wanting in the bass department, but is adequate for a film of this nature.
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NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
All versions currently available are basically the same.
Blind Date is a highly entertaining comedy from the mid eighties that still manages to tickle the funny bone thanks to a wonderful cast and solid direction. The disc has a very respectable audio visual presentation with little in the way of extras.
| Video | |
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| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using Component output |
| Display | LG 76cm Widescreen Flatron Television. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Sony HT-K215. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Sony HT-K215 |
| Speakers | fronts-paradigm titans, centre &rear Sony - radio parts subbie |