Quick Change (1990)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1990
Running Time	84:54 (Case: 94)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Howard Franklin Bill Murray
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Bill Murray Dale Grand Bob Elliott Geena Davis Randy Quaid Kimberleigh Aarn Ron Ryan Brian McConnachie Jack Gilpin Jordan Cael Rhe DeVille Marya D. Dornya Barbara Flynn
Case	?
RPI	$9.95	Music	Randy Edelman Howard Shore

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Arabic Bulgarian Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Finnish French German Greek Hungarian Italian Norwegian Swedish Hebrew English for the Hearing Impaired German for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Quick Change (1990) is an engaging comedy starring Bill Murray, Geena Davis and Randy Quaid as three unlikely bank robbers. The film is based on Jay Cronley's novel of the same title which was originally made as Hold-Up (1985), a French production which starred Jean-Paul Belmondo and Kim Cattrall. Jay Cronley’s novels have been the basis of films such as Funny Farm (1988) which starred Chevy Chase and Let It Ride (1989) starring Richard Dreyfuss.

Bill Murray stars as Grimm who, in an attempt to escape the perils of New York City, decides to rob a bank with the help of his girlfriend Phyllis (Geena Davis) and friend Loomis (Randy Quaid). The daring bank robbery proves successful, but escaping the city with the loot proves a nightmare.

New York City is depicted similarly to the way it is in Martin Scorsese's King of Comedy (1983) and After Hours (1985), a strange place of vulgarity and greed. In the opening scenes of the bank heist, the media surround the area, citizens look on in the hope of seeing bloodshed and the hostages are frivolous. New York City is a double edged sword shown to be loved and loathed by its citizens.

Murray not only starred in the film but also co-produced and co-directed Quick Change (1990) with screenwriter Howard Franklin. Since Murray had this level of control over the production, his sarcastic humour is filtered throughout the film. Geena Davis is well cast against Murray and proves she is a capable, natural comedic performer as she was in Beetle Juice (1988) and Earth Girls Are Easy (1988). Randy Quaid’s Loomis is outlandish, hysterical and constantly anxious. The late Jason Robards plays Chief Rotzinger who desperately needs to catch Grimm in order to restore his respectability as Chief of Police. The film also has an array of cameos including the late Phil Hartman and Tony Shalhoub who is most memorable as the foreign taxi-driver.

Quick Change (1990) is a clever and enjoyable comedy with some memorable one-liners. Recommended.

Video

Quick Change (1990) is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and is 16x9 enhanced.

The transfer is particularly sharp. There is minor grain present in the transfer but nonetheless the picture quality is very good overall, and colour definition is excellent. Skin tones are natural. The average bitrate is consistent at 5.91 Mb/s.

The subtitles are true to the onscreen dialogue.

The layer change occurs between chapters at 40:20.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

The English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) soundtrack is unremarkable.

Dialogue is clear and audible and there are no issues regarding audio synchronization.

The original score, composed by Randy Edelman and Howard Shore, is upbeat and suits the film very well.

As expected the soundtrack is mostly directed to the front soundstage, and surround and subwoofer usage is limited.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio

The Main Menu is a static image of Murray dressed as a clown accompanied by part of the score.

Theatrical Trailer

The R1 omits German and Italian Soundtracks and does not include a trailer.

An engaging comedy with a vintage Bill Murray.

Standard sound and vision.

Recommended.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall