The Full Monty: Special Edition (1997) |
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The Full Monty: Special Edition (1997) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy |
Menu Animation Audio Commentary-Dir: Peter Cattaneo,Actor Mark Addy & Prod: Uberto Pasolini Deleted Scenes Interviews-Cast Featurette-Original Publicity Campaign Music Highlights-Music Machine Credits-DVD Credits Featurette-Retrospective Documentary |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1997 | ||
| Running Time | 87:25 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL (47:05) Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Peter Cattaneo |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring |
Robert Carlyle Mark Addy William Snape Steve Huison Tom Wilkinson Paul Barber Hugo Speer Lesley Sharp Emily Woof Deirdre Costello Paul Butterworth Dave Hill Bruce Jones |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music |
Anne Dudley Serge Gainsbourg |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0  (192Kb/s)English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
The sleeper hit of 1997, The Full Monty, was released as a bare-bones DVD back in 2000. Completely bereft of extras (apart from a trailer) and sporting a fairly average video transfer and basic two channel soundtrack, it was not a release that did justice to what is a very popular film. That situation has been rectified with the release of this two disc special edition. It comes with a few decent extras that spill onto a second disc and is further complemented by the inclusion of a fully blown Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.
My esteemed senior reviewing colleague, IanM had a look at the original release six years ago so you can read his detailed and passionate review for a bit of story background and just why the film was so popular. For those not familiar with the story a brief rundown follows.
Sheffield in northern England is a town built on the might of the steel industry. But with the closure of many of the steelworks in recent years, it is a city in decline, both economically and socially. Run-down and dilapidated infrastructure coupled with high unemployment does not make for a very happy place to live, and it is here we are introduced to a bunch of characters all feeling the effects of this economic downturn firsthand.
Gary (Robert Carlyle), is the main protagonist of the story. He's your typical former steel worker - unemployed, broke and bored with little prospect of getting a job and earning some income from legitimate means (nicking girders from the steelworks for sale as scrap doesn't count). But Gary has been given an ultimatum by his ex-wife. Start paying child support or access to their son Nathan (William Snape) will be put at risk. As a result he needs to come up with 700 pounds to cover the back payments, or he won't be able to see his son, one of the few things that keeps him sane in an increasingly depressing world.
Passing by the local Working Men's Club one afternoon, Gary sees a poster advertising the upcoming appearance of a Chippendales-style strip show. Gary scoffs at the supposed men he sees prancing about with their kit off. But when he learns that hundreds of screaming women are paying good money to see these buffed buffoons an idea begins to take shape. Despite their all-round lack of tanned physiques, Gary ropes in his chubby best mate Dave (Mark Addy) to join the act and the pair set about recruiting a few local lads willing to have a go and earn some quick readies. They are quickly joined by Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), their former foreman, a proud man who cannot bear to tell his wife he was made redundant despite the fact it was more than six months ago, Lomper (Steve Huison), a member of the local brass band, Guy (Hugo Speer) one of the only lads with some form of decently formed body and Barrington (Paul Barber) who can actually dance a bit - something none of the others considered was necessary for this caper.
Gary soon realises that since his troupe has a decided disadvantage to the professional outfit in the physique stakes, he needs a hook to get the punters in the door. Something that will make a few hundred screaming women want to part with their hard-earned for a night of entertainment. He soon comes to the realisation the only way this will happen is if his team goes where no males stripper has gone before - they are going to have to go the full monty - stripping right down to their birthday suits.
What follows is a hilarious lead up to the one night only performance of the group. None of them have any idea about stripping, so seeing their early practice sessions as they fall about in a tangle of bodies and clothing is a hoot. But they slowly get better and with a little luck might just pull off a great night that will have the town talking for years and some easy cash in Gary's pockets.
A classic film told in that quintessential way only the British can do. Understatement is a national pastime in England and The Full Monty sees everything delivered with a hilarious subtly that is fun and engaging.
The video transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. This is the same aspect as the film was shown in theatres. I haven't had the opportunity to view the original DVD release so I can't determine if this transfer is a new one or not, but based on IanM's original review it would appear this is the same transfer.
While Sheffield isn't the brightest place in the world, the grey and drab looking streets and surrounds are shown in enough detail with an overall decent level of sharpness throughout the film. There is no discernable edge enhancement and the level of shadow detail never falls below what is considered acceptable. The amount of grain is kept to an absolute minimum and there is no low level noise.
The colours are lifelike enough (read dull and drab for most of the film), with little in the way of bright blue sky giving everything a nice colourful lift. There's the odd splash of vibrancy here and there, but nothing to really get excited about.
Compression artefacts are absent, while film-to-video transfer problems such as aliasing are well controlled and virtually invisible. There are some film artefacts scattered throughout and I'd be lying if I said the film was the cleanest image I'd ever seen. But overall it is as expected, and the level of grime does not hamper the viewing experience in any way.
There are only English subtitle options and I found them to be pretty accurate and well placed on screen.
Disc one is presented as a dual layered disc with RSDL formatting, with the layer change placed at 47:01.
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There are five audio soundtracks on this disc and all are recorded in English - well sort of! There is a decent Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack for the main feature track plus a very nice sounding dts soundtrack (albeit mastered at the lower bitrate of 768Kb/s). Rounding out the soundtracks for the film is the slightly unusual US dub which is the track found obviously on the United States release. This track is a Dolby Digital 2.0 track that features the surround flag encoded in the bitstream. Finally are two Dolby Digital 2.0 commentary tracks (see extras section for details). While the new 5.1 soundtracks are a definite improvement on the old Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded stereo effort found on the original release, they are still very front heavy tracks with little surround activity and only minimal use of low end bass. Dialogue does dominate the audio, but there is still ample fill-in effect from the left and right channels and heaps of musical cues played throughout the whole film. These sound sensational creating what is a highly enjoyable soundtrack that is a delight to listen to.
Thankfully there are no dialogue problems with all coming across clear and prominent. There are no audio sync issues
The songs used in the film are one of the biggest factors for its success with a crackerjack soundtrack present. Efforts by M People (Moving On Up), Donna Summer (Hot Stuff), Hot Chocolate (You Sexy Thing) and Tom Jones's very cool version of You Can Leave Your Hat On.
Surround channel use is extremely limited, with a little of the score and the songs leaking through to the rears. Other than that they remain mostly silent for the duration.
The subwoofer use is also limited though not completely missing.
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After the disappointing original Region 4 release which included just a measly trailer as its total extras contribution, this new Special Edition comes fully loaded with one of the most comprehensive collections of bonus material I have seen for some time. So much so it spills across to a second disc that unlike many of the so-called two disc editions actually warrants it.
This is a pretty decent commentary from a couple of guys who obviously look back on the film with some fondness. There's lots of stories about what happened behind the scenes, what went right and wrong, and the reaction to the success. Worth a listen.
The original brain behind the story, producer Uberto Pasolini is also very fond of his film and while not as entertaining as the speakers in the first commentary, he still manages to provide a wealth of information about how the wonderful plot idea came about and how it developed into a fully fledged film.
A staggering 33:41 of deleted scenes (10 in all) taken from throughout the film, and best of all they come with an optional commentary track featuring the director Peter Cattaneo and star Mark Addy. The best scene would have to be the uncut and unedited footage from the climatic stripper scene at the end of the film.
A very brief 4:35 series of interview snippets with the principal cast including Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson and Mark Addy.
Included in this 11:37 featurette are both the international and US versions of the trailer (it always amuses me how the marketing people angle things very differently for the US market - we all speak the same language but the Americans are certainly very different to both British and Australian audiences), plus other promotional TV spots and the like.
Called the Music Machine, this extra allows you to select any one of the dozens of songs used in the film and navigate directly to the scene in which it appears. Allows you to quickly re-live the classic first up stripping scene to the music of You Can Leave Your Hat On or the very funny scene in the welfare office where the lads bop along to Donna Summer's Hot Stuff.
Simply lists all the people who had a hand in the production of the DVD.
Found on disc two, this is the major extra in the new special edition clocking in at a massive 101:55. It's a retrospective style making of documentary that looks at many aspects of the film and its impact. The various sections can be played individually or there is a play all option for easier viewing. Chapters include a detailed look at the development of the script, finding the director, the editing, the music - including the songs chosen and the brass band used in the film, and rounding out with a half hour look at the impact The Full Monty had on the whole British film industry in the late 1990s.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
A similarly specified Special Edition was released in UK Region 2 earlier in 2006. That version is identical to the Region 4. I can't find any reference to this special edition being released in Region 1.
The Full Monty was one of the sleeper hits of the 1990s and was highly successful for good reason. It is the classic "underdog-makes-good" tale with some truly side-splitting scenes coupled with a great soundtrack of catchy songs and that unique Britishness that only a film from the "Old Dart" can possess. This new special edition replaces the bare bones release of a few years ago and packs a whole raft of new extras to the package and adds the bonus of a full 5.1 soundtrack.
The video quality is reasonable, though the age and the budget nature of the film are obviously apparent.
The audio is also average, with only a little surround activity.
The extras include two commentaries plus a second disc containing a comprehensive retrospective documentary.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Denon DVD-3910, using RGB output |
| Display | Loewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). |
| Amplification | Harmon/Kardon AVR7000. |
| Speakers | Front - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10 |