Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Adventure	Main Menu Audio & Animation Alternative Version-Alternate Director's Opening Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Discovering 'Around The World In 80 Days' Featurette-Around The World Of Jackie Chan Deleted Scenes Music Video-'Everybody All Over The World' By Dave Stewart Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Elf
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	114:59 (Case: 119)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Frank Coraci
Studio Distributor	Walden Media Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jackie Chan Steve Coogan Robert Fyfe Jim Broadbent Ian McNeice David Ryall Roger Hammond Adam Godley Karen Mok Howard Cooper Daniel Hinchcliffe Wolfram Teufel Tom Strauss
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.95	Music	Trevor Jones David A. Stewart

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (320Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    'You had me at the nipples'

    The Jules Verne book upon which this movie is vaguely based has been used as source material many times over the years including the 1956 movie starring David Niven, a TV mini-series starring Pearce Brosnan and even a documentary series from Michael Palin . There have also been Mickey Mouse and The Simpsons versions amongst quite a few others.

    This version was released in 2004 and was directed by Frank Coraci, probably best known as the director of Adam Sandler films, The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer and more recently Click. Luckily, the star of this film is not Adam Sandler, who I personally find very unfunny indeed. The star here is Jackie Chan who rather than playing the lead role of Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan) takes on the role of Passepartout, Fogg's valet. His real name, it is revealed, is actually Lau Xing and he makes Passepartout up on the spot to avoid recapture by the police. In this version of the story, Fogg is an inventor whose valet has just resigned due to fear for his life after being involved in too many of Fogg's failed experiments. Lau Xing on the other hand, has just robbed the Bank of England, stealing back a jade Buddha which had been stolen from his village in China. It was stolen by General Fang (Karen Mok, credited here as Karen Joy Morris) so that she can bribe Lord Kelvin (Jim Broadbent) to support her in China with British troops. Kelvin is also the Head of the Royal Academy of Science and goes out of his way to rubbish Fogg's scientific work. Due to a disagreement, Kelvin wagers Fogg that he cannot travel around the world in 80 days. If Fogg wins, Kelvin will step down from his role and if Fogg loses he must give up inventing. Lau Xing agrees to travel with Fogg as his valet as it seems like the best way to get back to China with the Buddha. Along the way they run into Monique La Roche (Cecile De France) in Paris and she travels the rest of the way with them, despite Fogg's disagreement.

    There are numerous cameos in the film including Richard Branson, Arnold Schwarzenegger (in a very bad wig), John Cleese, Kathy Bates, Luke & Owen Wilson, Rob Schneider & Sammo Hung. The director even gets a cameo.

    This is a fun and light retelling of this famous story which is enjoyable and entertaining. It includes some funny comedic moments, some worthwhile martial arts action (whilst sticking within a PG rating) and lots of adventure and romance. The three leads work well together and seem to be having lots of fun in the exotic locations (although most filming occurred in Germany & Thailand) and with each other. Some of the landscapes are quite beautiful although there is some fairly obvious colour grading and CGI used. The costumes and props are very well done indeed.

    This is a fun film that you can happily watch with the family (with the possible exception of pre-schoolers). It's not great cinema but it is an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

Video

    The video quality is excellent.

    The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced, which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was very sharp and clear. There was no evidence of low level noise. I did not notice any grain or MPEG artefacts.

    The colour was excellent, very vibrant partially due to the obvious colour grading employed.

    I noticed one or two spots of very mild aliasing and one very minor bit of pixelization at 95:37. It affects Steve Coogan's shirt but it flashes by very quickly.

    There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which are excellent. They use the black bar between the 2.35:1 frame and the 16x9 screen edge most of the time but sometimes stray onto the picture.

    The layer change occurs at 76:05. It was very noticeable causing a sound dropout and bad pause on my equipment.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains two audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 320 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was very clear and easy to understand throughout (even taking into account Jackie's English issues) and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score by Trevor Jones was quite effective without being a standout.

    The surround speakers were used regularly for some effects such as the drums at 69:00 and bird sounds.

    The subwoofer was also used regularly for the music, things falling and fight scenes.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    All the extras are 16x9 enhanced.

Menu

    The menu included motion, music and is very functional.

Alternate Director's Opening (1:40)

    A bizarre dream sequence involving a chicken which was considered for the opening. A good idea to leave out but amusing to see nonetheless.

Discovering 'Around the World' (18:51)

    A behind-the-scenes featurette which includes outtakes, interviews with the main cast and crew and discussion of the book. Locations, sets, shootings and language issues, cameos, the inventions and the visual effects. Worth a look.

Around the World of Jackie Chan (6:32)

    Short promo piece on Jackie Chan and how he worked with the director and his involvement in the screenplay. Also covers him teaching the cast how to do slapstick and stunts plus doing his own stunts.

Deleted Scenes

    Eight scenes are included with director's commentary. They total approximately 6 minutes of footage and there is nothing essential included although the extra John Cleese material is better than that included in the film.

Music Video - Dave Stewart Everybody All Over the World (3:18)

    An interesting clip for a very ordinary song.

Theatrical Trailer (2:24)

Trailer - Elf

    This movie is available in both Region 1 and 2. Both Region 1 and Region 2 include a commentary by the director and Steve Coogan which is not included on the local product.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    A selection of promotional extras are included.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall