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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Get Smart (2008)

Get Smart (2008)

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Released 13-Nov-2008

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Main Menu Audio
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
Featurette-Language Lessons
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2008
Running Time 105:29
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (56:38) Cast & Crew
Start Up Ads Then Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Peter Segal
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Steve Carell
Anne Hathaway
Dwayne Johnson
Alan Arkin
Terence Stamp
Terry Crews
Case ?
RPI ? Music Trevor Rabin


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
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 Yes

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

The last decade has seen cinemas inundated with movie versions of classic TV shows, largely thanks to the success of The Addams Family. Be they Starsky and Hutch, Charlie's Angels, The Flintstones, Bewitched or The Dukes of Hazzard, the one thing they have all had in common is their general crappiness (The Addams Family being the one exclusion). A few have found modest success from fans wanting to be reminded of the shows they once loved or new generations being sold on the hype from marketing machines, but none of these flicks have recaptured any of what made the shows they were based on so popular. Most have either missed the spirit of the original entirely or opted for tired spoof of their progenitor. Finally another exception to this trend has emerged and it is the unlikely Get Smart.

Get Smart was a fairly straight-forward spoof of the spy genre, which ruled cinema at the time, that was elevated to classic status thanks to a fantastic chemistry between its cast members. This chemistry makes the show hard to replicate. Thankfully this update is honest to the original formula and, like the original, manages to capture some great chemistry between the leads and supporting cast. Director Peter Segal has wisely avoided directly replicating the original. Instead he has kept the style of humour true to the original, but tweaked the characters slightly to give them a little more depth and allow them to fit a self contained movie plot more comfortably. Maxwell Smart is a bit more clever than the original, but is as accident-prone as ever.

Set in the present day, we find Maxwell Smart (Steve Carrell), CONTROL's top information analyst, having just passed his final examination to become a field agent. Unfortunately for Max, he is too good at his old job and the Chief (Alan Arkin) won't let him move to active duty. All this changes when CONTROL headquarters is destroyed and the identity of every active field agent is exposed to KAOS by a double agent. Max is paired up with a reluctant Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), who has recently changed her appearance with massive plastic surgery and is thus not known to KAOS, and they are sent to Russia to track down a shipment of nuclear weapons that have gone missing. Alas, Max is implicated as the double agent and is forced to go rogue in order to foil a plot to kill the President (James Caan).

Carrell is spot-on as Maxwell Smart. This could well be the role he is remembered for, particularly if the planned sequels live up to this standard. Terrence Stamp and Ken Davitian make for great bad guys in the scheming Siegfried and his dopey assistant Shtarker. The supporting cast are also nigh on perfect. Be it super-agent 23, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, grumpy agents 91 and Larabee, Terry Crews and David Koechner, KAOS giant henchman, Dalip Singh (WWE's The Great Khali) or gadget guys Bruce and Lloyd, Masi Oka and Nate Torrence. There are also some great bit parts from Bill Murray, Patrick Warburton, Kevin Nealon and Bernie Kopell (who played Siegfried in the original series).

The one thing that lets the film down somewhat is clunky plotting, but it is only a minor quibble. The film jumps between plot segments with some paper thin explanations, but the laughs cover the plot holes more than adequately.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.

The image is sharp and clear. Mild grain is visible throughout the film, but it never gets distracting. There is a good level of detail discernable in black areas and dark scenes.

The colour in the transfer is bold and skin tones are quite natural.

There is no sign of unsightly video artefacts or film artefacts.

English subtitles for the hearing impaired are present for the feature. They appear to be well timed and accurate to both spoken word and actions.

This is a RSDL disc. The layer break occurs at 56:38 but was not noticeable on my equipment.

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

Audio

An English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 Kbps) audio track and an English descriptive audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kbps) audio track is present for the film.

The dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout the film. The audio and video are well synchronised.

The movie features an orchestral score, by Trevor Rabin, that builds well on the show's iconic theme. The music is well represented in the mix and sounds crystal clear.

The surrounds are put to very good use for ambient effects and support the action well. The subwoofer gets a good workout, particularly from the action scenes.

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

Extras

Main Menu Audio

The disc opens with an irritating anti-piracy trailer that cannot be skipped, followed by an ad for Warner Brothers Movie World and film trailers that can be skipped, before getting to a menu.

Alternate Takes

The film can be played with an alternate takes indicator turned on. When this indicator appears, pressing enter on the remote plays a deleted scene that would have followed or alternate version of the scene. These bits are generally pretty funny, but it would be good to have been able to play them seperately as well as branching off from the main feature. All up there is around 20 minutes of extras here.

Outtakes (5:39)

A moderately amusing and, thankfully, short gag reel.

Language Lessons Featurette (3:30)

Steve Carrell, in a dinner suit, teaches people the many foreign languages he learnt to be a spy. Funny stuff.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

This single disc edition features a selection of outtakes and Language Lessons featurette that are not on the the Region 1 single disc edition. The Region 1 edition features additional French and Spanish audio tracks and Spanish, French, Korean and Portuguese subtitles to the Region 4 edition. Unless you need the different languages, shop in Region 4.

A Blu-ray edition and 2 disc special edition are also available in Region 1 and Region 4. Both these editions feature a substantial assortment of extra features not found on this edition.

Summary

A hilarious update to the classic Get Smart. This is one of the best action comedies of the decade (though the competition is not exactly stiff) and bears repeat viewing.

The DVD looks and sounds excellent. There isn't much in the way of extras with this single-disc edition. A meatier 2 disc edition and Blu-ray is available for anyone who wants more.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Adam Gould (Totally Biolicious!)
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Review Equipment
DVDSony Playstation 3, using HDMI output
Display Samsung 116cm LA46M81BD. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL).
Audio DecoderPioneer VSX2016AVS. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX2016AVS
Speakers150W DTX front speakers, 100W centre and 4 surround/rear speakers, 12 inch PSB Image 6i powered sub

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