Bouncer: Behind the Velvet Rope (2000)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio & Animation Notes-Men Like Them Notes-Lenny's Book Biographies-Cast Notes-The Hug Notes-Codes
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	71:15 (Case: 80)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Steven Cantor
Studio Distributor	Stick Figure Prods Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Black Prince Omar Cook Alan Crosley Frank DeMaio Mike DeMaio
Case	Click
RPI	$39.95	Music	Samantha Maloney

    Bouncer: Behind the Velvet Rope is a documentary about club bouncers and doormen and the world that they work in.

    This documentary is a collection of interview segments with bouncers, club owners and people associated with the industry. During the interviews they discuss why they began bouncing, what they like about it and what their plans are for the future. One of the interview subjects who will be familiar to most viewers is Lenny McLean who rose to fame after his role in the movie Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

    This documentary provides very little insight into the industry and gives little real information to the viewer. Unfortunately, it also portrays bouncers in a fairly poor light with most of the interview subjects coming across as simple thugs. If you are considering a career in bouncing you may find this documentary of some interest but I feel most viewers will come away very disappointed.

Video

    The full frame transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

    The transfer is always slightly soft and this appears to be due to the original source materials. No low level noise was detected during the transfer. During the numerous dark scenes, such as in and around the nightclubs, the shadow detail displayed is relatively poor. To try and compensate for the lack of shadow detail, the brightness seems to have been increased but this only results in an obvious increase in grain and does not improve the situation.

    The colours displayed during the transfer are all muted and are at no stage very vibrant. The majority of the transfer displays a reduced colour palette with a strong emphasis upon the browns, greys and blacks of the city.

    No MPEG artefacts were detected during the transfer.

    A number of aliasing artefacts were detected during the transfer and are most noticeable during the on-screen credits. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 2:28, 3:02, 3:42, 4:50 and 24:12. These artefacts are all quite minimal and are not distracting to the viewer.

    A number of small film artefacts were detected during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 5:05, 5:12, 6:15, 6:19 and 6:27. These artefacts are most visible during the interview segments with Lenny McLean but they are all quite minimal and are only slightly distracting. As the documentary appears to have been shot on 16mm stock, film grain is clearly present throughout the transfer and this is slightly annoying.

    No subtitles are provided on this disc.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The dialogue is always clear and easy to understand.

    No dropouts or problems with audio sync were detected during the transfer.

    The original music by Samantha Maloney is used minimally throughout the transfer and it often has obvious jazz influences. As well as the score, additional background music is provided in the clubs featured in the documentary.

    The surround and subwoofer channels are not utilised during this transfer.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Men Like Them

    This is a copy of the words to the poem The Men That Don't Fit In by Robert Service that is heard in the documentary.

Lenny's Book

    This is a single page promotion for Lenny McLean's book The Guv'nor.

Profiles

    This is a collection of four to six page profiles on the bouncers seen in the documentary.

The Hug

    This is a 3 page description of the type of greetings that bouncers around the world give each other.

Codes

    This is a description of six different terms that bouncers use in their work.

    This documentary does not appear to be available in Region 1 at this time.

    Bouncer: Behind the Velvet Rope is a shallow and uninformative documentary that will have very limited appeal.

    The video transfer is adequate and is as good as can be expected considering the original source material.

    The basic audio transfer is adequate for the material presented.

    The minimal extras provided on this disc will only be of slight interest to most viewers.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall