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.
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.
Doc Hollywood (1991)

Doc Hollywood (1991) (NTSC)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 30-Sep-2002

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Romantic Comedy None
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1991
Running Time 103:18
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Programme
Region Coding 1,4 Directed By Michael Caton-Jones
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring Michael J. Fox
Julie Warner
Barnard Hughes
Woody Harrelson
David Ogden Stiers
Frances Sternhagen
Bridget Fonda
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $24.95 Music Carter Burwell


Video (NTSC) Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Pan & Scan English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Whilst I would not quite classify Doc Hollywood in the guilty pleasure category of films on DVD, it does remain one of those films that tends to be thrown into the player when something middleweight, but enjoyably fun, is needed to fill in an evening. It is not the most original story ever written, there is nothing really memorable about the film (barring Julie Warner walking out of the lake naked), yet something just grabs you about the film that hits a spot that is difficult to ignore. So, this was an eagerly awaited release on the Region 4 map, at least until it was remembered that the distributor is none other than Warner Home Video who seem to have the idea that Australia is NTSC country....

    The story is fairly obvious. Dr Ben Stone (Michael J. Fox) has done his eight years of study, one year of internship and one year of residency and is seeking the greener pastures (that is, megabucks) of medicine doing really worthwhile stuff - like by-the-numbers cosmetic surgery in La La land. So after the obligatory post-resignation party at the public hospital he is leaving behind, he heads off by road in his beloved Porsche for the glittering lights of Hollywood. Now as you would expect, things do not go quite to plan, especially when he detours off the Interstate to avoid roadworks. What he fails to avoid is a fence after avoiding some livestock on the country road he finds himself on. Not just any old fence mind, but the fence of the local judiciary of Grady. As a consequence of his little altercation with the Judge's fence, he finds himself sentenced to thirty two hours of community service in the local hospital, in relief of the aging and somewhat cantankerous Dr Aurelius Hogue (Barnard Hughes). Now the arrival of a sophisticated Yankee doctor in this Southern backwater is obviously an unusual event and this draws out the locals and all their innate peculiarities. Mayor Nick Nicholson (David Ogden-Stiers) is hell-bent on getting Ben Stone to stay in Grady as the resident doctor and makes every pitch he can to Ben. The mayor's daughter Nancy Lee (Bridget Fonda) is hell-bent on getting out of Grady and makes every pitch to Ben to take her away from this godforsaken town. The local ambulance driver, Vialula (Julie Warner), makes no pitch whatsoever to Ben but leaves an indelible impression in any case, which actually does not sit too well with local hick Hank Gordon (Woody Harrelson), who happens to be sweet on Vialula and takes less than kindly to the arrival of Ben. All Ben Stone is hell-bent on doing is getting his beloved car fixed so he can continue his journey to La La land. Unfortunately, the attractions of megabucks in La La land might not be as great as he would have expected...

    You have probably seen a variation on this story a dozen times in film, but this one has for some reason a refreshing feel to it. I cannot help but feel the slightly quirky nature of some of the characters is where the secret of this film lies. That is quite possibly due to a rather decent cast that actually infuse these rather clichéd characters with a lot of life. I cannot honestly say that Michael J. Fox has ever really convinced me as an actor, yet I find his performance here strangely believable and sufferable. Woody Harrelson is an actor that always has had a negative impact on me, yet here in a very clichéd role, he excels to the point of almost stealing the show in a very minor role. Julie Warner does not have a huge filmography and much of it is not of great distinction, yet here she brings a performance that is fresh and unfettered, more like a real person than an actor. Bridget Fonda plays the despairing Grady inmate somewhat over-the-top but the end result again is a really believable mix of smart and naive. David Ogden-Stiers is wonderful as the the mayor who sees nothing wrong with the hickness of his little agricultural backwater of the world - and convinces the viewer that there is nothing wrong with it. From top to bottom, this really is a surprisingly excellent cast that does a terrific job of fleshing out clichéd characters.

    Really, I would have difficulty in pinpointing exactly why the film has such a draw, as it gives every indication of being too clichéd to work. Yet work it does and it remains a film that I still enjoy after repeated viewings. I would suspect that this would be the case for most people who have ever seen the film, and in a way this would be expected to be a good seller on DVD. Unfortunately...

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

Transfer Quality

Video

    Okay, its the bad news time. Once again Warner Home Video have seen fit to foist upon us another of those rehashed Region 1 NTSC transfers. This means of course that you will need to have a player and display device capable of dealing with this inherently inferior format in order to see anything but snow.

    Once again, not only have we been shafted with the format of the transfer, but Warner Home Video have seen fit to inflict what would seem to be another Pan and Scan b******isation upon us. Those dreaded words that "this presentation has been modified to fit your television" are displayed before the presentation for long enough to incur a couple of Hail Mary's worth of swearing. This would especially be the case amongst those discerning members of the population who actually do not have a television that is 1.33:1 in ratio. Compounding the insult is the fact that they see fit to note on the back of the DVD case that the transfer is 1.85:1 regular 4:3. Do not be mislead into thinking that this is a non-16x9 enhanced widescreen presentation - it is not, as this is nothing more than Warner-speak for what everyone else calls Pan and Scan.

    Unfortunately, the bad news does not finish there. One of the things that has always bothered me about this transfer, aside from the obvious, is the slight softness to the definition. There seems to be a constant lack of sharpness to the image that is not exactly annoying but just disappointing. The problem really is evident in some of the shots around the town, where there is oodles of opportunity for some fine detail, but all we get is a slightly diffuse image that lacks that detail. There is also a slight problem with the contrast at times which means that on odd occasions, such as at 8:40 and 16:20, shadow detail is not as good as we would have expected and foreground and background details are not as delineated as would be expected. There is a constant graininess to the picture that is probably inherent in the NTSC formatting, but it does at times impinge upon the clarity of the transfer. Thankfully, there does not appear to be any significant low level noise issues in the transfer.

    There seems to be a consistent problem with a slight pixelization in pan shots, such as at 14:20 and 24:13, which might of course be something to do with the NTSC format. Apart from that, there are no really significant MPEG artefacts to worry about. For those who find the 3:2 pull down of NTSC transfers a bothersome thing, this transfer might well cause you problems. Certainly, this is one of the rare instances where I have been noticeably bothered by the problem, which becomes quite apparent at times in rather jerky pan shots - such as at 14:20. There is a consistent and ultimately somewhat distracting issue with shimmer in the transfer. Aliasing is not so much of an issue thanks to the inherently soft definition, although it still can be noticed at 3:08 and 19:18 for instance. The shimmer however is consistent and is often noticed in clothing - examples include the headband at 1:20, the car from 7:25 through to 7:52 and the shirt from 35:07 through to 35:56. These instances all contribute to a slight degradation of the enjoyment factor. There is also some slight ghosting in the opening credits. Film artefacts such as white specks were obviously present, with some instances such as at 41:20 being rather too obvious, but overall this is perhaps no worse than we would expect for a film of this age and one that has not been treated with a high degree of respect.

    In broad terms there is nothing much wrong with the colours apart from the slight lack in consistency in the vibrancy and tonal depth. It has a quite natural look to it, and tends not to emphasise any particular aspect of the film. Even the pageant is very nicely handled, without any recourse to lurid emphasis of some of the colours displayed.

    This is a single sided, single layer formatted DVD so we at least don't have to put up with a layer change.

    There are no subtitle options on the DVD, meaning those who unfortunately have hearing impairments may have to hope that the closed captioning works. The menu says the disc features closed captioning but I don't know whether it does or does not.

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

Audio

    There is just the solitary English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack on the DVD. It is serviceable and little more, with a number of instances where the lack of any surround encoding is well and truly noticed.

    The dialogue comes up pretty well in the transfer and is easy enough to understand - after you adjust to some rather mediocre attempts at Southern accents. There does not seem to be any issue with audio sync in the transfer.

    The original music is by Carter Burwell, a name not familiar to me. Whilst there is nothing much here that is truly memorable, the overall effect of the soundtrack is quite pleasing. It sort of suits the film well in that regard: never scaling any artistic heights but doing enough to make the film a pleasant diversion.

    Despite the voluminous notes taken during the review session, none related in any way to the soundtrack. Since notes only relate to perceived problems with transfers, the absence of any notes about the sound is basically a good sign - at least there was nothing inherently wrong with what we have here. The main issue is what we do not get here - namely some surround encoding to give some body to those portions of the film where some might be expected. Little things like the car crashes or the fishing with dynamite. I am not asking for much, just a bit of activity in the surrounds or, god forbid, the LFE channel, all of which are noticeably missing in action during this transfer.

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

Extras

    Well at least the DVD comes in a decent case. If you want anything more than that you are obviously going to be very disappointed.

Menu

    Since the DVD starts straight into the film, you really don't need to know that it looks pretty ordinary - but then again it was a very early release in the overall scheme of things.

R4 vs R1

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

    Well, I decided that I should throw the Region 1 release into the player - but then again I already had the Region 1 release in the player didn't I? Since this is the Region 1 version, in all its accursed pan & scan butchery, there is obviously nothing different between the two versions. Oh, I suppose that the preference is for "our" version since it comes in an Amaray case, whilst "their" version comes in a snapper case.

Summary

    Doc Hollywood is one of those films that I return to every so often for the simple reason that it is a damned enjoyable film, despite the artistic heights it fails to scale. When I first indulged in DVD, and made a trip to the USA, one of the films I sought out in the format was Doc Hollywood. The reason that I resisted purchasing the Region 1 version was for the simple reason that it was one of those accursed Pan and Scan abominations. I held out for a while but the draw of the film eventually over-ruled the objection to Pan and Scan. I suppose the fact that the DVD cost a paltry $9.99 in the USA also contributed significantly to the decision to indulge. I regretted it the moment I watched the DVD. Three years later and I still regret the decision to buy the Region 1 release - and I inevitably regret having to sit down and review the same transfer issued under the guise of a Region 4 release. If you love the film as I do, you would really be doing everyone a favour by not buying this release. Aside from the fact that it is another NTSC formatted effort, and one blighted quite obviously by moderate shimmer and aliasing throughout, it is a Pan and Scan version. If you want to experience the film the way it was intended, you cannot, as the picture you see here is missing a fair chunk of information.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ian Morris (Biological imperfection run amok)
Saturday, September 21, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDDenon DVD-1600, using S-Video output
DisplaySony Trinitron Wega (80cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationYamaha RXV-795
SpeakersEnergy Speakers: centre EXLC; left and right C-2; rears EXLR; and subwoofer ES-12XL

Other Reviews
DVD Net - Gavin T
MovieHole - Clint M