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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.
Big Fat Liar (2002)

Big Fat Liar (2002)

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Released 11-Feb-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Featurette-Spotlight On Location
Audio Commentary-Shawn Levy (Director)
Audio Commentary-Frankie Muniz (Actor)
Deleted Scenes
Featurette-Universal Studios Back Lot (6)
Theatrical Trailer
dts Trailer-Piano
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 84:04
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (60:58) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Shawn Levy
Studio
Distributor

Universal Pictures Home Video
Starring Frankie Muniz
Paul Giamatti
Amanda Bynes
Amanda Detmer
Donald Faison
Lee Majors
Case ?
RPI $34.95 Music Christophe Beck


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Czech Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
Arabic
Czech
Greek
Hungarian
Turkish
Romanian
English Audio Commentary
Arabic Audio Commentary
Czech Audio Commentary
Greek Audio Commentary
Hungarian Audio Commentary
Turkish Audio Commentary
Romanian Audio Commentary
English Audio Commentary
Arabic Audio Commentary
Czech Audio Commentary
Greek Audio Commentary
Hungarian Audio Commentary
Turkish Audio Commentary
Romanian Audio Commentary
Hungarian Titling
Czech Titling
Smoking Yes, Wolf lights up a cigar.
Annoying Product Placement Yes, A Universal movie set at Universal studios? Mmmm.
Action In or After Credits Yes

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

Plot Synopsis

     I am surprised to be saying that I didn't hate this film. I mean, Big Fat Liar is a kid's film. It's meant for enjoyment by kids. Adults watching kid's films are likely to dislike them because of the way in which they seem to be about nothing much but one overarching moral which is bashed over the head again, and again, and again. Just watch any Disney film -- I can't bring myself to. Big Fat Liar doesn't deviate from this archetype too much. But as kid's films go, it is better than most Disney tales I can remember being traumatised with as a child.

     Essentially, Big Fat Liar is a modern-day retelling of that classic fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf, with a slightly different ending (much as a kid's show might benefit from time to time by having a born liar being ripped to pieces by wolves, I'm sure Big Fat Liar would have lost its PG rating, and died a quick death before reaching the box office). The simple plot line runs a little like this: Jason Shepherd (played by Frankie Muniz from TV's Malcolm In The Middle) is a born liar. One day, while trying to make up for an assignment he didn't do out of sheer laziness, he writes a story about a born liar. On his way to hand in this assignment, he is knocked off his bike by movie producer Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti from The Negotiator), who winds up giving him a lift. In the course of this lift, Jason's story falls out of his backpack and is appropriated by Wolf, who intends to make a hit movie based on it. When Jason discovers this, he cries foul, but of course, nobody believes him -- they all think he's just the Shepherd crying wolf (ah, such clever use of word association in this film). Determined to set the record straight and prove that, at least in this instance, he is not a liar, Jason sets out for Hollywood with his best friend Kaylee (a surprisingly talented Amanda Bynes) to confront Wolf.

     There are some hackneyed plot twists, it's a little over-laboured in the end, and there is some very dubious moral reasoning along the way: after all, the kids manage to have a hell of a lot of fun in Los Angeles by lying their little pants off. But let me remind you again -- this is a kid's film! It's meant to be stupid! One shouldn't take these things so seriously. While the story is more properly interpreted as one of revenge (certainly by the end, anyway), so be it. It's still a kid's flick, and nobody gets killed. If your kids were up for a real challenge they'd be watching films by David Lean and Terrence Malick and reading books by David Halberstam and William Shawcross. But they're not, they're only ten, and this is prime entertainment for them - an easy way to kill 85 minutes when you want them out of your hair. So sit them down, tune them in, and drop them out.

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

Transfer Quality

Video

     The picture is presented in 1.78:1, and is 16x9 enhanced. This is fairly close to the theatrical ratio which was 1.85:1.

     The transfer is generally clean and clear with almost no background noise. Images were sharp, and shadow detail was good. It was a tad grainy to begin with, although the audio commentary tells us that this was because of the choice of lighting and was intentionally this way -- once our characters get to Hollywood everything goes gloss, bright and brash.

     The only artefact was some minor aliasing on straight edges in the background as the camera panned -- note particularly the scene in Wolf's reception (22:58), and the Western Set at Universal Studios (69:36).

     The disc is RSDL formatted, with the layer change pause at 60:58, which is towards the end of the film. It lies between two scenes and is only a minor disruption to the enjoyment of the show.

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

Audio

     There are four audio tracks on this disc: an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, an English DTS 5.1 track, an Hungarian 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround track, and a Czech 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround track. I had a cursory listen to the last two tracks, and an in-depth look at the first two.

     First up, the 5.1 DTS track. This is a fantastic track.

     Although Big Fat Liar is not an action movie, per se, it has a pretty rocking soundtrack that is beefed up by the DTS mix. It also has a couple of action-esque scenes which make good use of the full range that DTS gives; flying helicopters, revving sports cars and great volumes of rushing water, for example.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times, although there was minor distortion when Wolf gets really upset and starts to scream. Directional cues were very effective, and the DTS mix made fine use of the surround channels.

     The subwoofer was used to highlight some of those action-esque scenes, and the bass in the music throughout the film -- the thumping beat of Fatboy Slim's "Right Here, Right Now" being a prime example.

     Secondly, the 5.1 Dolby Digital track. This, too, is a good track, with only a slightly muted feel in comparison to its DTS counterpart. This was to be expected, though, and honestly, there is not that much of a difference. Those of you without DTS technology really won't miss out on much with this 5.1 Dolby Digital track. But, better to have than not to have.

     Dialogue was still clear and easy to understand and was less prone to the distortion when Wolf began really losing it. The use of the surround channels for directional cues was still very good.

     Again, the subwoofer was used to highlight those action-esque scenes, but not so much the bass in the music.

     Lastly, what little I listened to of the Czech and Hungarian tracks seemed fine.

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

Extras

Menu

     The main menu is a static shot of Kaylee posing in her teenaged way. It is 16x9 enhanced, but with no audio.

Audio Commentary 1 - Director Shawn Levy & Cinematographer Jonathan Brown

     These guys are pretty good at this gig, talking about all kinds of things about the making of the film. They never shut up, which is a good thing for an audio commentary track. While a lot of what they say is hardly earth-shattering or brilliant, it is often entertaining. Presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo.

Audio Commentary 2 - Actor Frankie Muniz

     While this kid is a great comedian, and does Malcolm in the Middle brilliantly, the inanity of this audio commentary is beyond description. Love your work, Frankie, and I'm not knocking your talent as an actor. Just keep it on the screen, please, coz this commentary track is as dry as a good vodka martini. Presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo.

Deleted Scenes (14:42)

     Most of these are extensions of scenes already in the film, and personally I thought several of them should have stayed in, as they would have fleshed the movie out a little more. One, in particular, was quite amusing, involving Wolf's pathetic attempt to seduce a ditzy extra, and the inadvertent consumption of the animal star of his movie. Another explained Wolf's rather bizarre attachment to a stuffed monkey. Without these scenes in the film, the movie actually feels slightly incomplete, and I thought they would have done better to worry less about the additional two minutes these scenes would have added to the film, and more about the coherency of the film in total. But maybe the scene in Wolf's trailer might have been "a bit much for children" (to quote the Christian Coalition), and in the interest of pre-empting the censors the scene was removed by the producers (there is no audio commentary discussing why scenes were removed). I thought the scene was fine, although coming from someone who recommends Fight Club to fifteen year olds, I may not be the best person to judge. These scenes are presented at 1.85:1, non-16x9 enhanced, and 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo. Picture quality is not fantastic, with poor shadow detail and some bad low-level noise.

Featurette - Spotlight on Location (11:58)

     Your typical promo making-of kind of deal with various people talking about the making of the film, and a whole lot of cuts from the film interspersed. Presented in 1.33:1, non-16x9 enhanced. Yawn.

Universal Studios Back Lot

     Take a look at the New York Street set, the Western Street set, the Earthquake set, the Flash Flood set, the Props Building, Spartacus Square, and the house from Psycho, all as they appear at various points throughout Big Fat Liar. If you saw the film, no need to see this.

Theatrical Trailer (2:02)

     Presented in 1.85:1, non-16x9 enhanced. Your average trailer.

dts Trailer

     The one with the piano strings. How cute.

R4 vs R1

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

     The R1 release of this disc is formatted in full-screen 1.33:1, non-16x9 enhanced. Otherwise, special features are identical. There is apparently not a widescreen release for R1. Being a widescreen purist myself, and given the better picture quality of PAL, I think R4 is the clear winner.

Summary

     Big Fat Liar is an amusing film for kids. Feed it to your eager eight year olds with relish. Watch it yourself if you're feeling a little silly, want to relive somebody else's childhood, and have perhaps consumed too many beers and too much pizza to go partying.

     The picture quality is fine with only some minor aliasing that is not terribly distracting.

     The DTS track is fantastic, the 5.1 Dolby Digital track equally as impressive, although not quite as good where the music is concerned -- which is to be expected.

     The extras are there if you want them, but I recommend saving time out of your life by only watching the deleted scenes. However, for your eight year olds, the extras are a barrel of laughs that will keep them amused for hours. At least, you can tell them that; no guarantees that they'll buy it. Also, I really think that this disc should have also included an isolated music score. But Universal (in their ultimate wisdom) have denied us this.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Edward McKenzie (I am Jack's raging bio...)
Friday, December 13, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDPanasonic DVD-RV31A-S, using S-Video output
DisplayBeko 28" (16x9). This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver.
AmplificationMarantz SR7000
SpeakersEnergy - Front, Rear, Centre & Subwoofer

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