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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.
Fierce Creatures (1997)

Fierce Creatures (1997)

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Released 1-Aug-2001

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Production Notes
Biographies-Cast & Crew
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1997
Running Time 89:20
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Programme
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Robert Young
Fred Schepisi
Studio
Distributor

Sony Pictures Home Entertain
Starring John Cleese
Jamie Lee Curtis
Kevin Kline
Michael Palin
Ronnie Corbett
Carey Lowell
Robert Lindsay
Case Soft Brackley-Transp
RPI $36.95 Music Jerry Goldsmith


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 5.0 (384Kb/s)
Hungarian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Czech Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Polish Dolby Digital 1.0 (96Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
Dutch
Danish
Swedish
Norwegian
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    You may have heard of a little movie called A Fish Called Wanda. It was rather successful. In fact, it was the second most successful British film to date. The four stars of that film were John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. You'd think that any film that group made would be a huge success, right? Wrong! After a break, these people teamed up again to make another film, this time called Fierce Creatures. It's not a sequel to A Fish Called Wanda. It is completely unrelated (except for one sneaky reference near the end - you should spot it). It was not a box-office success. I suspect that too many people went along expecting A Fish Called Wanda II. I enjoyed it, though, so much so that I bought the R1 DVD, and was dismayed to discover that after the opening credits in widescreen it dropped back to pan-and-scan - this was the movie that made me start looking closely at the aspect ratio details. I'm very pleased to report that our version is not pan-and-scan. It is widescreen, and 16x9 enhanced, too.

    The plot revolves around a zoo. This zoo, in Britain, has been acquired as an incidental asset by Octopus, a huge multi-national corporation run by Rod McCain (Kevin Kline). Rod McCain is an unpleasant person, with a hideous pseudo-Australian accent. He may be meant to be modelled after a certain Mr K Packer, but that's pure supposition on my part. Octopus is about making money, and the zoo must either make money, or be sold to land developers to be turned into a golf course. McCain has put one of his Hong Kong people, Rollo Lee (John Cleese), in charge. Rollo was a policeman for 20 years, and was running one of Octopus' Hong Kong TV operations. He confronts the zoo-keepers with the new company policies, including the concept that the public is only interested in fierce creatures, and therefore only fierce creatures will be kept on at the zoo. This does not make him popular. Meanwhile, Willa Weston (Jamie Lee Curtis) has reported for her first day at work at Octopus, only to discover that the division she was hired to run has been sold. She overhears conversation about the zoo, and volunteers to run it. Vince McCain (also Kevin Kline), Rod's ne'er-do-well son, is captivated by Willa (or, at least, by her body), and arranges to go with her.

    This movie has the elements of an old-fashioned farce, including an ongoing misunderstanding that paints Rollo as a sexual superman. It rises above this in a number of places, including its portrayal of Willa Weston as having a brain as well as a body, and Rollo Lee as having more depth than you might expect. Ronnie Corbett can't help playing Ronnie Corbett, but Michael Palin does a superb job of portraying a completely different character. In A Fish Called Wanda, he had trouble getting a whole sentence out - here no one can stop him blathering on. Cynthia Cleese (John Cleese's daughter) has a small part.

    Interestingly, the original version of this movie was judged not fit for release, particularly the ending. So, they reassembled the cast 8 months later and shot some new footage, then cut a different version, resulting in the movie we have here. The original director (Robert Young) was not available for the re-shoot, so they got Fred Schepsisi. Hence, the shared director's credit.

    If you approach this as a comedy which is unrelated to A Fish Called Wanda, I think you'll enjoy it. It's light-hearted, well-meaning, and a pleasant diversion. Just try to ignore Kevin Kline's Australian accent...

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Transfer Quality

Video

    I was horribly disappointed by the pan-and-scan monstrosity perpetrated in Region 1. I was delighted with this one - they have more than made up for the R1 piece of rubbish.

    The movie is presented in the correct theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (not 1.85:1 as the packaging claims). It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The image is crisp, clear, and sharp. In a word, it is gorgeous! There is plenty of shadow detail, and no low-level noise.

    Colour is vibrant and well-saturated. There is no trace of colour bleed. There are plenty of opportunities to show this off, mostly on the keeper's uniforms (you'll see!).

    There are no visible film artefacts. Not one. There are microscopic traces of aliasing, but you have to look quite hard to see them. There is plenty of Gibbs effect on the closing credits, but I consider that pretty much inevitable in rolling credits, and I refuse to deduct points for it. There are no MPEG artefacts.

    The English subtitles are fine, corresponding closely with the spoken words. I didn't check the accuracy of the other languages, but I'd expect them to be similar.

    The disc is single-sided and single-layer. I was a bit concerned about that, but the movie is not long, and there are few extras, so it all fits comfortably. At least there's no layer change to worry about.



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

Audio

    I listened to the English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The other soundtracks are in languages I don't understand.

    Dialogue is clear and readily understood, with the occasional exception in the case of Kevin Kline's abominable Australian accent - I don't blame that on the soundtrack. There were no glitches in audio sync.

    The score is by Jerry Goldsmith. He's been writing movie music for a while now, and seems to have it down. The score is pleasant, and well-suited to the action. 

    The surrounds are mostly used by the score, with the occasional ambience effect. The subwoofer is not used heavily, but that's fitting for the kind of movie this is. You'll never use this movie to demo your multi-channel system, but there are other discs for that.



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

Extras

Menu

    The menus are static and silent.

Production Notes

    This is several pages of details about the production of this film. Quite interesting reading.

Cast and Crew

    This covers more than the central four. We get details on both directors, and seven of the actors, with a short bio and select filmography for each.

Theatrical Teaser Trailer

    This is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, not 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. It is only 58 seconds long.

R4 vs R1

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

    The Region 4 disc misses out on:

    The Region 1 disc misses out on:

    The artwork on the cover and menus is very similar - it looks like the R4 re-uses these materials and the bios from the R1 - that explains why the bios only go as far as 1997 (the R1 was released in 1998).

    This is simple - the Region 4 version, in the correct aspect ratio with 16x9 enhancement and a high quality transfer is an easy choice. I love being the bearer of glad tidings! 

Summary

    Fierce Creatures is not an all-time classic, but it is a pleasant movie, presented here in superb fashion.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is quite good.

    The extras are fairly rudimentary.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Tony Rogers (bio-degrading: making a fool of oneself in a bio...)
Sunday, August 05, 2001
Review Equipment
DVDArcam DV88, using Component output
DisplaySony VPH-G70 CRT Projector, QuadScan Elite scaler (Tripler), ScreenTechnics 110. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationDenon AVC-A1SE
SpeakersFront Left and Right: Krix Euphonix, Centre: Krix KDX-C Rears: Krix KDX-M, Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5

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