Bulletproof (1996) |
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Bulletproof (1996) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy |
Production Notes Biographies-Cast & Crew Theatrical Trailer |
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| Year Of Production | 1996 | ||
| Running Time | 80:45 (Case: 84) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Programme | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Ernest Dickerson |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Damon Wayans Adam Sandler James Farentino James Caan |
| Case | Soft Brackley-Transp | ||
| RPI | $36.95 | Music | Elmer Bernstein |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0  (192Kb/s)Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English French German Bulgarian Czech Danish Dutch Finnish Hungarian Norwegian Polish Portuguese Swedish Turkish |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
I must admit that I'm not a great fan of Adam Sandler, having found little amusement in his recent offerings (apart from the Wedding Singer which I think was more due to the nostalgic look at the 80s it provided, rather than his acting ability). Generally, I've found his humour to be just plain annoying, so I wasn't expecting too much from this film when I volunteered to review it.
Damon Wayans co-stars with Sandler in this particularly brief action-comedy made in 1996 (it only runs just over 80 minutes). Apparently they appeared on an episode of Saturday Night Live together a few years before and hit it off so well that they decided to make a film together. Wayans plays undercover cop Jack Carter (alias Rock Keats), who, while investigating a drug importation and money laundering racket befriends Archie Moses (Adam Sandler) who works for drug lord/used car salesman Frank Colton (James Caan). Their friendship reaches the point where they consider themselves best mates, though Archie has no idea about Carter's real job. When the undercover operation to bust Colton's ring comes to a head, Carter must arrest Moses (who naturally spits the dummy after being lied to by his best mate). The arrest doesn't quite go to plan and somehow the ex-buddies find themselves battling together to survive the efforts of Colton to kill them both and the workings of some corrupt senior police.
Bulletproof is an action/comedy that contains plenty of gunfire, dead bodies and crashes but only a few laughs. This is not helped by a pretty lame script and tardy direction. Add in several large plot holes and there is not much quality in terms of story. I mean, exactly why is it necessary for a plane to explode when it rolls down a ravine when the reason it crash-landed was that it had no fuel left after being shot at. What exactly was it that exploded?
Yet another fine video transfer has been provided by Columbia Tristar. Shown here in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and featuring 16x9 enhancement, it is finely detailed and extremely sharp throughout. Shadow detail is exemplary and grain is non-existent. There is also no low level noise. All-in-all, this is a pretty fine effort with very little to complain about.
Colours are well-rendered, though not of a super-vibrant nature. Skin tones are particularly natural and there is a wide palette present throughout the film, with no evidence of bleeding or oversaturation.
I noticed no MPEG artefacting and virtually no film-to-video artefacts either. These were limited to the briefest hint of shimmering on the side of the plane at 28:29. The only film artefacts were the usual minor flecks and spots that are pretty standard fare on even the best quality transfer and are certainly not disruptive.
There are 14 subtitle streams present. I sampled the English one extensively and found it to be pretty close to perfect.
This is a single-sided dual-layered disc. I was unable to detect the layer change.
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NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
A very similar product is on offer for the Region 1disc, though it does only offer a Dolby Digital 5.0 track at the higher bitrate of 448kbps. The extras are the same and the quality of the video and audio are apparently similar. The Region 4 disc would be the preferred option on price alone.
I never seem to enjoy movies that come about from partnerships or skits on Saturday Night Live. Movies like Coneheads, and There's Something About Mary seem to me to just be a series of skits stuck together for cheap laughs forsaking the need for a decent story. While Bulletproof doesn't quite have that feel to it and the story is a little more developed, the characters are little more than props for the next gag. Not really my cup-of-tea, though the quality of the video and audio make up for the lack of originality and depth in the story.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Toshiba 1200, using S-Video output |
| Display | Loewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Harmon/Kardon AVR7000. |
| Speakers | Front - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10 |