Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Theatrical Trailer
Rating	?
Year Of Production	1988
Running Time	105:48
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (53:53)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Frank Oz
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Michael Caine Steve Martin Anton Rodgers Glenne Headly
Case	?
RPI	$36.95	Music	Miles Goodman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired German for the Hearing Impaired French Italian Spanish Dutch Swedish Norwegian Danish	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, credits roll over the end of the action

    Michael Caine plays Lawrence Jamieson, a suave British con-men, happily fleecing rich women in Beaumont sur Mer on the French Riviera, aided and abetted by the local police inspector Andre (played in a suitably awful French accent by Anton Rodgers, who is better known for his work in British sitcoms). Along comes Freddy Benson (Steve Martin in "loveable clown" mode - I prefer him in Roxanne or LA Story, this is more The Jerk, or perhaps Father of the Bride), an American con-man, with no style, no panache, no class. Lawrence Jamieson looks down on Benson, and does his best to convince him to go elsewhere, but he fails. Benson demands lessons in the art from Jamieson, and Jamieson agrees, if only to control him before disposing of him.

    When Freddy decides that he can go it alone, he challenges Lawrence to a bet, the loser to leave Beaumont sur Mer so the winner can operate without interference. The bet is simple - the first to extract $50000 from a chosen woman will win. The woman chosen is Janet Colgate (Glenn Headley), the US Soap Queen.

    The plot has plenty of dirty tricks as the two try to outdo one another, and a couple of interesting twists, too.

    Yup, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is heavy-handed. But it is still funny. I lament what it could have been, but I enjoyed what it is. 

Video

    This disc is presented in an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The picture is fairly sharp, with rather good shadow detail, and no low-level noise.

    Colour is fine - well-saturated, without the slightest trace of colour bleed.

    There are few visible film artefacts - what artefacts there are are so tiny as to be invisible on any normal TV screen (excepting a faint blob on the wheelchair at 60:41). There is almost no aliasing to be seen. There are no visible MPEG artefacts.

    The subtitles are available in nine languages, including English. They are easy to read, in a clear simple font. The content is accurate and well-timed. It includes some indication of sound effects.

    The disc is single sided and RSDL-formatted. The layer change is at 53:53, exactly in between scenes, making it almost invisible.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There are five soundtracks, one in English (which I listened to). The English soundtrack is in Dolby Digital 5.1. The closing credits list Dolby Stereo, so the 5.1 soundtrack must be a remastering.

    This being a dialogue-driven movie, it is vital that the dialogue is clear and easy to understand. It is, with very few exceptions. There are no visible audio sync problems.

    The score is rather good, although a few of the songs chosen as background are a little clichéd: the worst example is the use of Puttin' On The Ritz while Freddy is being dressed in classy clothes. This may, in fact, be a deliberate choice, as part of a subtle joke. 

    The surrounds are not used to any significant extent. The subwoofer is well-integrated into the soundtrack, supporting the lower octave unobtrusively.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menus are static and silent.

Theatrical Trailer (1:56)

    This is a brief trailer, presented in 1.33:1, not 16x9 enhanced. Nothing special.

    The Region 4 disc is missing:

• nothing

    The Region 1 disc is missing:

• 16x9 enhancement
• dual layer RSDL disc
• 5.1 soundtrack (has 2.0, surround encoded sound)

    I don't think we can get much more clear-cut than that, right?

    Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a pleasant-enough film, presented well on DVD.

    The video quality is rather good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extra is rudimentary.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall