Nutty Professor II: The Klumps: Collector's Edition (2000) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Comedy |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Spotlight On Location Audio Commentary-Peter Segal (Director) Audio-Only Track-A Conversation With Dir P Segal and Prod B Grazer Deleted Scenes-2 Featurette-Makeup Application Storyboard Comparisons Outtakes Music Video-Doesn't Really Matter-Janet Jackson Theatrical Trailer Production Notes Biographies-Cast & Crew Notes-DVD Newsletter |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
Running Time | 102:20 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (75:38) | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Peter Segal |
Studio
Distributor |
Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Eddie Murphy Janet Jackson Larry Miller |
Case | Soft Brackley-Transp | ||
RPI | $36.95 | Music | David Newman |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Interview Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English Danish Finnish Dutch German Swedish Norwegian Polish Czech Hebrew Greek Turkish Hungarian Bulgarian |
Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | Yes | ||
Action In or After Credits | Yes, outtakes during end credits |
Also along for the ride are Janet Jackson as Sherman's romantic interest, Professor Denise Gaines, Larry Miller as Dean Richmond, a youth rejuvenation potion, a lot of often crude humour, some over-the-top effects and a giant hamster that defies description.
The plot is a little 'thinner' than the original. There is more 'heavyweight' action, the jokes are cruder and there is a lot more of Eddie than ever before. Not since Patty Duke has something quite this radical been tried with a single performer and it just didn't quite come off in my opinion, although there were some excellent moments. My biggest gripe was there simply wasn't enough of Larry Miller, who stole the show.
The story begins with a dream sequence, as Sherman Klump is about to marry Professor Denise Gaines. Unfortunately, out 'pops' Buddy Love to spoil things. Seeing this as a sign of things to come, Sherman seeks help from a psychiatrist colleague, but Buddy is back and all the positive affirmation in the world isn't going to help as he slowly changes from a mild-mannered professor with a weight problem into his bad-mouthed alter ego.
After showing off his new youth formula to Dean Richmond and Professor Gaines, the Buddy ego starts to ruin Sherman's life. Determined to be rid of him, Sherman takes drastic action by removing an errant DNA strand from his own. Now the fun begins, as Buddy emerges from a pile of 'goop' with the aid of a dog hair and decides to steal the youth formula for himself. Meanwhile, Sherman discovers he is slowly begins to lose his intelligence.
The transfer is presented in the correct aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.
The sharpness throughout is exemplary - check out the pattern in Sherman Klump's suit at 4:53, and the stitching line. Grain and noise are almost non-existent, with shadow detail perfectly rendered giving depth of field during low-lit scenes.
The colour is also suitably vibrant without being oversaturated. Skin tones are precise and even Eddie Murphy's various prostheses look almost totally natural.
I never noticed any of the normal film artefacts like black/white specks or dirt marks, although there were a couple of film-to-video artefacts that did mar what was otherwise a truly magnificent transfer. Aliasing can be seen at 38:09 on the guard rail and building in the background. A second incidence occurs at 72:24 on the venetians behind the giant hamster. A moiré artefact can be seen at 38:29 on a set of venetian blinds. The only other blemish that is worthy of note is some very minor edge enhancement. Given the amount of digital compositing that would have accompanied the final edit of this movie, with as many as five separate characters shot on blue screen backgrounds, digitized and reinserted, you would have expected substantially more problems. Kudos go out to the editor William Kerr for a magnificent job.
The subtitles were clear and readable but did seem to exhibit some slight pixelization (nothing problematic). There is also an excellent selection of subtitles for this movie.
The layer change is at 75:38, occurring mid-scene between Sherman and Dean Richmond. The change is noticeable but nicely placed with no interruption to the flow of dialogue.
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Overall |
There are two Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks available on the disc, both with a 384 kilobits per second bitrate; English and German. Since I don't speak German I stuck with the English soundtrack version. There is also a Dolby Digital 2.0 Audio Commentary available with Director Peter Segal.
The dialogue is often hard to understand, not because of any problems with the sound levels or clarity, but because of the fact that Eddie Murphy is mostly covered with prostheses and trying to sound like seven different characters all with different voices. This only works in the most rudimentary way, when he appears alone, or with someone else from the cast. The moment he is talking to one of his alter egos, the problems arise. A person can raise or lower the tone of their voice, but there is great difficulty in changing the timbre and inflection. Consequently, much of the dialogue was not clear and some scenes, like the restaurant, were a bafflement to me (subtitles really do help though). There was also quite a bit of additional voice-over added to the final mix adding a further layer of complexity. Despite all of this, the audio sync appeared spot on.
The music is by David Newman, the composer for two of my favourite comedies; War of the Roses and GalaxyQuest. This isn't a truly outstanding soundtrack by any means, but is very competently done as you would expect from a seasoned professional. Incidental music by Janet Jackson was judiciously used in the mix.
The surround channels get very little use except for adding atmosphere to the music and some special effects (the lightning scene at 24:28 kicked the old rears a bit). I didn't really expect extensive use of the surrounds considering the emphasis on dialogue.
The subwoofer gets a bit more of a work-out than do the surrounds. A nice example is during Sherman's psychiatric session when he jumps up and down and exclaims "I'm in charge" (6:02). Apart from little instances like this though, the subwoofer is strictly confined to supporting the music. As far as I was concerned, the lack of subwoofer activity wasn't a problem - you expect to have your socks knocked off in a comedy, but not from subwoofer activity!
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Overall |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video is almost of reference quality apart from a couple of minor defects.
The audio is decent without being exceptional, with the dialogue problem really working against the overall rating.
The extras are hefty enough in number, but a couple had me scratching my head as to their inclusion.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Loewe Xemix 5006DD, using RGB output |
Display | Loewe Xelos (81cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Rotel RSP-976. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Rotel RB 985 MkII |
Speakers | JBL TLX16s Front Speakers, Polk Audio LS fx di/bipole Rear Speakers, Polk Audio CS350-LS Centre Speaker, M&KV-75 Subwoofer |