Mouse Hunt (1997)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio Deleted Scenes Theatrical Trailer-2
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	93:35 (Case: 98)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (60:11)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Gore Verbinski
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Nathan Lane Lee Evans Maury Chaykin Christopher Walken
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	$39.95	Music	Alan Silvestri

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Dutch Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Norwegian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.00:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English German Dutch Swedish Norwegian Danish Finnish	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Did you enjoy Tom and Jerry cartoons? Or Sylvester and Tweety? Or Roadrunner and Wylie Coyote? That's the sort of thing I was reminded of when watching Mouse Hunt. Because it is live-action, rather than animation, it is more akin in appearance to Home Alone, but I liked this movie more. Perhaps that's because the violence is more cartoonish in this movie - Home Alone seemed more vicious. There are several moments where I laughed out loud, and one or two where I cringed. Just a hint - don't watch this movie during dinner - you may get put off your food by an early scene in a restaurant.

    Unless you want to shield your children from cartoon violence, let them watch it with you - they will enjoy it even more than you do. What? You thought this was a kid's movie? Nah, but let them think so!

Video

    The movie is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.96:1. It is 16x9 enhanced. The original aspect ratio is 1.85:1, so this is very close. It looks fabulous on a widescreen display.

    The picture is sharp, clear, gorgeous...I could use all the clichéd adjectives, but they are not strong enough - it is simply the closest thing to perfection I have yet seen. Shadow detail is excellent, with plenty of chances to show it off, and no trace of low-level noise.

    Colour is spot on.

    There are no film artefacts. There are no MPEG artefacts. There were a couple of moments where there was a trace of a threat of some aliasing...

    The disc is single-sided and dual layered (RSDL-formatted) with the layer change at 60:11. The change is in the middle of a scene, but it is at a natural pause, in silence, so it is hard to spot. I missed it the first time. I think they are showing off.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There are five soundtracks, in English, German, Dutch, Swedish, and Norwegian. Of those languages, I speak only English, so I listened to that. It is Dolby Digital 5.1, at 448 kbps (rather than the more pedestrian 384).

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. There were no audio sync problems.

    The score is good stuff - a bit cartoonish (there's that word again) during the extended slapstick sequences, but that's the way it should be.

    This movie is 5.1, and you find out why during the prologue - they have used the surround speakers superbly for directional effects. You can hear effects sweep from the rear to the front of the soundstage - this is why I invested in 5.1 sound!

    The subwoofer is nicely integrated into the sound - I didn't notice it directly, but it was supporting the score and the effects.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

From The Cutting Room Floor

Trailer 1 (1:59)

Trailer 2 (1:01)

    The video quality is exquisite and is of reference quality.

    The audio quality is excellent and is also of reference quality.

    The extras are meagre.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall