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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
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.
Billy Madison (1995)

Billy Madison (1995)

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Released 24-Dec-2001

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1995
Running Time 86:04
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Tamra Davis
Studio
Distributor

Universal Pictures Home Video
Starring Adam Sandler
Darren McGavin
Bradley Whitford
Bridgette Wilson
Josh Mostel
Norm McDonald
Larry Hankin
Case ?
RPI ? Music Randy Edelman


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired
German
Dutch
Swedish
Norwegian
Danish
Finnish
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Adam Sandler had made some films which made money, even if they didn't win a lot of respect, so he got to make this movie, which he also had a hand in writing. 

    Billy Madison has Sandler playing Billy Madison, a 27 year old who has done nothing his entire life. Sandler clearly can't decide if Madison is drunk, stupid, mentally disturbed (what's with the penguin?), or some combination of all three. He has no idea of how to play any of these convincingly, and it shows.

    The plot is simple enough. Billy's father, Brian Madison (Darren McGavin), is retiring, and because Billy has never proven himself, Madison Sr. will be turning over control of the Madison chain of hotels to Eric Gordon (Bradley Whitford), rather than Billy. Billy questions this decision, and learns that he didn't pass a single grade of school by himself - his father bribed the teacher so Billy could win a spelling bee in grade 1. So, Billy vows to complete all 12 grades of school on his own merits, two weeks for each grade. A fairly stupid idea, but just the sort of thing parts of Hollywood thrive on.

    Billy lusts after one of the primary teachers (Bridgette Wilson) - that's understandable. She shows a reciprocal interest, which is completely incomprehensible.

    Eric, understandably, is not thrilled by the idea of Billy winning, so he plots to sabotage Billy's efforts. How that goes is quite silly, but it isn't the only silly part. Many of the minor characters are silly or weird. I don't blame Steve Buscemi or Chris Farley for ensuring that their parts are uncredited.

    All up, this is a horribly self-indulgent effort from Sandler. It's full of puerile humour, some of it quite pathetic, and some of it gross or offensive. If you thought American Pie was the height of humour, you'll love this. Otherwise, you might want to think twice. Oh, and the musical numbers are irritating, especially the ones Sandler sings. His dancing is a little more tolerable.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The image is a bit soft, but clear, with good shadow detail. There is no low level noise.

    Colour is excellent, beautifully saturated, with no trace of oversaturation or colour bleed.

    There are ample minor film artefacts, but none of them are distracting. There's lots of aliasing, but it's untroubling. There are moments of shimmer. All up, this is a fairly clean transfer.

    Subtitles are provided in seven languages, including English for the Hearing Impaired. The English subtitles are well-timed, and fairly accurate - there is a fair bit of abbreviation, but that's normal.

    The disc is single-sided and single layered. That means no layer change, which is one less thing to worry about.

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

Audio

    There are two soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 2.0 and German Dolby Digital 2.0, both of which are surround-encoded (not that you'd notice it). I only listened to the English soundtrack.

    The dialogue is clear and easy to understand and has no audio sync problems.

    Randy Edelman is responsible for the score. It is nothing special, but it doesn't interfere with the enjoyment of the rest of the movie.

    The soundtrack is surround encoded, so you'd expect to hear some surround sound, but there was no noticeable rear sound. The subwoofer didn't bother to wake up at any point during the movie. It wasn't missed.

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

Extras

Menu

    The menus are silent and static.

Theatrical Trailer (1:48)

    Nothing to get excited about - a simple trailer, presented in 1.33:1, not 16x9 enhanced.

R4 vs R1

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

    The Region 1 version of this disc will be released soon. It has more features than the R4 (production notes and web links), and a 5.1 soundtrack, but reports are that the 5.1 track offers nothing more than the 2.0 soundtrack we have. Reports are that the video quality of the R1 is very high. Both versions are 16x9 enhanced widescreen 1.85:1.

    Seems like the two versions are similar enough to make it a toss-up.

Summary

    Billy Madison is a poor film, presented quite nicely on DVD.

    The video quality is quite good.

    The audio quality is fine.

    The extra is basic.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Tony Rogers (bio-degrading: making a fool of oneself in a bio...)
Sunday, December 30, 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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