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The greatest "slob comedy" of all time, it is ironic that on
the eve of its release, few if any had faith in National Lampoon's
Animal House, least of all its studio, Universal. Yet here we
are 25 years later, still laughing at the low brow antics of Bluto
and the gang at Delta House. What was it that elevated just another
juvenile gross-out movie to the level of comic genuis? Why can
we not step into a frat house without thinking of toga parties,
"Twist & Shout" and food fights?
There's nothing in the otherwise raunchy and ribald Animal House
to hint at anything more than stupid humor, misogyny and lowest
common denominator satire destined to rot the brains of an entire
generation. But the slobs at Delta House are, ultimately, champions
of all those who have ever been picked on, unpopular or generally
ignored by the status quo. This isn't just the usual ugly behavior
of countless other stupid teenage party movies, it is the revelery
in the comeuppance of those who deserve to get it but good
that makes Animal House so delirious and delicious.
Underneath it all, Animal House is an ultimately sweet, innocuous
comedy. A little bit racy, a little bit smutty and quite a bit
un-PC, its morals are still in the right place (well, most of
hte time) and it has a big smile on its face. It also survives
as a snapshot of a more innocent place and time, before John Belushi
was found dead in his bungalow, Kevin Bacon got an arrow through
his throat in Friday the 13th and three people were killed on
the set of a John Landis movie. Back then we all thought we'd
ride off into the sunset after five years of college, happily
ever after. I'm sure both the slobs and the snobs of Animal House
never could have imagined what 2003 would look like. But we can
still go back in time and, if only for 109 minutes, forget what
it looks like, too.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Here we are with the third DVD release of National Lampoon's
Animal House. The first was a lowly full screen transfer best
forgotten. The second a decent widescreen remaster that still
looked a bit dirty. Now we have a new-new remaster in 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen, one that directtor John Landis at first called "too
good" until it was messed down a notch or two. It still looks
pretty darn good.
The most noticable improvement over the previous widescreen DVD
is the quality of the print, which is much cleaner and free from
most major blemishes and excessive dirt. Colors are also more
vibrant and clean, especially fleshtones, which previously looked
washed out. Detail still can't hope to rival today's biggest hits,
and Landis' wishes seemed to have been granted; shadow delineation
could have been better and sharpness suffers a bit. I also noticed
a bit of ringing around sharply contrasted objects but no real
compression artifacts. I suppose this could have looked even better,
but then who am I to argue with the director?
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
Also nice and new is a spiffy Dolby Digital 5.1 surround remix.
Also included are French and Spanish mono dubs, plus English
captions encoded as subtitles and French and Spanish subtitles.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Universal initially released Animal House on DVD earlier this
year in a pan and scan-only abomination that satisfied just about
no one. So, their recent announcement of this new Collector's
Edition was met with unanimously positive response. Of course,
this is a collector's edition, so the supplements are where this
disc sets itself apart. However, in comparison to some other Universal
special editions, this is a bit thin.
First up is another typically stellar Universal 30-minute
documentary The Yearbook - An Animal House Reunion by producer
JM Kenny, all brand-new and featuring interviews with just about
all the cast and crew, including director John Landis, stars Tim
Matheson, Karen Allen, Peter Riegert, Mark Metcalf, and even Kevin
Bacon (looking far less smarmy and obnoxious than he did way back
in 1978). It is a wonderful documentary, and certainly worth watching.
There are also some production notes, the theatrical
trailer and a weblink. Alas, no commentary tracks or significant
extras beyond the documentary. In light of that, this isn't as
comprehensive as previous Universal Collector's Editions, but
given the great documentary, satisfying nonetheless.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc
in your PC?
No ROM extras have been included.
Parting Thoughts
So, finally, we have the DVD of Animal House we have been waiting
for. Although not perfect, fans shouldn't be disappointed, and
definitely at least rent this if you haven't seen it before. While
it really doesn't have that many extras, the documentary is so
good I'm still giving it three stars for extras. A must-have for
fans.
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