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Now Available |
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"He's
the best there is! (Actually, he's the only one there is)" |
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Release
date |
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2nd November 2001 |
| Reviewer |
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Paul James |
| Audio |
|
English |
| Subtitle/s |
|
English, Spanish, portugeuse |
| Region
Code |
|
2,4 |
| Chapters |
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31 |
| Disc
Format |
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DVD5 |
| Running Time |
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87 minutes |
| Classification
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|
M15+ (Low Level
Course Language) |
| Distributor |
|
Warner |
 DVD EXTRAS |
- None! |
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CAST & CREW Director Tom
Shadyac Cast Jim Carrey, Courtney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc,
/ Music Ira Newborn |
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 ... |
Pleasure to meet you.
Did you have any trouble getting in?
No, the guy with the rubber glove was surprisingly gentle."
Ace Ventura Pet Detective in my opinion is Jim
Carrey’s best comedic work to date, he has such amazing talent that I just watch him
awe and amazement. The film is the perfect vehicle for Carrey and is just hilarious, there
are so many scenes from the beginning right through till the end which just crack me up.
In particular the scenes at the mental institute with Carrey wearing a tutu are just
absolute comedic lunacy and how the other actors can keep a straight face is beyond me,
there must have been outtakes galore.
The film released in 1994 was a major hit worldwide, I remember seeing it at the cinema
and the entire audience cracked up from beginning to end. If you haven’t seen it the
basic synopsis is Ace Ventura (Carrey) a pet detective in Miami whose job it is to track
down missing or stolen pets. He is hired by Melissa Robinson (Courtney Cox) of the Miami
Dolphins football team to try and find ‘Snowflake’ their dolphin mascot who has
been stolen.
In his quest to find ‘Snowflake’ Ace gets himself into some hilarious
situations with sharks, football players and a she-man (the Police Lieutenant Lois
Einhorn) (Sean Young).
With an incredible script with lines like…
Listen, pet dick. How
would you like me to make your life a living hell?
Well, I'm not really ready for a relationship, Lois, but thank you for asking. Hey, maybe
I'll give you a call sometime. Your number's still 911? All righty then.
and a fantastic performance by Carrey (I
can’t imagine anybody else in this role). Ace Ventura is a must see for anybody that
loves a good laugh. |
So how does this transfer hold up?
.... |
VIDEO
Warner decided to release the DVD in Region 4 as NTSC only. NTSC being
the American colour standard and PAL being what we use in Australia means you must have a
TV that can output NTSC or a DVD player that can change NTSC to PAL to view this film in
colour. If you don’t you’ll just end up with a black and white picture.
Understandably this can have a huge confusing effect amongst the consumer market who may
not be as technically minded as the rest of us (basically it would confuse the hell out of
Mr & Mrs Joe 6pack). So it looks like Warner has taken to cheap way out and most
probably just used the Region 1 transfer.
The video transfer is also non widescreen and non anamorphic being released in
full frame (4x3) mode in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1. As far as I know this is the
same as the Region 1 version. Checking with the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) the
original aspect ratio appears to be 1.85:1 using Panavision cameras and lenses. This means
that we should be able to get an anamorphic widescreen transfer with the aspect ratio of
1.85:1. Why that is the case with both Region 1 & 4 I don’t know seeing as the
Region 2 release is anamorphic widescreen.
The quality of our transfer is average enough, to me it
looks like I am watching a very good television broadcast. Colours are plain, the image
looks a little worn with a few film scratches and specks here and there. Shadow detail is
average and the transfer looks a tad soft at times. |
AUDIO
Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 channel the audio is fair,
the film is strictly about comedy so as long as you can hear and understand what the
actors are saying then that’s the most important. You can as the audio is clear and
the dialogue easy to understand. Other than that don’t really expect any more, the
front sound stage is used well for the soundtrack and that’s about it. |
EXTRAS
The Region 1 version has an audio commentary, we don’t.
There are no extras to speak of here, Warner have listed on the back of the DVD cover, Interactive
menus, Scene Access, Subtitles & Dolby Surround languages as special
features. These are NOT special features as EVERY bloody DVD on the market has them. My
idea of special features are commentaries, featurettes, outtakes, deleted scenes and so
on.
Overall an excellent film on an average DVD. I can’t
see any future releases in Region 4 with a better version of this film and to be honest
you soon forget the shortfalls of the DVD and get caught up in the film so it’s not
all doom and gloom. Recommend viewing for sure, but as for part of the collection well
that’ll all depend on how big a fan of the film you are. |
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| DVD Ratings |
PICTURE_QUALITY |
6/10
– Non anamorphic & full frame. |
_ |
SOUND_Quality |
6/10 – Clear
dialogue. |
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5.1_WOW_Factor |
N/A |
_ |
| EXTRAS |
0/10
– Nil to speak of. |
REVIEW_DATE
7th December 2001 |
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Review Equipment |
| Monitor |
Pioneer SD-T43W1 (16:9 RPTV) |
Speakers |
Fronts: Polk Audio RT55 |
| Receiver |
Yamaha RXV995 (DD/DTS) |
_ |
Centre: Polk Audio CS350 |
| DVD_Player |
Pioneer DV535 |
_ |
Rears: Polk Audio RT/fx |
| Interconnects |
QED S-Video & QED Optical |
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Sub: M&K MX125 |
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| * jpeg
files for internet promotion use only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by
Warner Home Video |
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