| For a few years now, Mike Myers has created
some very quirky and terrific screen characters, which started from his days on Saturday
Night Live. He's also been responsible for writing all the main movies he has
starred in. The General belief of many critics has been that while he writes some
truly funny stuff, he's still yet to write HIS Citizen Kane. Even So, His Latest Austin Effort The Spy Who Shagged Me, is an
absolute hoot that will have you barrelling over from laughter, while at the same time you
cover your mouth in disgust.
This time around Myers takes on not only the Role of Austin and Dr Evil, but also that of
the most vile character created since Les Patterson, that of Fat Bastard.
For the role of Fat Bastard, Myers undergoes full body Prosthetics and the result is
almost as good as the work done to age F. Murray Abrahams from Amadeus. you simply won't
recognise Fat Bastard as really being Myers. (the Scottish accent is a giveaway fro anyone
who's seen SO I married an axe Murderer though).
Taking place in 1999, Austin discovers that his Bride
Vanessa (Liz Hurley) was really a Fembot of Dr Evil's. When Vanessa tries to kill
Austin by Self exploding Austin comes out unscathed with the realisation that he is again
very single baby!!!!
Meanwhile, Dr Evil has been floating in space, but is released from his cryogenic Big Boy
to again try and take over the world. This time around, his plan it to travel back
to the 60's in his "time" "machine" and steal Austin Power's Mojo (his
life force). The Ever reliable Number 2 (Robert Wagner) who is always looking for a
way to assist Dr Evil in his plans for World domination has created a clone of the Doctor,
problem is this clone is 1/8 his size. Aptly named Mini-Me by Dr Evil, Mini Me
(Verne Troyer) is every bit as bad as Dr Evil, much to the displeasure of Dr Evil's first
[artificially created in a lab] son Scott (Seth Green).
So Dr Evil and Mini me travel back to 1969 to steal Austin's Mojo which he successfully
does with help from Fat Bastard, the younger Number 2 (Rob Lowe, doing an terrific take of
Robert Wagner), and an un-aged Frau Farbisena (Mindy Sterling).
So it's up to Austin 1999 to also go back to the late 60's
to recover his Mojo.
In 1969 his Secret Agent partner is Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) she is the female
equivalent of Austin Powers, much to his pleasure, and hers.
In no time these two spies "connect" and join forces to try and defeat the Evil
Doctor.
So How Does This Transfer Hold Up??
VIDEO
Presented here on DVD in it's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and Anamorphic for
widescreen TVs, this is quite a nice looking transfer. Overall the image
looks a touch hazy and the black level is set a bit too high, so if like me you prefer a
slightly richer colour and deeper blacks, you're best to lower your brightness a touch.
Colour saturation is very high as expected from the Psychedelic looking Austin
Films, and looks even better with the lower brightness, at least to me.
Having access to the region 1 version, I could see they look very very similar, with the
only real difference being that our PAL version reveals a touch more detail, which makes
for a slightly smoother image.
There is however, one minor problem with our PAL version and that was pretty much confined
to Chapter 5 . In several shots, I saw what looked like Artifacting on some of the
wide shots, mostly on and around peoples faces. This Sequence looked to harsh for my
liking which is probably to blame for this problem, I could see ever so slight evidence of
it on the region 1 version, but the increased resolution of PAL must have also contributed
to the problem by bringing out the finer detail that little bit more.
Though only running 91 minutes, Austin 2 has been spread over 2 layers of an RSDL DVD..The
Layer Change occurs quite late in the movie at the 81:13 minute mark right in the middle
of the NATURAL fade to Black, and it just so happens that the region 1 version Changes
layers at this point to. I though this odd as PAL pictures take up More disc space
than NTSC, so would have expected the change to occur sooner on our DVD..anyhoo..nothing
too major
PS There is a scene at the very end of the credits
Video Highlights
Ch 03 07:19 - 07:27 Keep an eye on Kraplakistan
Ch 09 23:30 - 23:28 Just Enjoy yourself
Ch 11 27:46 - 27:47 Eye of the beholder
Ch 17 46:38 - 46:55 I'm dead sexy!!
AUDIO
Available in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 (English language),
I am pleased to say that like the audio track on Roadshow's Lost in Space the soundtrack
here is far superior to it's region 1 cousin. I see the region 1 5.1 version runs at
384kbps whereas ours runs a the higher rate of 448kbps. hmmmmmmmm
interesting, less compression even when not that much more must help some.
This aside, the Front soundstage in the 5.1 mix, at least, is reference quality.
Very aggressive, very dynamic, very rich sounding, with a KILLER LFE attack, and
there is so much more clarity to this version over the region 1 it's not funny. The
opening credits reveal this difference the most, with the centre channel vocals having
better projection, and simply sounding sweeter.
Even though it was released theatrically in Dolby EX Surround, there really isn't that
much surround activity that would fully utilise this extended feature. There is some
aggressive surround usage throughout the film, with ricocheting bullets, explosions and
the likes, but simply not enough. Coupled with a general low level Surround attack
(at all other times) it's effectiveness is somewhat lost.
But in saying that, having such a terrific Frontstage sound certainly makes up for any
rear channel short comings.
Our 5.1 mix is recorded about 5dB louder, so you'll want to drop the volume a touch.
Audio Highlights
Ch 01 03:26 - 03:42 Machinegun Jubblies
Ch 05 14:04 - 14:10 I shall call him..Mini-me
Ch 13 33:37 - 33:51 Meet Fat Bastard
Ch 21 56:08 - 56:45 The Island of Dr Evil
Ch 25 65:15 - 65:32 To the Moon with Mini-me
Ch 25 70:09 - 70:25 Apollo 11
EXTRAS
There are some great DVD exclusive features on offer for Austin 2..just look at them
- Commentary Track (with director Jay Roach, Mike Myers and his writing
partner Michael McCullers) A great comm track, almost on par with that of Austin 1.
Some may notice a slight ringing in this audio track (the region 1 version has it to, only
worse!!! so it must be in the master)
- Deleted Scenes ..21 scenes cut from the film totalling a whopping 18
minutes. From the looks of it, these extras may have been faked from 4x3 letterboxed
to the 16:9 format, or maybe converted straight from NTSC, as they look a bit crappy
compared to the very nice looking NTSC deleted scenes (which DO look like true 16:9)...No
major dramas though
- Behind the Scenes a look at the making of Austin powers 2 ..runs for
about 26 minutes, is 16:9 Enhanced and YES IT HAS CHAPTERS!!!!!!!
- Music Videos Madonna's Beautiful Stranger, Lenny Kravitz's American
Woman, and Scary Spice's Word Up. all 16:9 Enhanced with Dolby 2.0
- Trailers Now these are terrific, Two Teasers trailers that are 16:9
Enhanced with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio that sounds great, the Austin 2 Theatrical Trailer
that is also 16:9 Enhanced with a nice DD5.1 track, and finally the Austin 1 trailer in
16:9 and DD5.1
- Cameos This feature allows you to view the Biographies of the actors
who have cameos in the film AND you can jump to their scene in the movie
- Cast and Crew Bios and Filmographies (the Bios are missing from the
region 1 version)
- HIDDEN FEATURES Don't get too excited One on the main Page is the
Austin Power's Credit's page and the other on the Special Features Menu is just a plug for
the Austin Trivia Game.
- Interactive Menus I don't normally mention much about the menus but in
this case, Mike Myers had a lot of input with this DVD and has recorded some snippets and
video footage used in the menus. Other than saying a few actual lines he also
appears on the Special Features page and indicates EACH feature on the DVD...nice touch.
The Chapter Selections are also made of moving video footage and appear in a
disjointed approach which is fun to watch unravel.
- Dolby Digital CANYON trailer (almost forgot to mention it)
* All the extra features also have an extra chapter at the end of each title, so as you
can skip straight to the end of the sequence and instead of going to the next title (which
is what the pioneer players do) it picks up on the extra chapter which takes you back to
the main menu (I which everyone included this as it's very handy)
- The only thing missing from the region 4 version is the DVD ROM extras..just part of the
trivia game, and a few other goodies.....nothing you'll really miss
Many people Loved Austin 2 more than Austin 1 (sorry I prefer the original), but this is
still bloody funny stuff and a great DVD to boot. A lot of Fun to be had here.
Roadshow have scored the Daily Double with their Austin DVDs (be nice if they
bought out an Austin double DVD pack wouldn't it, guys??)
| PICTURE QUALITY |
7.5/10 a bit hazy for the
most part |
SOUND
- Quality
- 5.1 WOW Factor |
- 10/10 Very smooth with Excellent detail
- 7/10 Surround Presence Level generally too low |
| FEATURES |
10/10 Killer extras |
Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717 (using RGB outputs)
Receiver: Marantz SR870 & Sony SDP-EP9ES
Speakers:-
Fronts: B&W 602
Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
Rears: Jamo Magic 14
Subby: M&K V125
- Reviewed 13th January 2000
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