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Patch Adams: Ultimate Edition
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I've been suprised that film schools have not started classes analyzing the success of certain films. "Patch Adams", a film that was often critically saved in the Winter of a few years back, kept going throughout the Spring and went on to gross 135 million dollars. A true story with feel good emotion button-pushing and cliched characters and actions, the film attempts to wring emotions out of the viewer. While not a completely irritable piece of work to sit through, "Patch Adams" simply doesn't achieve its intended response.
Robin Williams stars as Patch Adams, a man who, in the opening, is in the State Psychiatric Ward. Once he is able to be released, he decides that he's going to go to Virginia Medical University with a plan: to actually connect emotionally with the patients rather than having them just be another "number" to be dealt with by doctors. Of course, he runs into Dean Walcott(Bob Gunton), who is extremely irritated with the ideas that Patch is throwing about. The arguement gets taken to a point where Patch is in danger of getting thrown out of school.
The humor of Robin Williams has always walked a thin line for me. Not a particularly subtle comedian, his jokes do often work well for me, but when asked to be wacky and emotional in films like "Patch Adams", his humor doesn't feel organic, it feels manufactured and forced. Not only that, but in a film that's supposed to be slightly serious about helping people who are sick, the film takes the bathroom humor one step too far.
Nor is the film terribly moving. The film takes the drama and tries to squeeze tears out of the audience - the audience realizes its being manipulated (and not very well at that) and it doesn't happen. Williams can be a strong dramatic actor as shown in Gus Van Sant's "Good Will Hunting"; had he leaned the character a little farther that way, maybe not only the humor but drama would be more easily accepted. Director Tom Shadyac also is at fault, moving awkwardly between humor and drama, especially a dark scene later in the film that really feels out of place.
The DVD
VIDEO: The same 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer that was included on the previous Collector's and DTS editions returns again here. It's an earlier presentation from Universal and although mostly pleasant looking, there are some flaws throughout the movie. Sharpness and detail are fairly good; some of the movie has a rather soft look to it, but usually, the picture remains well-defined and crisp.
Problems are fairly minimal - there are some instances of light edge enhancement and hints of pixelation, but print flaws remain absent. Colors are rich and warm - possibly a little too warm at times, but still very fine looking. Overall, a slightly above average picture.
SOUND: "Patch Adams" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.0 and DTS 5.0 on both the full_frame and anamorphic widescreen editions on this Ultimate Edition DVD (previously, there were individual full_frame Dolby Digital, widescreen Dolby Digital and widescreen DTS editions - essentially, they've all been combined here. The film does not present more than the average comedy sound mix, meaning that the majority of the movie is simply dialogue, with the only element that really serves to open things up being the music.
Surround use is very minimal; the surrounds lightly offer the music at times as well as a couple of slight ambient sounds, but that's about it. The DTS edition provides a slightly fuller, crisper sound but the differences are hardly noticable.
MENUS:: MENUS:: Menus are very nicely animated with clips from the movie and a piece of the score in the background. The packaging is a bit of a mistake from Universal. They've used the same clear plastic packaging that the "Sex and the City" season one disc used. Although there's a lot of possibilities with the design and art on a case like this, there's also the fact that these attract fingerprints well and can get scratched. The discs also seem to have a greater chance of falling out during shipment.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: The commentary by director Tom Shadyac is quite interesting. This is one of those commentaries where I didn't care for the movie, but when you sort of "see it through the eyes" of the director, it begins to slightly be redeemed. Maybe he just talks well, but I at least began to understand more the choices that he was trying for. Shadyac doesn't talk about simply what's on screen, he talks about the layers behind what we're seeing, which is always appreciated. There's some technical details thrown in, such as how they achieved the opening shot walking through the bus, or a few effects that were added in. Shadyac is energetic about the commentary, which is enjoyable as well. There are some filmmakers who feel as if they've been forced to talk. Also, there aren't many pauses in the presentation by Shadyac, either- he talks non-stop throughout. He also talks about shooting the movie in anamorphic, which is really interesting to hear about- it also means that the pan/scan version of this film is going to be missing a lot of information. A few very funny moments during the commentary also lighten up the experience of watching the film.
Outtakes:A few very funny moments of outtakes from the film.
Documentary: "The Medicinal Value Of Laughter": A very funny and interesting documentary on the original "Patch Adams", looking at interviews from the real Patch Adams and scenes from the film. There are also interviews from the cast and crew on how they brought this story to screen. The interview segments with the real Patch were interesting enough so that I wish that Universal could have included a commentary track with him on this disc as well; it would have been interesting to hear his views on how the filmmakers brought his life to screen. It's not the most detailed commentary; it's the usual interview, clip, interview, clip version of a documentary that we see, but I think the viewpoints and concepts that are presented by the people who are interviewed add a nice additional layer to the experience of viewing the film- hearing about the history of the project. You can also choose the isolated score while watching this documentary, as well. The documentary runs about 16 minutes.
ALSO: The trailer (as well as a trailer for "The Nutty Professor" in the recommendations section, production notes, cast/crew bios
Deleted Scenes: Newly added on the second disc are six deleted scenes. Some are slightly amusing, but don't really push the plot along and were probably taken out due to running time.
Storyboard/Scene Comparison: Splot/screen storyboard & final scene comparisons for "The Hello Experiment", "Children's Ward", "One Last Safari".
Take 10 and Call Me In The Morning: Text lists from Patch Adams about what books & magazines to read as well as other things to do to maintain a happy, productive life. Alrighty, then.
Final Thoughts: "Patch Adams" is a sappy drama that occasionally gets a few decent jokes across, but certainly a more accomplished director could have made something more substancial and less awkward out of it. But, it made 135 million, so who am I to say. I'm not sure about the demand for an Ultimate edition of "Patch Adams", but they have combined all of the previous editions of the film here and added a couple additional features. If you're a fan of the film or interested in picking it up, this is certainly the edition to get.
I've been suprised that film schools have not started classes analyzing the success of certain films. "Patch Adams", a film that was often critically saved in the Winter of a few years back, kept going throughout the Spring and went on to gross 135 million dollars. A true story with feel good emotion button-pushing and cliched characters and actions, the film attempts to wring emotions out of the viewer. While not a completely irritable piece of work to sit through, "Patch Adams" simply doesn't achieve its intended response.Robin Williams stars as Patch Adams, a man who, in the opening, is in the State Psychiatric Ward. Once he is able to be released, he decides that he's going to go to Virginia Medical University with a plan: to actually connect emotionally with the patients rather than having them just be another "number" to be dealt with by doctors. Of course, he runs into Dean Walcott(Bob Gunton), who is extremely irritated with the ideas that Patch is throwing about. The arguement gets taken to a point where Patch is in danger of getting thrown out of school.
The humor of Robin Williams has always walked a thin line for me. Not a particularly subtle comedian, his jokes do often work well for me, but when asked to be wacky and emotional in films like "Patch Adams", his humor doesn't feel organic, it feels manufactured and forced. Not only that, but in a film that's supposed to be slightly serious about helping people who are sick, the film takes the bathroom humor one step too far.
Nor is the film terribly moving. The film takes the drama and tries to squeeze tears out of the audience - the audience realizes its being manipulated (and not very well at that) and it doesn't happen. Williams can be a strong dramatic actor as shown in Gus Van Sant's "Good Will Hunting"; had he leaned the character a little farther that way, maybe not only the humor but drama would be more easily accepted. Director Tom Shadyac also is at fault, moving awkwardly between humor and drama, especially a dark scene later in the film that really feels out of place.
The DVD
VIDEO: The same 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer that was included on the previous Collector's and DTS editions returns again here. It's an earlier presentation from Universal and although mostly pleasant looking, there are some flaws throughout the movie. Sharpness and detail are fairly good; some of the movie has a rather soft look to it, but usually, the picture remains well-defined and crisp.
Problems are fairly minimal - there are some instances of light edge enhancement and hints of pixelation, but print flaws remain absent. Colors are rich and warm - possibly a little too warm at times, but still very fine looking. Overall, a slightly above average picture.
SOUND: "Patch Adams" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.0 and DTS 5.0 on both the full_frame and anamorphic widescreen editions on this Ultimate Edition DVD (previously, there were individual full_frame Dolby Digital, widescreen Dolby Digital and widescreen DTS editions - essentially, they've all been combined here. The film does not present more than the average comedy sound mix, meaning that the majority of the movie is simply dialogue, with the only element that really serves to open things up being the music.
Surround use is very minimal; the surrounds lightly offer the music at times as well as a couple of slight ambient sounds, but that's about it. The DTS edition provides a slightly fuller, crisper sound but the differences are hardly noticable.
MENUS:: MENUS:: Menus are very nicely animated with clips from the movie and a piece of the score in the background. The packaging is a bit of a mistake from Universal. They've used the same clear plastic packaging that the "Sex and the City" season one disc used. Although there's a lot of possibilities with the design and art on a case like this, there's also the fact that these attract fingerprints well and can get scratched. The discs also seem to have a greater chance of falling out during shipment.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: The commentary by director Tom Shadyac is quite interesting. This is one of those commentaries where I didn't care for the movie, but when you sort of "see it through the eyes" of the director, it begins to slightly be redeemed. Maybe he just talks well, but I at least began to understand more the choices that he was trying for. Shadyac doesn't talk about simply what's on screen, he talks about the layers behind what we're seeing, which is always appreciated. There's some technical details thrown in, such as how they achieved the opening shot walking through the bus, or a few effects that were added in. Shadyac is energetic about the commentary, which is enjoyable as well. There are some filmmakers who feel as if they've been forced to talk. Also, there aren't many pauses in the presentation by Shadyac, either- he talks non-stop throughout. He also talks about shooting the movie in anamorphic, which is really interesting to hear about- it also means that the pan/scan version of this film is going to be missing a lot of information. A few very funny moments during the commentary also lighten up the experience of watching the film.
Outtakes:A few very funny moments of outtakes from the film.
Documentary: "The Medicinal Value Of Laughter": A very funny and interesting documentary on the original "Patch Adams", looking at interviews from the real Patch Adams and scenes from the film. There are also interviews from the cast and crew on how they brought this story to screen. The interview segments with the real Patch were interesting enough so that I wish that Universal could have included a commentary track with him on this disc as well; it would have been interesting to hear his views on how the filmmakers brought his life to screen. It's not the most detailed commentary; it's the usual interview, clip, interview, clip version of a documentary that we see, but I think the viewpoints and concepts that are presented by the people who are interviewed add a nice additional layer to the experience of viewing the film- hearing about the history of the project. You can also choose the isolated score while watching this documentary, as well. The documentary runs about 16 minutes.
ALSO: The trailer (as well as a trailer for "The Nutty Professor" in the recommendations section, production notes, cast/crew bios
Deleted Scenes: Newly added on the second disc are six deleted scenes. Some are slightly amusing, but don't really push the plot along and were probably taken out due to running time.
Storyboard/Scene Comparison: Splot/screen storyboard & final scene comparisons for "The Hello Experiment", "Children's Ward", "One Last Safari".
Take 10 and Call Me In The Morning: Text lists from Patch Adams about what books & magazines to read as well as other things to do to maintain a happy, productive life. Alrighty, then.
Final Thoughts: "Patch Adams" is a sappy drama that occasionally gets a few decent jokes across, but certainly a more accomplished director could have made something more substancial and less awkward out of it. But, it made 135 million, so who am I to say. I'm not sure about the demand for an Ultimate edition of "Patch Adams", but they have combined all of the previous editions of the film here and added a couple additional features. If you're a fan of the film or interested in picking it up, this is certainly the edition to get.
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