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City Slickers
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Yes, there was a low period ("Father's Day", anyone?) for Billy Crystal, although after the enormous success of "City Slickers" and Rob Reiner's "When Harry Met Sally", it was questionable if he was going to go much higher in the comedy genre. "City Slickers" is easily some of his finest work, not overdoing it with the performance, and backed by some incredibly funny and smartly written dialogue by famed comedy writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell.
Much of the film's success can probably be attributed to the fact that it appeals across many demographics - the kids can enjoy the slapstick and occasional excitement while the jokes go over their head, and the adults can appreciate the mid-life crisis situation of the main character as well as the humor. Crystal stars as Mitch, a guy who sells radio air time and, of course, begins to wonder if this is all that life has in store for him (hey, selling ad media isn't that boring, it's something that I'm interested in doing for a living). Anyways, things come to a head and Mitch decides that the best thing to do would be to go West, old man, and do some old-fashioned ranching with friends Ed(Bruno Kirby) and Phil(Daniel Stern).
Their task - to drive cattle from Mexico to Colorado. Along the way, they learn about themselves and begin to appreciate what they have in their lives, or something along those lines. They're joined by a couple of rather cartoonish characters and one rather intimidating one - Curly(Jack Palance), is the trail boss who keeps the crew in line and generally scares them with his threatening looks. Supporting performances by Kirby and Stern are also perfect, remaining honest and good-natured.
And, that's really what took "City Slickers" beyond the comedic pack. Besides the witty humor and excellent performances, there's a heart and soul behind it that makes us care about the characters and situations - unfortunately, that seems rather rare in recent mainstream comedies, but it's definitely a reason why the film went on to be a $124 million success at the box office.
The DVD
VIDEO: MGM would probably have some seriously angry consumers after them (who would be waiting in line behind the folks already angered by some of their recent efforts) if they screwed this one up - and thankfully they did one of their above-average but not fantastic jobs that they usually reserve for some of their more highly regarded titles. As for "Slickers", the image quality mainly looked very good - sharpness and detail were pleasing if not excellent and the picture remained mostly free of artifacts.
Well, as I said - mostly free of problems. The film isn't without a few little hints of age as some slight speckles and marks do pop up on occasion. Thankfully, edge enhancement and pixelation are generally absent, with only a couple of very minimal exceptions.
Colors appeared generally very good; reds seemed a little heavy, but otherwise, the picture remained bright and colorful, with the browns of the desert and the blues of the sky both looking strong. I am a little tough on the studio after several recent titles that I was dissapointed with and, although they haven't improved with their lack of features, I will admit that I've been happier with the presentation of the last couple of efforts I've seen.
SOUND: This is a perfectly adequate Dolby 2.0 presentation. Most of it is dialogue-driven, but Marc Shaiman's absolutely perfect score sounds clear and crisp, filling the room with ease. I didn't expect much from a comedy like this in terms of sound, and with only a couple of exceptions, I didn't get much. There were a couple of scenes where the cattle are running that are very mildly agressive, but nothing really more than that. Thankfully, quality remains solid as, again, the music sounded great and the dialogue sounded natural and clear.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: The trailer.
Final Thoughts: MGM does occasionally hit the mark in terms of presentation - and they have here, but I simply wish they would stop with the quantity over quality routine. DVD can do, be and offer so much that it's unfortunate that they don't take advantage of all they can do with the format. A title as big as "City Slickers" could have used more than just a trailer - and although it may have cost more, a big special edition would have probably moved even more copies off shelves. The price of $14.95 at most stores makes this an appealing offer and the film is good enough to recommend, but you'd think a film that made 124 million at the box office would get a bit more of a disc.
Yes, there was a low period ("Father's Day", anyone?) for Billy Crystal, although after the enormous success of "City Slickers" and Rob Reiner's "When Harry Met Sally", it was questionable if he was going to go much higher in the comedy genre. "City Slickers" is easily some of his finest work, not overdoing it with the performance, and backed by some incredibly funny and smartly written dialogue by famed comedy writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell.
Much of the film's success can probably be attributed to the fact that it appeals across many demographics - the kids can enjoy the slapstick and occasional excitement while the jokes go over their head, and the adults can appreciate the mid-life crisis situation of the main character as well as the humor. Crystal stars as Mitch, a guy who sells radio air time and, of course, begins to wonder if this is all that life has in store for him (hey, selling ad media isn't that boring, it's something that I'm interested in doing for a living). Anyways, things come to a head and Mitch decides that the best thing to do would be to go West, old man, and do some old-fashioned ranching with friends Ed(Bruno Kirby) and Phil(Daniel Stern).
Their task - to drive cattle from Mexico to Colorado. Along the way, they learn about themselves and begin to appreciate what they have in their lives, or something along those lines. They're joined by a couple of rather cartoonish characters and one rather intimidating one - Curly(Jack Palance), is the trail boss who keeps the crew in line and generally scares them with his threatening looks. Supporting performances by Kirby and Stern are also perfect, remaining honest and good-natured.
And, that's really what took "City Slickers" beyond the comedic pack. Besides the witty humor and excellent performances, there's a heart and soul behind it that makes us care about the characters and situations - unfortunately, that seems rather rare in recent mainstream comedies, but it's definitely a reason why the film went on to be a $124 million success at the box office.
The DVD
VIDEO: MGM would probably have some seriously angry consumers after them (who would be waiting in line behind the folks already angered by some of their recent efforts) if they screwed this one up - and thankfully they did one of their above-average but not fantastic jobs that they usually reserve for some of their more highly regarded titles. As for "Slickers", the image quality mainly looked very good - sharpness and detail were pleasing if not excellent and the picture remained mostly free of artifacts.
Well, as I said - mostly free of problems. The film isn't without a few little hints of age as some slight speckles and marks do pop up on occasion. Thankfully, edge enhancement and pixelation are generally absent, with only a couple of very minimal exceptions.
Colors appeared generally very good; reds seemed a little heavy, but otherwise, the picture remained bright and colorful, with the browns of the desert and the blues of the sky both looking strong. I am a little tough on the studio after several recent titles that I was dissapointed with and, although they haven't improved with their lack of features, I will admit that I've been happier with the presentation of the last couple of efforts I've seen.
SOUND: This is a perfectly adequate Dolby 2.0 presentation. Most of it is dialogue-driven, but Marc Shaiman's absolutely perfect score sounds clear and crisp, filling the room with ease. I didn't expect much from a comedy like this in terms of sound, and with only a couple of exceptions, I didn't get much. There were a couple of scenes where the cattle are running that are very mildly agressive, but nothing really more than that. Thankfully, quality remains solid as, again, the music sounded great and the dialogue sounded natural and clear.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: The trailer.
Final Thoughts: MGM does occasionally hit the mark in terms of presentation - and they have here, but I simply wish they would stop with the quantity over quality routine. DVD can do, be and offer so much that it's unfortunate that they don't take advantage of all they can do with the format. A title as big as "City Slickers" could have used more than just a trailer - and although it may have cost more, a big special edition would have probably moved even more copies off shelves. The price of $14.95 at most stores makes this an appealing offer and the film is good enough to recommend, but you'd think a film that made 124 million at the box office would get a bit more of a disc.
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