| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Grinch: Collector's Edition, The
Universal // PG // November 20, 2001
List Price: $26.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I walked out of "The Grinch" last Winter and found myself mildly dissapointed. I'd thought that Ron Howard and Jim Carrey might actually have a sizable failure on their hands - of course, the film has now entered into the "What Do I Know?" catagory, as it went on to be one of the biggest moneymakers of all time, not only raking in over 200 million dollars at the box office, but bringing in untold millions in licensed products.
"The Grinch" does have one wonderfully rich piece of the puzzle: Jim Carrey, who cements his reputation in my mind as something of an "absurd genius" with his performance as the title character. Let me get that out of the way before I go any further. Buried under tons of makeup, he still shines through. Using both his voice brilliantly and his skill for physical comedy wonderfully, he takes the film away. He is a genius, but in this case, maybe he's just too good for the movie that surrounds him. Carrey does the Grinch so perfectly that when he's not on-screen, the movie stalls.
The film revolves around the Whos, who live in Whoville, which is made up of overblown Christmas-themed sets. The Grinch, on the other hand, lives on top of a mountain filled with garbage, hating Christmas - but even more so, hating how he was made fun of as a little Grinch in school. If I remember correctly, we're not supposed to like the Grinch, right? This feature film turns the tables and makes us dislike the Whos, who we hardly get to know in much depth or detail.
The look of the film really doesn't do it any favors, either. The sets are overdone and too artificial looking and the colors seem off, as well. Rather than bright, they seem muddled and murky. The movie seems to also be inconsistently shot with a soft look, which was an odd choice by director Ron Howard and usually reliable cinematographer Don Peterman, who has worked on Barry Sonnenfeld's pictures. This near-hazy look seemed to only succeed in obscuring the detail of the sets.
The film also suffers from a running time that could have easily been shortened by at least 15 minutes. Taken from a rather short source, the story seems stretched out with too many subplots and moments of filler. Above it all, one has to be amazed by Carrey, who not only suffered through what was reportedly a lot of pain with the special contact lenses that he had to wear and general uncomfort with the make-up, but was able to still remain so impressively lively when buried under all that...stuff. It's Carrey's occasionally amazing work which wrings what few laughs come from "The Grinch". Maybe they shouldn't have chosen a screenplay from the writers of "Wild, Wild West"? Just a thought.
While not a total failure (and certainly not a failure at the box office) one wishes that "The Grinch" would have followed a little closer to the original story and went through a few revisions and changes and edits to make the pace stronger, dialogue sharper and "look" better.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Grinch" is presented by Universal in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This widescreen edition, as with all Universal titles, is anamorphic. Aside from a few minor flaws, the film looks exactly like it did in the theaters, which is not entirely a positive comment. Sharpness and detail are not particularly strong throughout the movie and the film can occasionally look noticably soft to the point of appearing hazy. This is how the film appeared in theaters and was apparently a choice from director Ron Howard and cinematographer Don Peterman.
Aside from the occasional definite softness, I really didn't find much in the way of other concerns. Print flaws remained minor throughout the picture, as only a few minor specks were occasionally visible, but only briefly. A light trace of edge enhancement was seen once or twice, but hardly distracted and, aside from those minimal faults, the picture appeared clean.
Colors, again, do not exactly appear eye-popping throughout the movie. Occasionally they look flatter and somewhat drab, but often they just appear respectable, with the reds coming through the strongest of any color. A nice transfer that captures the look of the movie accurately.
The layer change is at 1:06:47, right in the begining of Carrey's impression of director Ron Howard.
SOUND: "The Grinch" is presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. The film's sound design was generally appropriate and took advantage of the opportunities that some scenes presented for surround use. While not agressive, the surrounds were put into use occasionally for sound effects, such as a few echoes during the scenes when the Grinch was in his cave. Other than those occasional sound effects, the score was occasionally nicely re-inforced by the rear speakers. Audio quality remained pleasant throughout, as the music displayed nice warmth, while dialogue and sound effects both came through clearly. The DTS edition of the soundtrack remained more pleasing throughout the film, offering a noticably richer and more detailed sound in comparison to the Dolby Digital edition.
I was also pleased to see that Universal has included DVS (Descriptive Video Service) on this DVD edition. What this is is a "narration" of the movie for those who are blind. Not only is this provided for the feature, but it's also available for the supplemental features, as well. Nice work!
MENUS:: A clip from the movie leads into a fun, animated main menu. Even better though, are the well-done animated transitions between the main and sub-menus.
EXTRAS::
Spotlight On Location: This is considerably shorter than the usual Universal making-of featurette at about 7 minutes, but it does thankfully get to the point and provide some interesting information in the limited length. The interviews that start off the documentary are rather promotional, but there are some interesting elements later on, such discussion of the effects (matte paintings as backgrounds), bringing in Hopkins to narrate and other tidbits.
Deleted Scenes: 9 1/2 minutes of deleted scenes were presented in this section. Unfortunately, they were neither available to select separately nor with audio commentary. While these extended and deleted sequences were occasionally funny, they didn't really do much for the story and would have really just added additional length.
Outtakes: The outtakes portion of any disc is always welcome, as it gives the viewer a chance to see the actors mess up or simply let loose on set. Although one would expect hilarity from outtakes of Jim Carrey, these were simply ok, occasionally bringing a smile, but no huge laughs were to be found here in this 3 minute section.
Who School: This is an interesting, if unfortunately rather short, featurette about the stunt coordinator's desire to craft a certain physical language for the Who characters, some of whom are Cirque De Soleil performers, which I didn't know.
Make-Up Design: Rick Baker is easily one of the most highly regarded make-up designers in Hollywood and this featurette has Baker discussing his visions for the make-up of both the Grinch and the Who characters. The featurette also shows some of the original concepts and moments of behind-the-scenes looks at application.
Seussian Set Design: This featurette offers interviews with both the production designer and director Ron Howard, who discuss their views about taking the world of Whoville from the page and expanding it outwards for the screen.
Visual Effects: This 10 minute featurette offers visual effects supervisor Kevin Mack discussing his role in the picture. While I was aware that the film involved some visual effects sequences and artificial backgrounds, I was impressed to find that the film involved 600 visual effects shots, including extending the town outward, adding additional virtual people in the backgrounds and other added elements. We're also shown the various stages of various shots as effects are added in. I definitely found this to be the more interesting and informative of the featurettes included.
Also: Faith Hill, "Where Are You Christmas?" music video,Wholiday Recipes, By the Numbers (text list of the impressive amount of some of the supplies used in the film), trailer (Dolby 2.0), promo, "E.T." theatrical re-release trailer, production notes, cast/crew bios, recommendations, DVD-ROM materials, Grinch game trailer, DVD Newsletter
Max's Playhouse: This is an additional area of "kid-friendly" supplemental features. A section allows kids to put the Grinch in different clothes, while also included are: a story ("the Care and Feeding of a Grinch"), 2 sing-along songs, an interactive game and a feature that tells children how to navigate a DVD.
Final Thoughts: While I didn't find "The Grinch" completely without merit, I really would have prefered a less noisy adaptation that relied less on filler and gave the actors well-defined characters and better, funnier material. Universal's DVD offers good audio/video quality as well as a decent helping of supplemental features (for a "Collector's Edition", a commentary would have been appreciated.) Fans of the film - and judging by the grosses, there's more than a few - should certainly seek out the DVD edition. Those who haven't seen it and are interested might be better with a rental first.
Note: A review of the "Interactive Playset" version is also available.
I walked out of "The Grinch" last Winter and found myself mildly dissapointed. I'd thought that Ron Howard and Jim Carrey might actually have a sizable failure on their hands - of course, the film has now entered into the "What Do I Know?" catagory, as it went on to be one of the biggest moneymakers of all time, not only raking in over 200 million dollars at the box office, but bringing in untold millions in licensed products.
"The Grinch" does have one wonderfully rich piece of the puzzle: Jim Carrey, who cements his reputation in my mind as something of an "absurd genius" with his performance as the title character. Let me get that out of the way before I go any further. Buried under tons of makeup, he still shines through. Using both his voice brilliantly and his skill for physical comedy wonderfully, he takes the film away. He is a genius, but in this case, maybe he's just too good for the movie that surrounds him. Carrey does the Grinch so perfectly that when he's not on-screen, the movie stalls.
The film revolves around the Whos, who live in Whoville, which is made up of overblown Christmas-themed sets. The Grinch, on the other hand, lives on top of a mountain filled with garbage, hating Christmas - but even more so, hating how he was made fun of as a little Grinch in school. If I remember correctly, we're not supposed to like the Grinch, right? This feature film turns the tables and makes us dislike the Whos, who we hardly get to know in much depth or detail.
The look of the film really doesn't do it any favors, either. The sets are overdone and too artificial looking and the colors seem off, as well. Rather than bright, they seem muddled and murky. The movie seems to also be inconsistently shot with a soft look, which was an odd choice by director Ron Howard and usually reliable cinematographer Don Peterman, who has worked on Barry Sonnenfeld's pictures. This near-hazy look seemed to only succeed in obscuring the detail of the sets.
The film also suffers from a running time that could have easily been shortened by at least 15 minutes. Taken from a rather short source, the story seems stretched out with too many subplots and moments of filler. Above it all, one has to be amazed by Carrey, who not only suffered through what was reportedly a lot of pain with the special contact lenses that he had to wear and general uncomfort with the make-up, but was able to still remain so impressively lively when buried under all that...stuff. It's Carrey's occasionally amazing work which wrings what few laughs come from "The Grinch". Maybe they shouldn't have chosen a screenplay from the writers of "Wild, Wild West"? Just a thought.
While not a total failure (and certainly not a failure at the box office) one wishes that "The Grinch" would have followed a little closer to the original story and went through a few revisions and changes and edits to make the pace stronger, dialogue sharper and "look" better.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Grinch" is presented by Universal in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This widescreen edition, as with all Universal titles, is anamorphic. Aside from a few minor flaws, the film looks exactly like it did in the theaters, which is not entirely a positive comment. Sharpness and detail are not particularly strong throughout the movie and the film can occasionally look noticably soft to the point of appearing hazy. This is how the film appeared in theaters and was apparently a choice from director Ron Howard and cinematographer Don Peterman.
Aside from the occasional definite softness, I really didn't find much in the way of other concerns. Print flaws remained minor throughout the picture, as only a few minor specks were occasionally visible, but only briefly. A light trace of edge enhancement was seen once or twice, but hardly distracted and, aside from those minimal faults, the picture appeared clean.
Colors, again, do not exactly appear eye-popping throughout the movie. Occasionally they look flatter and somewhat drab, but often they just appear respectable, with the reds coming through the strongest of any color. A nice transfer that captures the look of the movie accurately.
The layer change is at 1:06:47, right in the begining of Carrey's impression of director Ron Howard.
SOUND: "The Grinch" is presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. The film's sound design was generally appropriate and took advantage of the opportunities that some scenes presented for surround use. While not agressive, the surrounds were put into use occasionally for sound effects, such as a few echoes during the scenes when the Grinch was in his cave. Other than those occasional sound effects, the score was occasionally nicely re-inforced by the rear speakers. Audio quality remained pleasant throughout, as the music displayed nice warmth, while dialogue and sound effects both came through clearly. The DTS edition of the soundtrack remained more pleasing throughout the film, offering a noticably richer and more detailed sound in comparison to the Dolby Digital edition.
I was also pleased to see that Universal has included DVS (Descriptive Video Service) on this DVD edition. What this is is a "narration" of the movie for those who are blind. Not only is this provided for the feature, but it's also available for the supplemental features, as well. Nice work!
MENUS:: A clip from the movie leads into a fun, animated main menu. Even better though, are the well-done animated transitions between the main and sub-menus.
EXTRAS::
Spotlight On Location: This is considerably shorter than the usual Universal making-of featurette at about 7 minutes, but it does thankfully get to the point and provide some interesting information in the limited length. The interviews that start off the documentary are rather promotional, but there are some interesting elements later on, such discussion of the effects (matte paintings as backgrounds), bringing in Hopkins to narrate and other tidbits.
Deleted Scenes: 9 1/2 minutes of deleted scenes were presented in this section. Unfortunately, they were neither available to select separately nor with audio commentary. While these extended and deleted sequences were occasionally funny, they didn't really do much for the story and would have really just added additional length.
Outtakes: The outtakes portion of any disc is always welcome, as it gives the viewer a chance to see the actors mess up or simply let loose on set. Although one would expect hilarity from outtakes of Jim Carrey, these were simply ok, occasionally bringing a smile, but no huge laughs were to be found here in this 3 minute section.
Who School: This is an interesting, if unfortunately rather short, featurette about the stunt coordinator's desire to craft a certain physical language for the Who characters, some of whom are Cirque De Soleil performers, which I didn't know.
Make-Up Design: Rick Baker is easily one of the most highly regarded make-up designers in Hollywood and this featurette has Baker discussing his visions for the make-up of both the Grinch and the Who characters. The featurette also shows some of the original concepts and moments of behind-the-scenes looks at application.
Seussian Set Design: This featurette offers interviews with both the production designer and director Ron Howard, who discuss their views about taking the world of Whoville from the page and expanding it outwards for the screen.
Visual Effects: This 10 minute featurette offers visual effects supervisor Kevin Mack discussing his role in the picture. While I was aware that the film involved some visual effects sequences and artificial backgrounds, I was impressed to find that the film involved 600 visual effects shots, including extending the town outward, adding additional virtual people in the backgrounds and other added elements. We're also shown the various stages of various shots as effects are added in. I definitely found this to be the more interesting and informative of the featurettes included.
Also: Faith Hill, "Where Are You Christmas?" music video,Wholiday Recipes, By the Numbers (text list of the impressive amount of some of the supplies used in the film), trailer (Dolby 2.0), promo, "E.T." theatrical re-release trailer, production notes, cast/crew bios, recommendations, DVD-ROM materials, Grinch game trailer, DVD Newsletter
Max's Playhouse: This is an additional area of "kid-friendly" supplemental features. A section allows kids to put the Grinch in different clothes, while also included are: a story ("the Care and Feeding of a Grinch"), 2 sing-along songs, an interactive game and a feature that tells children how to navigate a DVD.
Final Thoughts: While I didn't find "The Grinch" completely without merit, I really would have prefered a less noisy adaptation that relied less on filler and gave the actors well-defined characters and better, funnier material. Universal's DVD offers good audio/video quality as well as a decent helping of supplemental features (for a "Collector's Edition", a commentary would have been appreciated.) Fans of the film - and judging by the grosses, there's more than a few - should certainly seek out the DVD edition. Those who haven't seen it and are interested might be better with a rental first.
Note: A review of the "Interactive Playset" version is also available.
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||