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Big Hit: Superbit
Columbia/Tri-Star // R // March 19, 2002
List Price: $27.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Sort of the "Dumb and Dumber" of action films, "The Big Hit" attempts to be a parody of the action genre and the humor really misses more than it connects, most noticably with a subplot involving a building late fee for the main character after he keeps forgetting to return a tape. Mark Whalberg, most recently fighting large apes in Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes", stars as Melvin Smiley, a successful hitman who is one of those people who doesn't want anyone to hate him ("I can't stand the idea of anybody not liking me", he says). He's got an active social life, engaged to a blond (Christina Applegate) and has another girlfriend (Lela Rochon) on the side.
The demands of both have Melvin trying to seek out some extra cash, so he decides to go along with friends Cisco (Lou Diamond Phillips), Crunch (Bokeem Woodbine), Gump (Robert Dunne), and Vinnie (Antonio Sabato Jr.) on a kidnapping job. The only problem - their target, a schoolgirl named Keiko (China Chow), happens to be the goddaughter of Paris (Avery Brooks), the crime boss that they happen to work for. Of course, he's not pleased.
The film attempts comedy and either gets a few chuckle-worthy laughs or becomes a complete disaster. A sub-plot about the Applegate character's Jewish parents (Lainie Kazan and Elliot Gould) is incredibly unfunny and embarassing. Several other scenes that involve either Melvin dealing with his two possible girlfriends or trying to hide Keiko from them are either dull or ridiculous. While it didn't offer as much action as this film does, John Cusack's similar 1997 "Grosse Pointe Blank" remains far, far stronger in the humor department, fulling mining the comedic possibilities of its plot - a hitman going home for his high school reunion.
As for the action scenes, some of them aren't bad, but there's certainly been films in the genre before and after that have provided more inspired action sequences. "The Big Hit" is supposed to be a parody of action pictures, but it's very mixed attempts at humor and uneasy way of going back and forth between action and silliness just doesn't work. It's never boring, but it's certainly been done better elsewhere.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Big Hit" was originally released on DVD a few years ago, offered by Columbia/Tristar in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Some studios were not offering consistently solid presentations back in the early days of the format - however, Columbia/Tristar was, which occasionally makes one wonder how much greater a level of improvement can be seen in a Superbit edition of the title.
The series, dumping extras and all other touches for a focus on just performance, has had titles that have shown a sizable advance in quality over the previous edition and some titles that have shown little or no. "The Big Hit"'s new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation on this DVD remains in the "little or no" catagory, offering a very good picture, but not one that's a moderate improvement over the previous one. Sharpness and detail are terrific throughout the presentation, even outstanding at times. This is really the main area where this new edition seemed a bit better and more consistent than the prior edition.
Flaws were generally very minimal. Some light specks and some grain occasionally were visible, but there really weren't any instances of print flaws that were major or even that noticable. Edge enhancement remained absent, as did pixelation. The film's vibrant color palette was also nicely rendered here, looking bright, bold and well-saturated, with no smearing or other flaws. Flesh tones looked accurate and natural, while black level remained solid. In terms of image quality, this was an excellent presentation. Was it considerably better than the already good prior release? No.
SOUND: As with Columbia/Tristar's other Superbit releases, "The Big Hit" gets both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. Given the film's cartoony nature, the film's sound designers have apparently felt free to go wild with the surround use during the action sequences; those looking for an agressive soundtrack will certainly be pleased. The comedic sequences throughout the film aren't as agressive, although the music certainly has a lively presence, filling the room. Audio quality remained solid, as sound effects came through crisply, while dialogue was clear and bass was occasionally strong. Both soundtracks provided a similar listening experience, although the DTS soundtrack seemed slightly crisper and delivered mildly deeper bass.
MENUS: Very basic film-themed images serve as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Given that this is a Superbit title, all extras that were included on the prior edition (commentary, deleted scenes, etc) have been deleted to make more space for audio/video. While future "Superbit Deluxe" titles will have both supplements and high-performance audio/video, this is not one of those titles.
Final Thoughts: "The Big Hit" is an awkward mixture of comedy and action, often being too goofy to successfully get laughs. Columbia/Tristar's original edition offered perfectly good audio/video and a solid amount of supplements. That edition has been lowered in price to $14.99 and can be found for $9.99 at many stores. The "Superbit" edition provides slight improvements over the prior edition in audio/video quality, but it's considerably more expensive. Those interested should stick with the original edition.
Sort of the "Dumb and Dumber" of action films, "The Big Hit" attempts to be a parody of the action genre and the humor really misses more than it connects, most noticably with a subplot involving a building late fee for the main character after he keeps forgetting to return a tape. Mark Whalberg, most recently fighting large apes in Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes", stars as Melvin Smiley, a successful hitman who is one of those people who doesn't want anyone to hate him ("I can't stand the idea of anybody not liking me", he says). He's got an active social life, engaged to a blond (Christina Applegate) and has another girlfriend (Lela Rochon) on the side.
The demands of both have Melvin trying to seek out some extra cash, so he decides to go along with friends Cisco (Lou Diamond Phillips), Crunch (Bokeem Woodbine), Gump (Robert Dunne), and Vinnie (Antonio Sabato Jr.) on a kidnapping job. The only problem - their target, a schoolgirl named Keiko (China Chow), happens to be the goddaughter of Paris (Avery Brooks), the crime boss that they happen to work for. Of course, he's not pleased.
The film attempts comedy and either gets a few chuckle-worthy laughs or becomes a complete disaster. A sub-plot about the Applegate character's Jewish parents (Lainie Kazan and Elliot Gould) is incredibly unfunny and embarassing. Several other scenes that involve either Melvin dealing with his two possible girlfriends or trying to hide Keiko from them are either dull or ridiculous. While it didn't offer as much action as this film does, John Cusack's similar 1997 "Grosse Pointe Blank" remains far, far stronger in the humor department, fulling mining the comedic possibilities of its plot - a hitman going home for his high school reunion.
As for the action scenes, some of them aren't bad, but there's certainly been films in the genre before and after that have provided more inspired action sequences. "The Big Hit" is supposed to be a parody of action pictures, but it's very mixed attempts at humor and uneasy way of going back and forth between action and silliness just doesn't work. It's never boring, but it's certainly been done better elsewhere.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Big Hit" was originally released on DVD a few years ago, offered by Columbia/Tristar in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Some studios were not offering consistently solid presentations back in the early days of the format - however, Columbia/Tristar was, which occasionally makes one wonder how much greater a level of improvement can be seen in a Superbit edition of the title.
The series, dumping extras and all other touches for a focus on just performance, has had titles that have shown a sizable advance in quality over the previous edition and some titles that have shown little or no. "The Big Hit"'s new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation on this DVD remains in the "little or no" catagory, offering a very good picture, but not one that's a moderate improvement over the previous one. Sharpness and detail are terrific throughout the presentation, even outstanding at times. This is really the main area where this new edition seemed a bit better and more consistent than the prior edition.
Flaws were generally very minimal. Some light specks and some grain occasionally were visible, but there really weren't any instances of print flaws that were major or even that noticable. Edge enhancement remained absent, as did pixelation. The film's vibrant color palette was also nicely rendered here, looking bright, bold and well-saturated, with no smearing or other flaws. Flesh tones looked accurate and natural, while black level remained solid. In terms of image quality, this was an excellent presentation. Was it considerably better than the already good prior release? No.
SOUND: As with Columbia/Tristar's other Superbit releases, "The Big Hit" gets both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. Given the film's cartoony nature, the film's sound designers have apparently felt free to go wild with the surround use during the action sequences; those looking for an agressive soundtrack will certainly be pleased. The comedic sequences throughout the film aren't as agressive, although the music certainly has a lively presence, filling the room. Audio quality remained solid, as sound effects came through crisply, while dialogue was clear and bass was occasionally strong. Both soundtracks provided a similar listening experience, although the DTS soundtrack seemed slightly crisper and delivered mildly deeper bass.
MENUS: Very basic film-themed images serve as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Given that this is a Superbit title, all extras that were included on the prior edition (commentary, deleted scenes, etc) have been deleted to make more space for audio/video. While future "Superbit Deluxe" titles will have both supplements and high-performance audio/video, this is not one of those titles.
Final Thoughts: "The Big Hit" is an awkward mixture of comedy and action, often being too goofy to successfully get laughs. Columbia/Tristar's original edition offered perfectly good audio/video and a solid amount of supplements. That edition has been lowered in price to $14.99 and can be found for $9.99 at many stores. The "Superbit" edition provides slight improvements over the prior edition in audio/video quality, but it's considerably more expensive. Those interested should stick with the original edition.
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