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Ready To Rumble
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I've always thought David Arquette was a fairly decent actor, most notably in the "Scream" series. With the AT&T ads becoming more agressive though lately, he's become somewhat irritating. In "Ready To Rumble", directed by "Varsity Blues" director Brian Robbins, he plays that psychotic personality fairly well without going over the top into annoying.
"Ready To Rumble" is very silly and mostly over-the-top physical comedy, but there's something entertaining about how the film has an idea of what it is and doesn't take itself very seriously. Arquette and Scott Caan play portable toilet cleaners who happen to be hardcore fans of wrestling and also, not particularly bright. One day, the two of them get tickets to see their favorite wrestler, Jimmy The King (Oliver Platt) go up against Diamond Dallas Page. Behind-the-scenes, a corrupt promoter makes it known that Jimmy will lose in the match to make way for Diamond being the new champion.
The two of them decide to find the King and bring him back into the ring. They pair him up with a trainer (Martin Landau - what the heck is Martin Landau doing in this movie?) and although he doesn't want to, he goes along with the plans of the two. Landau is a fantastic actor, but he's wrong for the role, and probably takes the audience out of the movie for a couple of minutes when they're shocked to see him in the film. Speaking of wrong for the film, Oliver Platt(who is also a great actor) doesn't have much material to work with as Jimmy the King. Also along for the ride is Sasha(Rose McGowan), one of the "Nitro Girls" who takes a liking to Arquette's Gordy character.
After watching the documentary "Beyond the Mat" (which I do recommend if you haven't seen it), I'm at least begining to understand the appeal and behind-the-scenes workings of wrestling. It was only a matter of time till a comedy/parody of the sport was made and although "Ready To Rumble" is extremely silly and not consistently funny, it was a little more entertaining than it probably should have been.
The DVD
VIDEO: All of the sudden, with titles like "Romeo Must Die" and "Any Given Sunday", Warner Brothers has really taken their already solid level of effort to a higher level. Sharpness is superb throughout the entire movie, and many scenes have good depth to them as well. Detail is wonderful, and clarity is perfect. Never does the presentation slip into softness in the slightest bit.
The film is extremely colorful, and colors practically pop off the screen, looking vibrant and very well-saturated without any problems at all. Black level is strong, and flesh tones are natural and accurate. The only problem that I noticed were a few slight instances of pixelation, but these were certainly not distracting. I didn't see any shimmering, and the print used is in perfect condition, with not even the slightest mark or scratch.
Warner Brothers has always done solid work in the past, but they've really changed for the "even better" lately, with a couple of recent titles that boast some of the best image quality I've seen this year. "Ready To Rumble" isn't up to what the studio did with how outstanding "Any Given Sunday" looked, but it's still an above average presentation in terms of image quality.
SOUND: I wasn't expecting that much of an audio presentation going into "Ready To Rumble", but it really suprised me. It's not "Armageddon", but there's a lot to like about the film's Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. The heavy metal/rock music that's played during much of the movie is loud, punchy and definitely is something your neighbors might not enjoy hearing.
Surrounds during the wrestling match scenes come alive with the sounds of the crowd. Surrounds also do get some work for other minor effects & subtle sounds during the rest of the movie. Their use isn't agressive, but more than I'd expected from a comedy like this one. Dialogue is generally clear and clean, but the slightest bit thin on a couple of occasions.
MENUS:: Aside from the main menu which features some audio from the film in the background, the rest of the menus are basic and non-animated, with some film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a hilarious commentary from actors David Arquette, Scott Caan and Ahmet Zappa. It's certainly not a technical commentary at all, and in fact, the three of them seem like they've had a few drinks before sitting down to watch the movie. The three of them rip into the movie and goof on each other throughout the film and much of it is hilarious, and funnier than the movie. The first few minutes of the commentary reveals what will probably become a popular insult: "your momma's a dream sequence."
The three of them also seem to know a little bit about the sport and talk about some of the stars of the sport and reality (well, reality isn't the best word to use), behind it. Their comments do move to talking about a few things that happened during the production and stories from the set, but the majority of the track is just devoted to having fun - at one point, the three even start eating during the commentary and towards the end, they start laughing so hard they're in tears.
There are some pauses of silence throughout the track, but compared to some other actor commentaries I've heard, it's not that bad. Definitely worth a listen though, and it provides quite a few big laughs.
Interviews: Short interviews with Spice, Storm, Fyre, Tygress and Chae (in the "Up Close With The Nitro Girls" section) and interviews with Diamond Dallas and Bam Bam Bigelow(in the "Interview With WCW Wrestlers" section).
Trailer: The film's theatrical trailer, letterboxed at 1.85:1 and in Dolby 2.0
"No Holds Barred": A short featurette that doesn't really say anything about the movie, but mainly just shows Caan and Arquette wrestling in the ring on the set of the film and goofing around - about 2 minutes total.
Also: Cast and crew bios and Bif Naked's "Were Not Going To Take It" music video.
Final Thoughts: Not exactly a great film (more of a rental), but praise to Warner Brothers for providing great audio and video quality along with some great extras. The best thing about it all is that Warner Brothers offers "Ready To Rumble" for a lower price than most of the studio's special editions. Instead of the $24.99 retail price, "Ready To Rumble" is available for $19.99 retail - and less at most stores. If you're a fan of the film though, the DVD is definitely recommended.
I've always thought David Arquette was a fairly decent actor, most notably in the "Scream" series. With the AT&T ads becoming more agressive though lately, he's become somewhat irritating. In "Ready To Rumble", directed by "Varsity Blues" director Brian Robbins, he plays that psychotic personality fairly well without going over the top into annoying.
"Ready To Rumble" is very silly and mostly over-the-top physical comedy, but there's something entertaining about how the film has an idea of what it is and doesn't take itself very seriously. Arquette and Scott Caan play portable toilet cleaners who happen to be hardcore fans of wrestling and also, not particularly bright. One day, the two of them get tickets to see their favorite wrestler, Jimmy The King (Oliver Platt) go up against Diamond Dallas Page. Behind-the-scenes, a corrupt promoter makes it known that Jimmy will lose in the match to make way for Diamond being the new champion.
The two of them decide to find the King and bring him back into the ring. They pair him up with a trainer (Martin Landau - what the heck is Martin Landau doing in this movie?) and although he doesn't want to, he goes along with the plans of the two. Landau is a fantastic actor, but he's wrong for the role, and probably takes the audience out of the movie for a couple of minutes when they're shocked to see him in the film. Speaking of wrong for the film, Oliver Platt(who is also a great actor) doesn't have much material to work with as Jimmy the King. Also along for the ride is Sasha(Rose McGowan), one of the "Nitro Girls" who takes a liking to Arquette's Gordy character.
After watching the documentary "Beyond the Mat" (which I do recommend if you haven't seen it), I'm at least begining to understand the appeal and behind-the-scenes workings of wrestling. It was only a matter of time till a comedy/parody of the sport was made and although "Ready To Rumble" is extremely silly and not consistently funny, it was a little more entertaining than it probably should have been.
The DVD
VIDEO: All of the sudden, with titles like "Romeo Must Die" and "Any Given Sunday", Warner Brothers has really taken their already solid level of effort to a higher level. Sharpness is superb throughout the entire movie, and many scenes have good depth to them as well. Detail is wonderful, and clarity is perfect. Never does the presentation slip into softness in the slightest bit.
The film is extremely colorful, and colors practically pop off the screen, looking vibrant and very well-saturated without any problems at all. Black level is strong, and flesh tones are natural and accurate. The only problem that I noticed were a few slight instances of pixelation, but these were certainly not distracting. I didn't see any shimmering, and the print used is in perfect condition, with not even the slightest mark or scratch.
Warner Brothers has always done solid work in the past, but they've really changed for the "even better" lately, with a couple of recent titles that boast some of the best image quality I've seen this year. "Ready To Rumble" isn't up to what the studio did with how outstanding "Any Given Sunday" looked, but it's still an above average presentation in terms of image quality.
SOUND: I wasn't expecting that much of an audio presentation going into "Ready To Rumble", but it really suprised me. It's not "Armageddon", but there's a lot to like about the film's Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. The heavy metal/rock music that's played during much of the movie is loud, punchy and definitely is something your neighbors might not enjoy hearing.
Surrounds during the wrestling match scenes come alive with the sounds of the crowd. Surrounds also do get some work for other minor effects & subtle sounds during the rest of the movie. Their use isn't agressive, but more than I'd expected from a comedy like this one. Dialogue is generally clear and clean, but the slightest bit thin on a couple of occasions.
MENUS:: Aside from the main menu which features some audio from the film in the background, the rest of the menus are basic and non-animated, with some film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a hilarious commentary from actors David Arquette, Scott Caan and Ahmet Zappa. It's certainly not a technical commentary at all, and in fact, the three of them seem like they've had a few drinks before sitting down to watch the movie. The three of them rip into the movie and goof on each other throughout the film and much of it is hilarious, and funnier than the movie. The first few minutes of the commentary reveals what will probably become a popular insult: "your momma's a dream sequence."
The three of them also seem to know a little bit about the sport and talk about some of the stars of the sport and reality (well, reality isn't the best word to use), behind it. Their comments do move to talking about a few things that happened during the production and stories from the set, but the majority of the track is just devoted to having fun - at one point, the three even start eating during the commentary and towards the end, they start laughing so hard they're in tears.
There are some pauses of silence throughout the track, but compared to some other actor commentaries I've heard, it's not that bad. Definitely worth a listen though, and it provides quite a few big laughs.
Interviews: Short interviews with Spice, Storm, Fyre, Tygress and Chae (in the "Up Close With The Nitro Girls" section) and interviews with Diamond Dallas and Bam Bam Bigelow(in the "Interview With WCW Wrestlers" section).
Trailer: The film's theatrical trailer, letterboxed at 1.85:1 and in Dolby 2.0
"No Holds Barred": A short featurette that doesn't really say anything about the movie, but mainly just shows Caan and Arquette wrestling in the ring on the set of the film and goofing around - about 2 minutes total.
Also: Cast and crew bios and Bif Naked's "Were Not Going To Take It" music video.
Final Thoughts: Not exactly a great film (more of a rental), but praise to Warner Brothers for providing great audio and video quality along with some great extras. The best thing about it all is that Warner Brothers offers "Ready To Rumble" for a lower price than most of the studio's special editions. Instead of the $24.99 retail price, "Ready To Rumble" is available for $19.99 retail - and less at most stores. If you're a fan of the film though, the DVD is definitely recommended.
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