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Turner and Hooch
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // PG // April 2, 2002
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Turner and Hooch" is one of a few 80's comedies that, watching today, I'm surprised went over as well as they did with audiences. It's not that this is a poor film - far from it. It's simply that it's been done before; the only reason why this particular film works as well as it does is the fact that Tom Hanks sells the comedy so wonderfully, expressing genuine frustration and comedic fury at the beast that has just become part of his life.
The film has Hanks playing Scott Turner, a neat-freak police officer in a small town. Investigating a rare murder in the area, Turner finds that a giant, slobbering dog that was guarding his owner's junkyard is the only witness. When the attempts to take the dog away turn tougher-than-expected, the police threaten to put the dog asleep. Instead, Turner decides to keep it in his own place - much comedy ensues as the dog breaks up most of his new owner's apartment and even drinks his beer.
No points awarded to those who guess that Turner will eventually start to like the beast, but at least Hanks makes the transition between hatred and friendship funny and convincing. Mare Winningham also offers a sweet and fun performance as a vet who Turner falls for. This certainly isn't a great picture, but it works better-than-expected and offers a few solid laughs.
The DVD
VIDEO: Buena Vista has released several fairly major catalog titles this week. I've reviewed two of them so far: "Ruthless People" (1986) and "Three Men and a Baby" (1987). Both presentations were mediocre, with "Three Men" showing flaws a bit more consistently than "Ruthless". "Turner and Hooch", a 1989 picture, is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and, while certainly not flawless in appearance, looks the best of the three.
The main flaw apparent on the other two titles was noticable wear. While not always consistent, both showed some noticable specks, marks and dirt, not to mention some mild-to-heavy grain. "Turner and Hooch" only has some very slight grain at times and a few marks and specks - nothing terribly irritating. Edge enhancement was present at times, but not very bothersome. No pixelation was seen, either.
Sharpness and detail were a bit mixed - the picture could look somewhat on the soft side during some interiors, but brighter exteriors generally looked a bit more well-defined overall. The film has a rather subdued color palette, but colors remained accurate and natural throughout. This isn't a great transfer, but it's better than the below-average presentations of the other two new catalog titles from the studio that I've looked at this week.
SOUND: "Turner and Hooch" is presented in Dolby 2.0. Being a dialogue-driven comedy, the main element of the audio is the dialogue. Aside from that, there's little else besides the perky score.
MENUS: Very basic film-themed images serve as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Maybe the dog ate the "making of" footage. No supplements are included.
Final Thoughts: "Turner and Hooch" isn't exactly a classic, but it's consistently amusing and Hanks offers a very good performance. Buena Vista's DVD doesn't offer anything in the way of supplements, but audio/video quality is good and the retail price is low.
"Turner and Hooch" is one of a few 80's comedies that, watching today, I'm surprised went over as well as they did with audiences. It's not that this is a poor film - far from it. It's simply that it's been done before; the only reason why this particular film works as well as it does is the fact that Tom Hanks sells the comedy so wonderfully, expressing genuine frustration and comedic fury at the beast that has just become part of his life.
The film has Hanks playing Scott Turner, a neat-freak police officer in a small town. Investigating a rare murder in the area, Turner finds that a giant, slobbering dog that was guarding his owner's junkyard is the only witness. When the attempts to take the dog away turn tougher-than-expected, the police threaten to put the dog asleep. Instead, Turner decides to keep it in his own place - much comedy ensues as the dog breaks up most of his new owner's apartment and even drinks his beer.
No points awarded to those who guess that Turner will eventually start to like the beast, but at least Hanks makes the transition between hatred and friendship funny and convincing. Mare Winningham also offers a sweet and fun performance as a vet who Turner falls for. This certainly isn't a great picture, but it works better-than-expected and offers a few solid laughs.
The DVD
VIDEO: Buena Vista has released several fairly major catalog titles this week. I've reviewed two of them so far: "Ruthless People" (1986) and "Three Men and a Baby" (1987). Both presentations were mediocre, with "Three Men" showing flaws a bit more consistently than "Ruthless". "Turner and Hooch", a 1989 picture, is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and, while certainly not flawless in appearance, looks the best of the three.
The main flaw apparent on the other two titles was noticable wear. While not always consistent, both showed some noticable specks, marks and dirt, not to mention some mild-to-heavy grain. "Turner and Hooch" only has some very slight grain at times and a few marks and specks - nothing terribly irritating. Edge enhancement was present at times, but not very bothersome. No pixelation was seen, either.
Sharpness and detail were a bit mixed - the picture could look somewhat on the soft side during some interiors, but brighter exteriors generally looked a bit more well-defined overall. The film has a rather subdued color palette, but colors remained accurate and natural throughout. This isn't a great transfer, but it's better than the below-average presentations of the other two new catalog titles from the studio that I've looked at this week.
SOUND: "Turner and Hooch" is presented in Dolby 2.0. Being a dialogue-driven comedy, the main element of the audio is the dialogue. Aside from that, there's little else besides the perky score.
MENUS: Very basic film-themed images serve as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Maybe the dog ate the "making of" footage. No supplements are included.
Final Thoughts: "Turner and Hooch" isn't exactly a classic, but it's consistently amusing and Hanks offers a very good performance. Buena Vista's DVD doesn't offer anything in the way of supplements, but audio/video quality is good and the retail price is low.
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