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Excess Baggage
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
For some reason, people remember certain experiences that they have when going to the movie theater. When I was working at a theater in 1997, "Excess Baggage" was released, and the expectations for the film were pretty decent; it was expected to have a mild/moderate opening weekend. I walked into the 500 seat theater during the night show during the first Friday night. I was the only person in the theater. Totally empty.
The film itself is pretty empty as well. Alicia Silverstone plays Emily T. Hope, the daughter of a rich, cold businessman. To get some attention, she stages her own kidnapping, and when the ransom is paid, she locks herself in the trunk of her own car. What she didn't expect was to be kidnapped accidentally by a car thief named Vincent(Benicio Del Toro of "The Usual Suspects"). Vincent finds that Emily is more trouble than she's worth, and the audience is left wondering who to feel more sorry for: Emily for not getting any attention, or Vincent, for having to deal with her.
Silverstone does the best she can with the role, but the character is written to be a serious brat. It's obvious from the begining that Emily and Vincent will fall in love, but it just doesn't seem like they would - the two really don't have much chemistry together. Del Toro is pretty good, but worthy of better, and Christopher Walken is on-hand as Emily's gangster uncle trying to track her down.
The film gets dull as it goes along. The writing and plot begin to fall apart, and even though the actors try, "Excess Baggage" starts to become a mess. A few decent moments, but not enough to make a watchable film.
The DVD
VIDEO: One of the early transfers from Tristar, and it's really one of their very best; the image quality on this DVD is nothing short of outstanding, with magnificent sharpness and great detail. Even in the darker scenes, there is a good deal of detail visible. Colors look wonderful as well, with rich hues that look bright and vibrant with no problems. Flesh tones are fine, and black level is solid as well.
There aren't any artifacts to be found; aside from literally one or two instances of shimmer, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the image quality on this DVD. No pixelation and a print that is crystal clear. Excellent picture quality.
SOUND: Although the film is mainly a dialogue-driven comedy, I was actually very suprised by the sound mix that "Excess Baggage" offers. Although definitely not a major effects-driven film, the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) use of surrounds adds nicely to the movie; there are quite a few nice instances of environment sounds such as rain that give the viewer a good feel of space and dimension. The music is dynamic and nicely integrated, and dialogue is clear and natural, as well. Very nice and above the usual for a film like this one.
MENUS:: Some basic, film-themed main menus that are non-animated.
EXTRAS: The trailer.
Final Thoughts: Tristar's DVD doesn't have any extras, but I really enjoyed the audio and video quality. Still, the movie is worth a rental at most.
For some reason, people remember certain experiences that they have when going to the movie theater. When I was working at a theater in 1997, "Excess Baggage" was released, and the expectations for the film were pretty decent; it was expected to have a mild/moderate opening weekend. I walked into the 500 seat theater during the night show during the first Friday night. I was the only person in the theater. Totally empty.
The film itself is pretty empty as well. Alicia Silverstone plays Emily T. Hope, the daughter of a rich, cold businessman. To get some attention, she stages her own kidnapping, and when the ransom is paid, she locks herself in the trunk of her own car. What she didn't expect was to be kidnapped accidentally by a car thief named Vincent(Benicio Del Toro of "The Usual Suspects"). Vincent finds that Emily is more trouble than she's worth, and the audience is left wondering who to feel more sorry for: Emily for not getting any attention, or Vincent, for having to deal with her.
Silverstone does the best she can with the role, but the character is written to be a serious brat. It's obvious from the begining that Emily and Vincent will fall in love, but it just doesn't seem like they would - the two really don't have much chemistry together. Del Toro is pretty good, but worthy of better, and Christopher Walken is on-hand as Emily's gangster uncle trying to track her down.
The film gets dull as it goes along. The writing and plot begin to fall apart, and even though the actors try, "Excess Baggage" starts to become a mess. A few decent moments, but not enough to make a watchable film.
The DVD
VIDEO: One of the early transfers from Tristar, and it's really one of their very best; the image quality on this DVD is nothing short of outstanding, with magnificent sharpness and great detail. Even in the darker scenes, there is a good deal of detail visible. Colors look wonderful as well, with rich hues that look bright and vibrant with no problems. Flesh tones are fine, and black level is solid as well.
There aren't any artifacts to be found; aside from literally one or two instances of shimmer, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the image quality on this DVD. No pixelation and a print that is crystal clear. Excellent picture quality.
SOUND: Although the film is mainly a dialogue-driven comedy, I was actually very suprised by the sound mix that "Excess Baggage" offers. Although definitely not a major effects-driven film, the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) use of surrounds adds nicely to the movie; there are quite a few nice instances of environment sounds such as rain that give the viewer a good feel of space and dimension. The music is dynamic and nicely integrated, and dialogue is clear and natural, as well. Very nice and above the usual for a film like this one.
MENUS:: Some basic, film-themed main menus that are non-animated.
EXTRAS: The trailer.
Final Thoughts: Tristar's DVD doesn't have any extras, but I really enjoyed the audio and video quality. Still, the movie is worth a rental at most.
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