6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Dooley, a cop wrongly sacked for corruption, teams up with a useless defence lawyer in their new careers... as security guards. When the two are made fall guys for a robbery at a location they are guarding, the pair begin to investigate corruption within the company and their union. They soon make enemies of everyone, but can the unlikely duo save the day ?
Starring: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Robert Loggia, Kenneth McMillan, Meg RyanComedy | 100% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
John Candy, how I miss thee. Uncle Buck, Canadian Bacon, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles were basic cable Sunday matinee staples when I was growing up, and there’s still something I find pure and comforting about Candy’s films from the 1980s to mid-1990s. They’re like transmissions from a simpler time. Before watching Armed and Dangerous yesterday, my wife and I came to a consensus on what made Candy so great: his vulnerability. He had an easily wounded quality that was funny but slightly glum. You hated to see anyone pick on him. Like most “big” comedians, he was self-deprecating about his physique, and he had an inherent goodness, even when he was playing characters who seemed--on the surface--to be rude or lazy or boorish. Of course, the fact that Candy passed away so tragically young also plays some part in our retroactive feelings about him. What’s sadder, after all--and, in a weird way, more endearing--than an overweight comedian who dies of a heart attack? I had never seen Armed and Dangerous before, so I was curious to find out how it stacked up against some of Candy’s better-known comedies. While I wasn’t completely disappointed--there are more than a few classic Candy moments--it hardly compares. This is fun but rather disposable comedy.
There's a fairly consistent quality to Image Entertainment's catalog releases; they all look natural and clean--with intact grain and little to no print damage--but they don't appear to be restored in any way, besides maybe some light color grading. And for titles like Armed and Dangerous, which no one was exactly pining for, this is really the best case scenario. The film's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is as strong as you could expect from an '80s comedy of this ilk. Grain is quite chunky for most of the movie and there's also a good bit of chroma noise in the picture, although this won't be apparent unless you're either watching on a moderately large television or sitting really close to the screen. There's no smeary, detail-erasing noise reduction, and no traces of edge enhancement. While the level of clarity in the image will never wow you, it's certainly an improvement over DVD quality. The picture looks rather soft overall--this is partly attributable to the grainy film stock, which doesn't leave room for extremely fine textures--but close-ups reveal a better-than-standard-definition degree of detail. Color is balanced and suitably dense--never looking oversaturated or particularly wishy washy--and contrast is good. You'd never put this disc in to demo your television, but the transfer looks alright for what it is.
Image Entertainment presents Armed and Dangerous with an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 stereo track that's rather underwhelming but certainly gets the job done. I don't expect anyone to take a third-tier comedy from the '80s like this and give its original stereo presentation a full-fledged 5.1 makeover--which entail more time and money than most distributers would be willing to spend--but the film could definitely sound better with some rear channel interaction and some LFE oomph. The film's shoot-outs and car chases and explosions are a bit wimpy as it stands; they sound clear enough, but the dynamic range is flat and there's a distinct lack of bass in the mix. Still, there's nothing particularly bad about this mix. The soundtrack has plenty of goofy '80s flair--think slap-bass and punchy synth lines--and the dialogue is always clean and easy to understand, with no background hiss, crackling, or muffling. The disc includes optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
There are no bonus features whatsoever, not even a trailer. Bummer.
One of the less-remembered comedies starring John Candy, Armed and Dangerous is an inconsequential romp that has a few good laughs but simply can't compete with the roly-poly comic's best efforts. The movie has gotten a solid but understated upgrade on Blu-ray, so longtime Candy fans might want to check it out, but if you don't already have fond memories of the film, I'm not sure it's worth your time. I'll give this one a cautious, for- fans-only recommendation.
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