6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Lovelorn Stanley Moon, a short-order cook at Wimpy Burger, is infatuated with the beautiful waitress Margaret Spencer. This unrequited love causes Stanley to nearly end his life until he is visited by the devil, who offers Stanley seven wishes in exchange for his soul. After accepting the offer, Stanley soon realizes "the devil's in the details" as each wish takes a surprising twist.
Starring: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Raquel Welch, Eleanor Bron, AlbaComedy | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Dudley Moore will probably always be best remembered as either hapless schlub George Webber lusting after the character played by Bo Derek in 10, or by another kind of hapless schlub who just happened to have several million dollars to his name, Arthur. Moore is indeed a hapless shlub in Bedazzled, but one need only pay attention to the credits to figure out that Moore himself was anything but hapless, even if he couldn't quite evade a certain shlub-like aspect to his persona. Not only does Moore co-star in this often quite funny retelling of the Faust legend, he also co-wrote the film and provided its swingin' sixties soundtrack. As fans of the diminutive actor are probably already well aware, Moore and his co-star and co-writer in this enterprise, Peter Cook, were an incredibly popular duo on television in the United Kingdom, having offered their own anarchic take on society in a kind of pre-Monty Python's Flying Circus series whimsically entitled Not Only. . .But Also. Bedazzled actually recycles one of the gags from the series, but the entire film has a sort of unabashed lunatic edge that may remind some of an extended Python sketch. The basic setup is "Faust simplicity" itself, with The Devil, having handily assumed the nom du guerre George Spiggott (Peter Cook), leading, yep, hapless schlub Stanley Moon (Dudley Cook) down a garden path that is decidedly more Gethsemane than Eden, at least in terms of some of the trials Stanley has to experience. The film is deliberately vignette driven, as Stanley burns through a half dozen plus wishes which George of course is easily able to undercut with a little, well, devilish logic.
Bedazzled is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.37:1. While the color timing and general detail levels of this release look pretty similar to the German Blu-ray put out by Alive several years ago which Svet reviewed, even a cursory glance at the screenshots not to mention our specs will show that the German release had a 2.62:1 aspect ratio, while this has the aforementioned 2.37:1, and to my eyes at least it appears obvious that this release is rather weirdly anamorphically squeezed. You can do side by side comparisons of several screenshots that are somewhat similar between the two reviews and (again, to my eyes) it seems obvious that the German release, while sporting a somewhat odd aspect ratio, looks more natural than this one. This was the first thing I noticed about this transfer, and it's a rather odd situation but interestingly not the only time I've encountered something like this (I just reviewed a VCI release that was obviously stretched instead of squeezed). Otherwise, though, this sports a nicely suffused palette, albeit one that is perhaps just slightly faded, as evidenced by slightly orangish reds and some brown flesh tones. There are occasional signs of age related wear and tear, including quite a few white specks. Grain looks natural throughout. My score is 3.25.
Bedazzled features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. Both tracks offer good fidelity and no real problems, but I found the Mono track to be more satisfying, with better amplitude and a more secure accounting of things like Moore's very enjoyable score. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Bedazzled is a really fun and often quite funny film, and it's wonderful to see Cook and Moore so obviously having a ball and enjoying each other's company. Maybe Stanley secretly wished for everyone to be weirdly skinny, since this release looks anamorphically squeezed to me. Otherwise (I know that will be a relative term for some videophiles), this sports a decently intact palette and good detail levels, and audio is fine. The accompanying supplements aren't especially bounteous, but are enjoyable, for those who may be considering making a purchase.
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