Black Sheep 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Black Sheep 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 28, 2025

Penelope Spheeris' "Black Sheep" (1996) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by Penelope Spheeris and critic Simon Abrams and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The name is Meof. Officer Jack Meof.

Chris Farley was a very funny guy. But not all the funny material he did was easy to watch. From time to time, and especially toward the end of his career, Farley mismanaged the intensity that made his goofiness funny. He went too far with it, easily creating the impression that something very bad could happen to him while the camera was rolling. It was his shtick, and many people liked Farley’s films precisely because of it, but someone Farley trusted probably should have intervened. It would have helped his films get better and, quite possibly, helped him reconsider some truly bad habits. His best friend, David Spade, could have been that someone, and perhaps he was, but if he attempted to intervene, he must have failed early and decisively, which would explain his absence from Farley’s funeral.

Black Sheep is one of the films Farley made where the mismanagement of his intensity is impossible to ignore. As usual, Farley improvises a lot and is quite funny, but most of the time looks like a human version of the Energizer Bunny with a defective on-off switch. He is hyperactive, breathing heavily, looking like a person under the influence of a powerful stimulant. Some of Farley’s intensity is right for his bizarre failures, so instead of looking idiotic, they instantly become funny. But some do not. They look like painful tests scripted by an amateur writer, which Farley endures because it is the best he could do to make them fit into the narrative. This unusual mix of funny and unfunny material makes viewing Black Sheep quite an awkward experience.

All of Farley’s antics occur during a heated election that will produce the next governor of Washington State. The two political rivals are the current occupant of the governor’s mansion, Tracy (Christine Ebersole), and her ambitious challenger, Al Donnelly (Tim Matheson), who, according to internal polling shared by both camps, is within striking distance. Farley plays Donnelly’s brother, Mike, a genuine putz, who is on the road, trying to help his campaign but constantly complicating and flat-out screwing things up on his behalf.

In a desperate attempt to help Mike get back on the right track, or simply help him stay out of trouble until the election is over, Al assigns Steve Dodds (Spade), one of his many assistants, to follow him around. Mike and Steve quickly warm up to each other, but the former misinterprets Al’s decision and instead ‘improves’ his strategy to help him win. Shortly after, as voters begin casting their ballots, all hell breaks loose. However, in the ensuing chaos, Mike shocks everyone by uncovering evidence that the election is rigged and, assisted by a loopy army veteran (Gary Busey), makes a power play to save democracy in Washington State.

Farley and Spade share a decent chemistry. However, there is little they do that works brilliantly. Virtually all of the funny material materializes because Farley rehashes the type of physical comedy that worked nicely in Tommy Boy. Despite having dramatically less time before the camera, Busey is funnier than Spade, just being unhinged, which by the 1990s was an act he had mastered to perfection.

Black Sheep 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Black Sheep is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-32 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #35-39 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master, struck from the original camera negative and finalized at Paramount. In native 4K, the film can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Vision. Later, I spent time with the 1080p presentation of it on the Blu-ray.

It is very easy to declare that the new 4K and 1080p presentations of the film are dramatically better than the one featured on this Blu-ray release, produced by Paramount in 2009, which I own. Delineation, clarity, and depth are superior in every single frame of the film. The surface of these visuals is notably healthier as well. Their density levels are excellent and stable. I did not see any traces of problematic surface tinkering, so even on a very large screen, all visuals retain a proper filmic appearance. I would describe color balance as imperfect. From time to time, a whiff of extremely light turquoise sneaks in. It can be spotted on steel surfaces and select sky shots. In only one area -- the trip to the mountains -- the turquoise blooms and creates a distracting anomaly, almost identical to the many present in Paramount's 4K restoration of The Italian Job. You can see an example here. Fortunately, this is the only sequence where the blooming occurs. Elsewhere, color reproduction and balance are pretty easy to describe as good.

The Dolby Vision grade handles the majority of the bright outdoor footage better. On the Blu-ray, the dynamic range of some visuals is clearly a notch or two below their 4K counterparts. In native 4K, darker areas look good. I did not see any troubling crushing or flattening to report.

Black Sheep 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the entire film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Dynamic intensity is great. For example, the concert footage with Mudhoney and the wild trip to mountains where the shack collapses sounds fantastic. Elsewhere, while dynamic contrasts are not of 'reference quality', there is a lot to like, too. All dialog is very clear, sharp, and always easy to follow. I did not encounter any age-related or encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Black Sheep 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by director Penelope Spheeris and is moderated by critic and author Simon Abrams. Spheeris shares a lot of information about the production process and what it was like to work with the late Chris Farley, whom she claims was "straight" at the time. Also, there is interesting information about some of the special effects and stunt work that was done, as well as the different strengths of Tim Matheson and David Spade's performances.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by director Penelope Spheeris and is moderated by critic and author Simon Abrams. Spheeris shares a lot of information about the production process and what it was like to work with the late Chris Farley, whom she claims was "straight" at the time. Also, there is interesting information about some of the special effects and stunt work that was done, as well as the different strengths of Tim Matheson and David Spade's performances.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Black Sheep. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Black Sheep 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gene Siskel had some extremely harsh words for Black Sheep, and I do not think they were justified. However, I also do not agree that Black Sheep is the underappreciated gem some people have described. In it, Chris Farley and David Spade are not in top form, plus, unfortunately, the direction is quite underwhelming. Also, in its current form, Black Sheep leaves the impression that it was assembled from various sources, the majority of which provided mediocre material. One last thing. Farley does not look well before the camera. A lot of what he does very fast occasionally hides the obvious rather well, but elsewhere, when he slows down, his face and eyes reveal a lot. Kino Lorber's combo pack offers a decent upgrade in quality. However, Black Sheep could have looked even better on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray.