6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
A minor league baseball player has to waste $30m in 30 days in order to inherit $300m; however he's not allowed to tell anyone about the $300m deal.
Starring: Richard Pryor, John Candy, Lonette McKee, Stephen Collins, Hume CronynComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Remember when Comedies were actually fun? When there was a real story, honest characterization, a memorable or unique arc, when they were larger-than-life laugh-out-loud fantasies rather than strings of mindless, droning sex romps and tasteless jokes? There's a place for the new style, but long gone, it seems, are the days of Brewster's Millions and the heydays of Comedy legends like the late Richard Pryor and John Candy, two of the greats to ever grace the screen and working together in what ranks amongst their top works in Director Walter Hill's (48 Hrs.) rags-to-riches-to-rags and possibly back-to-riches tale. Though the film wasn't a major hit or even, reportedly, all that highly regarded by its own director, it's one of this reviewer's personal favorites, a nostalgic blast back to a childhood in love with baseball, movies, and the ideas of both flamboyant big-money spending and charity (it's no surprise that Max Dugan Returns was another favorite).
Another bad-good investment...???
Brewster's Millions looks quite nice on Blu-ray. Universal's 1080p presentation maintains an attractive film-like texture, playing with a healthy grain structure and in-tact textures. While the movie isn't razor-sharp, it does maintain natural clarity and attention to finer details, like stitching, wear, and grime on Monty's well-worn Cubs jersey. Facial features are presented with a healthy complexity, clothing, too, not to mention many of the more finely appointed environments in the film, such as law offices and Monty's penthouse. Colors show nice punch and vibrancy. Cubs red and blue and the Bulls' more flashy uniforms of similar colors as seen later in the film are appropriately vibrant. Black levels are fine and flesh tones appear accurate. Light print wear is evident, but the image isn't often worse-for-wear. No encode issues are readily apparent. Fans are going to be very pleased with this presentation.
Brewster's Millions doesn't flourish in the sound department. Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is often camped and muddled with no real sense of space and certainly precious little clarity to its name. Music struggles to find much width, pushing beyond the center imaging but never finding any serious spread along the front, situated somewhere just out of the center's realm. Music is likewise lacking clarity, juice, and verve, failing to produce any distinguishing details to any of its musical pieces. Crowd cheers and dugout chatter come across as shallow, and even punches and crashes in a bar fight early on lack any serious oomph. A helicopter lands midway through the film to fair effect, easily the most prominent sonic moment on offer. It's rather heavy and well spaced, somehow finding a much further reach than any other element. Dialogue is passable, but even it wants for greater pronouncement, presence, and clarity, coming across as rather shallow but at least presenting with a center-imaged positioning in the stage.
This Blu-ray release of Brewster's Millions contains no supplemental content.
Brewster's Millions still holds up as a refreshing blast of fun, painted by a little nostalgia, sure, but it's a quality little Comedy with several excellent performances. Pryor and Candy milk it for practically all its worth, with the former particularly adept at finding and emoting the extremes that pull his character in several different directions at once. Universal's long-awaited Blu-ray release is unfortunately absent any supplemental content. Audio is truly bland but the video presentation is quite good and very enjoyable. Recommended.
1990
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2011
Enlarged Edition w/ Extended Cut
2011
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2018
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1979
Retro VHS Collection
1991
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2013
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