7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Follow Phil Rosenthal, creator of the hit TV series 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' in this incredibly funny true story of the attempt to translate 'Raymond' into a Russian sitcom. A hilarious, warm and intimate journey of one man, considered an expert in his country, who travels to a distant land to help people that don't seem to want his help. Lost in Moscow, lost in his mission, lost in translation, Phil tries to connect to his Russian colleagues but runs into unique characters and situations that conspire to drive him insane. The movie is a true international adventure, a genuine 'fish out of water' comedy that could only exist in real life.
Documentary | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Do the show you want to do.
Rules for the perfect TV sitcom: it's got to be funny, it should be grounded in something approximating reality, the cast has to be spot-on, and it
needs
a bit of heart every now and then to tie it all together. All of those qualities were perfectly arranged like they were part of some critically-important
and
attention-intensive scientific formula in "Everybody Loves Raymond," the nine-season strong sitcom that captured the attention of America and
tickled
its funny bone like clockwork, hanging around and ever-solidifying its stronghold in popular culture through the dedication of the entire production
team
and the admiration and appreciation of an audience that knows a great thing when it sees -- and laughs at -- it. It just so happens that series
creator
Philip Rosenthal has used this same formula to find great success in his latest venture, a lighthearted Documentary that follows the trials, people,
and
culture shocks that challenged the creation of a Russian-made adaptation of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Exporting Raymond, sure
enough,
is intensely funny but in a subtle sort of way. It's also home to a great cast of characters -- from Rosenthal himself to his ex-military driver, from a
demanding and closed-minded costumer to the ultra-serious straight-out-of-"The Sopranos" head honcho of Russia's Department of Comedy -- who bring to
the
film a true sense of Russian
reality and, indeed, a little bit of heart amidst all of the ups, downs, confusions, and disagreements that threaten to ground the Russian version of
the
show before it's even been stocked, fueled, and prepped for takeoff.
Everybody loves a white block.
Exporting Raymond arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.78:1-framed image that's built around a myriad of sources of varying qualities. There's the freshly-minted HD footage, clips from "Everybody Loves Raymond" that are of intermediate HD quality, and a plethora of standard-definition footage. Of course, the lower-grade elements yield some unsightly banding, blocky backgrounds, poor colors, and the like, but it would be unfair to lower the score based on antiquated material that wasn't created with high definition in mind or even then-readily available or economically viable. The newer footage looks fine, for the most part; compression issues are kept to a minimum, though it is a bit noisy, flat, and features a decidedly glossy texture. Still, fine details are quite good, nowhere near the quality of what viewers might expect to find in a digitally-shot big-budget blockbuster, but more than adequate in the handling of skin and clothing textures, building façades, and the like. Colors are bright and well-balanced, but blacks are sometimes a hair washed out and gray. Even subtracting the older, lower-grade material, the transfer isn't a stunner, but it's more than adequate given what it has to work with.
Exporting Raymond features a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Sony's soundtrack doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, nor does the film's sound design require much of it. This is generally a front-heavy, dialogue-intensive film. The spoken word is crisp and accurately delivered from the center channel. Some energized pop music injects a bit of flavor into the proceedings; it's nicely spaced -- including a bit of surround sound support -- and enjoys a satisfactory thumping low end. Atmospherics are few but handled well; the back channels carry some Russian thunder and a few external elements, but the track is mostly satisfied to linger across the front and convey the story through dialogue. Sony's track is perfectly clear and finely balanced; it's the very definition of "unexciting" but it handles the film's rather limited sound design with nary a major flaw.
Exporting Raymond arrives on Blu-ray with a high quality array of extras, highlighted by a wonderful commentary track and one of the best
features in recent memory, two episodes of the respective American and Russian versions of the show.
Exporting Raymond will satisfy those who have seen every episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" several times over and those who have yet to experience the joys the show has to offer. Philip Rosenthal secures his legacy as a television and entertainment great by carrying over what made his hit show work so well into the medium of Documentary filmmaking. That his real-life trials in bringing his show to a foreign market so closely reflect those same attributes that made "Everybody Loves Raymond" such a huge success just goes to show how his formula truly does universally work. He's created the same kind of atmosphere in this film as was found in his television show, even if they are vastly differing entities. Those same four core elements -- humor, cast, realism, and heart -- define both the show and this film. Budding writers, filmmakers, and television directors take note: sometimes it's the simplest things, the smallest little touches, and adherence to what works and what people want that sells, whether at home or abroad (though as Exporting Raymond proves it may take a while to get that basic point across!). Sony's Blu-ray release of Exporting Raymond delivers about as good a video presentation as one could expect given the myriad of mixed-quality sources. The audio track is fine and the included supplements are a great strength. Highly recommended.
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