Father Hood Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Father Hood Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 5, 2020

Darrell Roodt's "Father Hood" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the disc is a vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Shut up, shut up. Just shut up already.

The mainstream critics that trashed Father Hood were wrong again. No, it is not a masterpiece and most of the funny in it comes from ridiculous situations that are hard to imagine in real life, but it dispatches its characters on a journey that is quite enjoyable. So, as a comedy Father Hood is pretty average, but as a road film it is actually quite attractive. If you see it at the end of a long and hectic day it will clear up your mind and then send you to bed feeling much better about the rest of your week.

Patrick Swayze plays an ex-con named Jack Charles who is getting ready to do a special job that will finally make him financially independent. But he is forced to put his plan on hold when his teenage daughter (Sabrina Lloyd) escapes from a youth detention center and then comes knocking on his door. At first Jack figures that the only way out of the mess is to simply send her back to where she came from, but when he learns that she and his younger son (Brian Bonsall) have been repeatedly abused there changes his mind. He reclaims them after he hijacks the bus that is transporting them back to the detention center and they hit the road. When the police begin tracking them down a reporter (Halle Berry) who has kept in touch with Jack offers to help him get a good deal from the justice system in exchange for a testimony that will expose the abuse at the detention center and bring down its top brass, but he ignores her and heads to New Orleans where his partners are eagerly awaiting his arrival. On the way to New Orleans, however, Jack decides to make a quick stop at Las Vegas and ask his mother (Diane Ladd), a compulsive gambler, to take care of the kids.

Director Darrell James Roodt worked with a script delivered by Scott Spencer which essentially keeps inventing obstacles that complicate the ex-con’s journey to New Orleans right until the final credits roll. Quite predictably, all of the exciting material comes from the ex-con’s improvisations and his struggle to decide if he is going to be a proper crook or a good father.

But the film isn’t a show off piece for Swayze. Lloyd and Bonsall are very active and in a number of different sequences actually do nice work that makes the action entertaining. This has a positive impact on the chemistry between their characters and the manner in which the film introduces various dramatic twists and turns.

The film clearly stutters when it begins dispatching the cliched messages that are supposed to validate its PG-13 rating. And the problem is not that they are not legit messages, rather it is the manner in which they are delivered throughout the journey. Indeed, instead of using the ex-con’s failures to demonstrate why his old ways of doing things in the real word are wrong, the film gradually demotes him to a temperamental joker that sees the light while being pressured by his kids. It is a cute transformation but hardly an authentic one.

Still, the bulk of the film was shot across Texas, Arizona, and Nevada and much of the outdoor footage looks quite wonderful. So, not only did someone pick a wide range of picturesque locations for the ex-con’s journey, but when Roodt and his director of photography Mark Vicente started shooting it they were fully aware that nature could be a most valuable partner.

*Swayze’s character was inspired by a guy named Mike Hardy, who apparently did some of the things that are chronicled in the film. Roodt hired Hardy as a technical consultant during the shooting of the film.

Father Hood Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Father Hood arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an older master, which should be the exact same master that Mill Creek Entertainment used to produce the first high-definition release of the film in 2012.

The master is not bad, but its age shows. Its most obvious limitations pop up during wider panoramic shots where depth isn't optimal and various ranges of nuances are not revealed well. Clarity ranges from decent to good, but a fresh new master will unquestionably introduce important improvements, especially during darker footage where now shadow definition isn't great either. The good news here is that there are no traces of compromising digital adjustments, so even with the previously mentioned limitations there are plenty of decent organic qualities. (The lack that very annoying digital harshness that is present on many older Universal masters makes a substantial difference). Color are stable, but a magenta font of the kind that was common on older masters skews some native nuances. Image stability is good. A few white specks and tiny dark spots are present, but there are no large distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Father Hood Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray 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 film with the 5.1 track. It serves the film quite well, especially during the action footage where the explosions and gunshots arrive with rather nice intensity. The overall dynamic contrasts are also good. There are traces of age-related anomalies in the mid-/high ranges either, so clarity remains consistently pleasing. Balance is good, so if there is any room for improvement I don't think that it would be significant.

Father Hood Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Father Hood. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. A Simple Twist of Fate
  2. Life with Mikey
  3. Billy Bathgate

Father Hood Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Father Hood goes down a familiar path, but it's got some nice panoramic footage that makes it quite attractive. The humor? I think that if you approach it expecting an avalanche of jokes you will be disappointed because this film was not conceived to be a sizzling comedy, which it appears a lot of mainstream critics expected it to be. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an old but mostly decent master. RECOMMENDED.