Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Get Shorty Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson September 17, 2020

John Travolta turned down Get Shorty at first because he couldn't see himself in the shoes of loan shark Chili Palmer. Two things happened that caused Travolta to change his mind. After reading the first draft of Scott Frank's script, Travolta then read Elmore Leonard's eponymous 1990 novel and was disappointed that Frank dropped some of Leonard's dialogue and movie references. Leonard put those nuggets from the novel into his next draft. According to various press clippings I perused, Travolta also insisted that other lines be added. In addition, it took a frank conversation with Travolta's director and friend, Quentin Tarantino, to convince the star of TV's Welcome Back, Kotter that Get Shorty was a picture that he couldn't pass up. While Travolta agreed to play the lead, he wasn't the first actor considered. Director Barry Sonnenfeld not only asked Danny DeVito and his company Jersey Films to produce the movie but also for DeVito to star as Chili. But DeVito was preoccupied with directing duties on Matilda (1996) so had to take a smaller but still important role in Get Shorty. Dustin Hoffman has maintained that DeVito's Martin Weir, a Hollywood showman, was based on him. Hoffman even lunched with Sonnenfeld during pre-production of Get Shorty but turned down the role.

Get Shorty is a funny and witty satire of Hollywood that deftly shows how film producers and mobsters are interchangeable. Chili Palmer's protector is a mafia don named Momo (Ron Karabatsos). "Momo" was the nickname for Chicago crime boss Sam Giancana, who was close friends with Frank Sinatra and schmoozed with other actors and starlets. Those working for the mob in Get Shorty aspire to become movie producers. Chili breaks into the home of B producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman) because he wants him to produce a real-life tale about Leo Devoe (David Paymer), a Laundromat owner who owes a loan of $2,700. Leo faked being in a plane crash so he could collect a large check from a life insurance company. The $300,000 that Leo pocketed is sought by the vicious mobster Ray "Bones" Barboni (Dennis Farina). Zimm needs money because he owes $150,000 to a Vegas casino. Furthermore, limousine driver and cocaine trafficker Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo), who reads Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, wants to get into producing with Zimm as well. Bo's always accompanied by Bear (a bearded and long-haired James Gandolfini), his mob enforcer.

The narrative of Get Shorty travels from Miami to Brooklyn, then to Las Vegas, and finally to Los Angeles. In retrospect, it's noticeable how its structure influenced Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy and other caper pictures. If Frank's screenplay has a weak link, though, it leaves Paymer's Leo Devoe out to dry since it doesn't do anything with him in the third act. But the principals and rest of the ensemble are terrific.

Get Shorty is a valentine to the movies. A memorable scene shows Chili attending a retrospective of Welles's A Touch of Evil and reciting lines before they're spoken. Chili is so into it that he talks to the screen. Two other scenes have Chili and Bo debating whether or not the Western playing on Harry's TV is Hawkes's El Dorado or Rio Bravo. Chili argues for the latter and shows Bo how much he knows about that film's characters. At the beginning of Get Shorty, Chili says that Bones stole his $379 leather jacket that Al Pacino wore in Serpico. Travolta added that line in.

Get Shorty Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout Select's release of Get Shorty is advertised as receiving a recent 4K scan but this appears to be the same transfer that MGM put out in 2011, which was covered then by Reviewer Emeritus Michael Reuben. The picture looks solid with bright colors. I did notice some mosquito noise on a few occasions, though. Shout has encoded their MPEG-4 AVC-encoded transfer at an average video bitrate of 31993 kbps. A dozen scene selections accompany the 105-minute feature.

Screenshots 1-15, 19, 21, 23 & 25 = Shout Select 2018 Collector's Edition BD-50
Screenshots 17, 19, 21, 23 = MGM 2011 BD-50

Get Shorty Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (3590 kbps, 24-bit) and the original theatrical DTS Stereo, rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (2062 kbps, 24-bit). The lossless 2.0 mix was created for this disc. Get Shorty is dialogue heavy and spoken words dominate the front channels. There's two scenes where a commercial aircraft flies overhead where one can hear the plane's jets swoop above them. Another scene where Chili is dropped off to rent a mini-van (instead of a Cadillac as in the novel), I could hear raindrops pelting down along the surround speakers. Composer John Lurie (a frequent collaborator of Jim Jarmusch's) wrote a hip and jazzy score that sounds fairly vibrant on the 5.1. The soundtrack also includes five ballads by Booker T. & the M.G.s. An airport scene with quick cuts incorporates "Green Onions" on the non-diegetic track to perfection.

Shout supplies optional English SDH for the main feature.

Get Shorty Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout has licensed all the extras from MGM's 2005 two-disc Collector's Edition. The commentary track with Sonnenfeld is a holdover from the 1996 MGM/UA letterboxed LaserDisc.

• Audio Commentary with Director Barry Sonnenfeld

• Get Shorty: Look at Me (26:56, upscaled to 1080i)

• Get Shorty: Wiseguys and Dolls (20:30, upscaled to 1080i)

• Deleted Graveyard Scene (7:47, upscaled to 1080i) - with introduction by Barry Sonnenfeld

• Unedited Takes: Going Again (5:35, upscaled to 1080i)

• Get Shorty Party Reel (5:50, upscaled to 1080i)

• Page to Screen of Get Shorty (29:35, upscaled to 1080i)

• Four Vignettes (6:05 in total, upscaled to 1080i)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:38, 1080p)

Get Shorty Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Currently offered for $35 on Amazon with essentially the same transfer and bonus materials as MGM's Blu-ray, this package from Shout Select is way overpriced, although I like the inclusion of the uncompressed (original) DTS stereo mix. I'd wait for this drop to $20 and under. Those who own the MGM likely won't have to double-dip. It's be nice for the transfer to receive a true 4K remaster and an UHD release. It also could use a new, extended making-of doc containing recent interviews with Sonnenfeld and his actors. RECOMMENDED with caveats.