Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Gotcha! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 2, 2020

Jeff Kanew's "Gotcha!" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailer for the film as well as exclusive new audio commentaries with the director and journalist and author Bryan Reesman/ In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Czechoslovakian girl and the American virgin

If you take a quick look at the original poster for Jeff Kanew’s Gotcha! and you do not immediately feel the urge to see the film, you were almost certainly not around during the ‘80s and have no idea why nowadays so many people openly admit that they feel nostalgic for them. If you did live through the ’80s and the poster still does not do anything for you, well, you simply had the wrong experience with them. Just about everything that made the ‘80s exciting and attractive is captured and promoted in the poster. I will explain how below.

On the left side of the image is a young Anthony Edwards, who played one of the key characters in Kanew’s biggest hit, Revenge of the Nerds. In the early ‘80s, this film had people of different ages cracking up all over the country, so Edwards’ presence immediately introduces the very strong possibility that Gotcha! could be another funny crowd-pleaser. On the right side of the image is a young Linda Fiorentino, gently teasing Edwards with a slightly naughty smile, which guarantees a bit of spice. In the background is the iconic Eiffel Tower, suggesting old-fashioned romance and adventure, while the nighttime sky indicates suspense. Lastly, with so much going on in the poster there isn’t even a whiff of cynicism. The ‘80s had exactly that kind of a sincere feel-good vibe. They were funny and slightly naughty at times, they promised and delivered exciting adventures, they were daring in countless ways but immune to the toxic cynicism and political correctness that define our present.

Everything the poster promises, the film delivers.

College pals Jonathan (Edwards) and Manolo (Jsu Garcia) land in Paris determined to have the time of their life. Soon after, at a popular bistro, Jonathan bumps into Sasha (Fiorentino), who is visiting from Czechoslovakia and seems willing to have a romantic experience with a 'weer-gin'. After multiple rounds of fireworks in a nearby hotel Jonathan agrees to follow Sasha to West Berlin, where she is supposed to have a quick but important business meeting. Once the two reach West Berlin, however, Sasha reveals to Jonathan that her meeting is actually in East Berlin, so after a quick discussion the two cross the border and she gets in touch with her business partner. But while Sasha is away Jonathan ‘accidentally’ becomes a target for KGB agents, who initially monitor his movement across the city and eventually begin firing at him.

The film heads down a familiar path, but the ways in which it chooses to thrill are actually quite unpredictable. For example, the script forces the humor and action to constantly overlap and then slowly introduces enough old-fashioned romance and suspense that over time add a completely different flavor to the narrative. The characterizations are not as transparent as they initially appear either, which is why the evolution of the key relationships surprises as well.

What makes the film look and feel surprisingly attractive today, however, is the easiness with which it goes through clichéd situations and makes them work in its favor. This easiness is a byproduct of that sincere feel-good vibe the ‘80s are remembered for, which is completely incompatible with filters and red flags and temporarily makes even the silliest surprises appear legit.

Given the nature of the production, the quality of soundtrack is entirely predictable. It features top tunes like Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax and Two Tribes, Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy, and Nick Kershaw’s Wouldn’t It Be Good, as well as Thereza Bazar’s Gotcha.

Gotcha! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.84:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Gotcha! arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

In darker footage there are some limitations that we typically encounter on older masters, such as less than optimal shadow definition, light black crush, and even sporadic flatness. Also, grain exposure isn't as tight and consistent as it should be, which is why from time to time delineation suffers a bit. However, even with these limitations the current master still produces some rather impressive visuals and has an overall very solid organic appearance. The most impressive results are in well-lit close-ups where density, clarity, and delineation are usually very strong. The lack of problematic sharpening adjustments helps other areas look good as well. The color grading job is very convincing, through there is some room for improvements in terms of saturation and balance (mostly during darker/indoor areas where some minor nuances are lost). Image stability is very good. Lastly, there are no distracting age-related imperfections to report. All in all, while a brand new master should introduce some meaningful improvements, I like the current master quite a lot. (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).

Gotcha! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clear and stable. While viewing the film, I had the volume on my system turned up quite a bit and I liked the dynamic intensity as well. Is there any room for improvement? Possibly in areas where some rebalancing adjustments can be made, but I think that these would be cosmetic tweaks. So, I am going to say that as it is the lossless track reproduces the period qualities of the original soundtrack very well. I did not detect any distortions, dropouts, or other similar encoding anomalies to report.

Gotcha! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

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

• Commentary One - in this new audio commentary, director Jeff Kanew explains how the success of Revenge of the Nerds made it possible for him to shoot Gotcha!, and discusses the casting process, the shooting of different segments of the film in Europe, some of the improvisations throughout the film, some of the 'problematic' lines that would not appear in a modern script, etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

• Commentary Two - in this new audio commentary, entertainment journalist and author Bryan Reesman shares a lot of interesting information about the production of Gotcha! and the period in which it emerged (including the 'assassin game' that is highlighted in the film), Linda Fiorentino's image and role choices, Anthony Edwards' performance, the various European locations where the film takes its characters, the use of music, etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

Gotcha! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If your mind immediately begins comparing Gotcha! to other similarly themed but 'better' contemporary films, hit the 'stop' button on your remote control and don't waste your time with it. You will be better off ending your night with one of those Jason Bourne films that Matt Damon made with Paul Greengrass. Gotcha! is for folks that wish to temporarily be transported back to the '80s and remember the silliness that made them great. The entire film is a nostalgia fix with a perfect feel-good vibe. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but very nice organic master, and features two wonderful new audio commentaries with director Jeff Kanew and journalist and author Bryan Reesman. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.