Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map Blu-ray Movie Review

He's been everywhere, man.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 7, 2014

What does a successful Comedy Central ventriloquist do when he's ready to expand his brand? He travels the world, of course, takes his show on the road and introduces a bit of international flavor into a well-established routine. In Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map, the famed voice-thrower and puppeteer hits up a dozen countries and even stirs up just a little bit of trouble -- armed guards gaze cautiously, ready to pounce if even the smallest hint of lawlessness gets past his trembling lips -- on the journey's last leg. But for the most part it's business as usual for Dunham, changing out flags and swapping out jokes but finding the humor in the everyday doings of international life as seen through the eyes of a handful of his most famous hand operated puppets that go where no grouchy old man, hillbilly, purple thingamajig, and dead terrorist have ever gone before.

The boys are back in town(s)...and countries.

Dunham's travels take him, literally, all around and up and down the globe for his biggest, most sensational and diverse tour yet. The trip begins in the friendly confines of the island-nation of Iceland and continues to Norway, Ireland, England, Scotland, The United Arab Eremites, Israel, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. That's five continents, twelve countries, and nineteen cities for those who are counting, a "whirlwind" if there ever was one, enough movement to wear out a watch dial and more miles than most will ever cover in a lifetime. Dunham adorns a podium with every host nation's flag and brings with him a handful of the usual suspects, including the cranky Walter, the redneck Bubba J., the purple Peanut, the skeletal Achmed, and...a surprise for his best fans in the censorship-laden land of Malaysia.

This is more of a scattershot program than it is a full-on, more complete performance as fans have seen in previous Dunham releases, such as Minding the Monsters and Controlled Chaos. Here, viewers are treated to little snippets from each country, a couple of minutes with each character rather than the full routine from each stop. Granted, that would have resulted in a significantly more costly multi-disc release, but no doubt many Dunham fans would have ponied up for a smorgasbord of content. As it is, this release intermixes highlights from Jeff's worldwide journeys with clips from his internationally flavored standup routines. Whether chatting with an Icelandic reporter, chipping in with a comment about missing baggage, stopping to visit with disease-ridden camels, strategizing a way around the Malaysian censorship laws, or even facilitating a marriage proposal with Achmed at one of the shows, there's a good bit of behind-the-scenes fun to be had across this brisk and fun globetrotting comedy adventure.

All Over the Map displays Dunham's range and skill perhaps better than any special to come before. It's a pleasure to watch him work. Take a moment and tune out the jokes -- that's hard, yes, but give it a try, or just turn the volume down -- and focus only on his mouth and the puppet's movements. The ability to not simply throw the voice and leave the lips at most quivering is a talent worthy of praise, but to pair it with perfect puppet control off to the side and maintain that level of skill and control in front of a large audience is really something else. In All Over the Map, Dunham sometimes takes things a step further, by throwing already thrown voices, having Walter perform a Scotty accent or spit out a few identifiable animal noises. Even that one added layer is impressive. With all of the opportunities for more finely tuned character shenanigans considering the international flavor, that absence of complete shows stings a little more. Nevertheless, this is a fun little jaunt with Jeff that fans will want to experience time and again. Here's hoping there's a more substantial release down the line.

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map's 1080p transfer is, well, all over the map. It never looks terrific, but it can look downright bad in spots. The middle ground is a sprawling landscape of hits and misses. At its best, the image provides solid, yet unspectacular, HD imagery, with some nice, vibrant coloring on dense city streets or adequate facial and clothing lines on stage. However, the image is generally lacking crisp detail, favoring lifeless skin, nonspecific clothing details, flat puppets, and even poorly defined grasses and animals. Some zoomed-in shots during shows go downright smudgy and soft (Iceland) while at other stops backgrounds are a mess of globular compression artifacts (Israel) or excess noise (England). Audience shots are blurry and poorly defined with black levels that range from purple tints to green tints. This is hardly a commanding transfer. It works well enough for a lower end release but this is one of the most uneven transfers of 2014.

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map's lossless audio presentation isn't all that, either. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack fares well enough where it counts, providing generally clear, hassle-free Dunham and friends dialogue up on stage. Supportive music in other spots could stand a little more precision balance and clarity, but on the plus side it is sufficiently robust and widely spaced. Crowd applause is lacking realistic presence and natural envelopment. As noted, the track works well where it must, but listeners shouldn't expect to experience the sounds of the world in transparent lossless glory in those scenes highlighting Dunham's off-stage adventures.

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map contains five featurettes. Note that this disc contains both "bleeped" and "unbleeped" versions. Users may make their selection via a pre-menu screen.

• Road to Scotland (1080p, 5:24): An extended interview featuring Dunham in his tour bus.
• Jeff Meets Some Competition (1080p, 2:28): Dunham shares a few tricks of the trade with a young up-and-coming ventriloquist.
• Malaysia Warning (1080p, 3:17): Dunham interviews on the radio and discusses the Malaysian censorship.
• Making Jacques (1080p, 2:44): Further Malaysia censorship discussion and working on a way to circumvent it.
• Extreme Travel (1-110 Degrees) (1080p, 2:10): A montage showing stops and activities from the trip.

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map amounts to little more than an international highlight show, a multi continent, one dozen nation tour condensed to under ninety minutes, some of which is spent behind the scenes, some of which is spent on stage with Jeff and puppets. It's a good overview with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, just as one would expect of a Dunham release. The teased routines are no substitute for the full shows, but fans will nevertheless be delighted even with the bits and pieces the program provides, which includes a surprise appearance at the end. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map features lower grade video, adequate audio, and a few supplements. Recommended to Dunham fans.