Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

K-9 Blu-ray Movie Review

Dooley & Pooch.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 10, 2018

K-9 is certainly no classic, but it's a whole heck of a lot of fun. It's a movie that's absolutely not pretentious, which alone sets it apart from, and rises it above, so many of today's Comedies. It's very straightforward, building up a generic cops-busting-the-drug-lord narrative around the focal point relationship between man and animal: the bond they form, the laughs they share, and the action in which they find themselves. The movie is a product of its characters, human and canine both. The script gives them a lead, but Belushi and his four-legged friend run with the material and elevate somewhat generic moments into a humorous and memorable workflow, with the best scenes coming in between drug busts and shootouts.

Michael Dooley (James Belushi) is a top cop in San Diego who is a little reckless and his tactics are more than a little bit out of left field. He’s close to nabbing his target, a big-time crook named Lyman (Kevin Tighe), who has just put out a violent hit on him. His latest tip leads him to a warehouse where drugs are supposedly being stored, and he needs a nose to sniff them out. That turns out to be a German Shepard named Jerry Lee, a vicious dog who might just be a little smarter than his new master. At the warehouse, Jerry Lee discovers but a single joint, hardly the markings of a well-oiled criminal enterprise machine. But the tenacious Dooley refuses to give up, bonding with Jerry Lee on the gritty streets of San Diego where he just knows Lyman has something big planned, including another hit on him. Can two of San Diego’s best cops bring down the city’s most ruthless criminal, or will they kill each other first?

K-9 is full of personality, both for its person and its pooch. Jim Belushi is terrific as Dooley, the wise-cracking, smart alec, tough-as-needed cop who loves bagging criminals as much as bedding his girlfriend. He looks and feels the part. He's not entirely disheveled but it's clear that he thrives on the stakeout and cold pizza rather than a hot shower and a nice dinner. He's comfortable with his gun and he's never above a joke even in a tense situation. When he partners with Jerry Lee, he meets his match. The dog is always one step ahead of him and always putting his paws in his partner's business. Jerry Lee has a nose for crime, a penchant for humiliating Dooley, and an eye for the ladies (of his own species, that is). Jerry Lee is not above messing with his master, either, and showing him who's really boss. But when push comes to shove, the bullets start flying, and the moment calls for teamwork, the two gel better than any two human partners, each instinctively reading and reacting to the other in a way that makes the pairing the true definition of partners.

The drug-bust plot was a staple of 80s Action-Comedy films: a generic framework for whatever focal point qualities the filmmakers wanted to really make the story's focus (think Tango & Cash). The villain's menacing front makes him an adequate stand-in bad guy (Kevin Tighe is just fine as Lyman) but there's nothing here to differentiate him from most any other from his time. K-9 uses its antagonists as an excuse to bring Dooley and Jerry Lee together, to take them on their adventures and see them bond in both burgeoning friendship and increasing peril. Even cutaway scenes, such as one featuring Lyman killing one of his henchmen, really only serve to let the audience know what the good guys are up against, to make their journey a little more fraught with potential peril. Tighe certainly laps up the opportunity to play a slimy bad guy, and he pairs well with Belushi. What makes them click is the chemistry, the way they play off one another, Dooley's brashness and Lyman's smooth confidence which evolves into angry frustration the more the cop foils his plans and stands in his way and the more his henchmen fail to dispose of him. Jerry Lee, of course, is the tiebreaker, the difference maker, but it's the partnership with Dooley, the merging of their individual strengths and ability to set aside their differences (which the film plays more for comic relief rather than serious rift) that will ultimately give them the best opportunity to bring their opponent down.

K-9 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

K-9 has certainly not been given any kind of restoration or remastering for its Blu-ray release, but the net results aren't horrible by any stretch of the imagination, a relief given this reviewer's affinity for the movie and Universal's spotty-at-best track record with catalogue releases. Clearly this Blu-ray has been sourced from an old master. Edge enhancement is occasionally prominent but usually not exceedingly bothersome or hopelessly frequent. Grain is clumpy and the movie appears digitally processed but noise reduction has not been applied to such a significant degree as to remove all natural texturing form the image. There's actually a fair bit of detail to enjoy here. Environments reveal all of the seedy, gritty textures in lower-rent areas of the city while some of the more elegant surfaces in Lyman's pool area or Tracy's home are sharp and clear. Faces and clothes find sufficiently robust complexity, as does Jerry Lee's fur. Colors are not particularly stout but neither are they dull, drained, or faded. There's a pleasing enough natural saturation about them, with largely even contrast across the board. Skin tones might be a hint on the pale side in total but blacks and lower light venues hold firm enough. This is certainly not an A-grade catalogue release but fans should find it a relatively watchable image.

K-9 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

K-9 doesn't bark but rather whimpers on Blu-ray. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack is puny and lacking all but the most basic sonic elements. A hovering helicopter, heavy automatic weapons fire, and an explosion in the opening minutes fail to offer anything but the most sonically simple signatures, and that essentially holds true for the duration. Any sort of action element lacks vigor, but the good news is that a few atmospheric effects -- city din, reverberation -- are well integrated, at least as well as can be within the two-channel constraints. Sound element detail, beyond those action effects, is largely fine, and music plays with fair front end width and sufficient, though hardly lifelike, detailing. Dialogue images well enough to the center. Spoken word detail is not absolutely precise but certainly passable, with a few exceptions, including a tinny stretch at the 61-minute mark.

K-9 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of K-9 contains no supplemental content. Subtitles must be toggled on and off in-film via a crude pop-up menu. No top menu screen is included. Needless to say, no DVD or digital versions are included, and the release does not ship with a slipcover.

K-9 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

K-9 is an enjoyable late 80s Comedy that features one of Jim Belushi's most personable and agreeable performances. The movie is simple but witty and lots of fun. The dog is great and in classic animal movie fashion, the film, largely through Belushi's interaction but also thanks to the dog itself, creates a tangible and fully developed personality for the title four-legged cop. It and Belushi share great chemistry and the supporting action and drama are well-staged, too. Universal's Blu-ray delivers decent enough video and serviceable audio. No extras are included. Recommended, but it would be nice if Universal priced these titles more in-line with the quality the studio is delivering. $10 would be a sweet spot; $20 or thereabouts is just too much.