6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
After his car is blown up, maverick vice cop Thomas Dooley reluctantly teams up with police dog Jerry Lee to hunt down an elusive drug dealer.
Starring: Jim Belushi, Mel Harris (I), Kevin Tighe, Ed O'Neill, RandoCrime | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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