6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Mommie Dearest, best selling memoir, turned motion picture, depicts the abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother...screen queen Joan Crawford.
Starring: Faye Dunaway, Steve Forrest (I), Diana Scarwid, Mara Hobel, Howard Da SilvaDrama | Insignificant |
Biography | 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 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (224 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (224 kbps)
English, English SDH, French, German
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Typically I approach a previously unseen movie of yesteryear with enough knowledge and preliminary research to set the stage for my first viewing. Expectations can sometimes be damning but knowing what I'm in for has proven helpful more often than not. But, by sheer chance, I came to Mommie Dearest completely blind. Somehow, I had never heard of the film, despite my longtime appreciation for Faye Dunaway's filmography. My assumption? I was sitting down to watch a hard-hitting biopic on the tumultuous life and career of legendary screen star Joan Crawford. Well... that'll teach me. That is not this film. Mommie Dearest is camp at camp's finest... and at camp's worst. It doesn't intend to earn unintentional laughs, and yet, I couldn't help but crack up more and more with each passing scene. Which would make for a fun watch, if the movie didn't take itself so dreadfully, drearily serious. It's meant to evoke horror and disgust; drama at its best. It's meant to offer deep insight into what made Crawford so reportedly erratic and mentally unstable; a searing portrait of an unraveling artist. Instead, it barely peels back a single layer of the woman who -- as the hilariously melodramatic film and lead performance suggests over and over again -- was a terribly deluded and abusive human being, an awful, self-righteous mother and nothing short of an unhinged cartoon monster.
The 17th film in the "Paramount Presents" series, Mommie Dearest's Blu-ray release features a healthy, faithful 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer from a newly minted 4K master. Why the film wasn't released on 4K is a bit of a head-scratcher, but a limited budget and a relatively small fanbase are probably to blame. No matter. Colors are warm and lifelike, with natural skintones, punchy primaries (Joan's lipstick leaves a mark) and deep black levels. Contrast is filmic and consistently exacting, and grain has been preserved with no unsightly or extended surges or chunkiness to report. Detail is excellent too. Fine textures are revealing, especially in close-ups of Dunaway's face (with or without smears of makeup), and edges are crisp and free of halos. There are a handful of soft shots inherent to the original photography and elements but no one acquainted with '80s filmmaking will bat an eyelash. Moreover, there's very little print wear, specks or blemishes of note, nor did I notice any instances of banding or artifacting. All in all, this is a fine presentation; one you'd expect to accompany a more beloved film.
Paramount presents Mommie Dearest with two audio options: a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix and a Dolby Digital mono 2.0 track. The DTS-HD mix is superior in terms of clarity and immersiveness, though purists may gravitate to the mono track as it offers an experience that's more faithful to the film's original release. Dialogue is clean, clear and well-prioritized on both, and the Henry Mancini score is given a nice prominence in the soundscape that never over or underwhelms. The surround mix is largely a front-heavy affair, with minor directional effects and pans being used to decent effect without resorting to over-modernizing the use of the entire soundfield. Likewise, low-end support is lacking by today's standards but still manages to lend weight to several tantrums and melodramatic dust-ups. Neither track suffers from any real issues, thankfully, meaning Mommie Dearest sounds about as good as it possibly could.
Mommie Dearest is many things but an "insightful biopic" isn't one of them. Not even remotely. This is the cringiest of cringe-inducing camp chewing the scenery alongside even campier flights of madness (based on a tell-all book that was widely accused of gross exaggeration and outright fabrication), and you have to have a flair for the overly -- and I mean overly -- melodramatic to appreciate anything the film or Dunaway have on tap. Fortunately for fans, the Blu-ray release of Mommie Dearest delivers an excellent remastering and equally remarkable video presentation, solid audio quality, and a few new supplements (for better or worse) along with all the previously released DVD edition's content. Is it worth a purchase? If you enjoy the film, absolutely. If you've never seen it, though, you might want to approach with caution. I wish I had.
1963
Warner Archive Collection
1936
2016
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Warner Archive Collection
1962
2011
15th Anniversary Edition
1996
2009
2010
Warner Archive Collection
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2015
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Import
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2016