Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Money Talks Blu-ray Movie Review

Mid night run.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 11, 2024

Brett Ratner's Money Talks is clearly the third best "1997 film featuring Chris Tucker" behind The Fifth Element and of course Jackie Brown, but this watchable action-comedy was a modest hit on release and has maintained a decent cult following in the last 25+ years. Relatively breezy at 96 (mostly well-managed) minutes, it's home to more than a few big laughs, well-done action set pieces, and decent charisma between its two disparate leads. There are better genre picks available, but Money Talks at least skates by on lightweight strengths and a loose, anything-goes plot. Honestly, the only prerequisite is that you have to be able to tolerate the antics of its bug-eyed, loud-mouthed star.

Needless to say, if the picture above makes you roll your eyes, Money Talks probably isn't for you. Tucker is front and center for the duration, playing a variation on familiar characters established in earlier films like Friday, House Party 3 (a bit of dialogue is even recycled here), and of course The Fifth Element, with his schtick continuing throughout the Rush Hour series and many other films. Here Tucker portrays Franklin Hatchett, a small-time hustler and ticket scalper who gets arrested for his dealings with local mobster Carmine (Damian Chapa). During his transport to prison by bus, he's seated next to French diamond thief Raymond Villard (Gerard Ismael) and is the only other survivor after Villard's men stage a violent attack to free him, leaving Franklin on the run and wrongly wanted for murder.

Unlikely help arrives with investigative reporter James Russell (Charlie Sheen), who interviewed Franklin before the arrest but was later fired after a heated argument with his boss (David Warner); now desperate to reclaim his career for next week's ratings sweeps -- especially with his upcoming marriage to lovely Grace (Heather Locklear) -- James takes Franklin under his wing for an exclusive interview. Temporarily hobnobbing with Grace's rich family, including her parents (Paul Sorvino and Veronica Cartwright), he somehow avoids detection while attempting to track down Villard and clear his name in the process while trying to nab the thief's $15M in stolen diamonds for himself. This eventually builds to a chaotic extended showdown at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum involving almost every gang-related group in the city (and even a rocket launcher), putting a firm exclamation point on a plot that, while certainly free-wheeling and unpredictable, admittedly requires a lot of suspension of disbelief to "just go along with".

Borrowing lightly to liberally from other established polar-opposite buddy comedies, Money Talks may not be all that original but plays its cards right, impressing with well-paced humor and a few (surprisingly bloody) action scenes that, along with Tucker's non-stop barrage of profanity, earn Money Talks the firm "R" rating that limited its audience which would grow considerably for the next year's (comparatively) more family-friendly Rush Hour. It's more of a minor genre entre but holds up decently enough: even though Money Talks didn't exactly score with critics back in the day (except for Roger Ebert, who gave it a somewhat unexpected "thumbs up" three-star review), it earned a decent return on its smallish budget and has maintained a decent-sized cult following since then. Yours truly saw this in theaters during its original run, but I hadn't seen it again since then so most of the laughs and surprises played like new. (In hindsight, a handful of Money Talks' supporting characters lag behind and Sheen, though mostly capable enough in his "straight man" role, can't always keep his interactions with Tucker up to speed when it really counts).

Another thing that almost plays like new is Warner Archive's welcome Blu-ray, which welcomed another "cult classics over critics" 1990s comedy with Joe's Apartment earlier this year. The 1080p transfer is an obvious improvement over WB's ancient DVD even without a new master, which will delight die-hard fans hoping to finally retire their old discs. A seemingly small but somewhat glaring audio issue almost spoils the party, but more on that soon enough.

Money Talks Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Though not advertised as being taken from a new scan (no source material is even identified), it's clear that Warner Archive's 1080p transfer of Money Talks is a solid step in the right direction: WB's original 1998 "flipper" DVD was at least anamorphic and sported a then-respectable 480p picture... but geez, that was 26 years ago. Not surprisingly, this Blu-ray ups the ante with a cleaner, crisper, and more stable presentation of this very 1990s action comedy; even if it doesn't meet the levels of their very best releases from the era like Joe's Apartment (yes, the talking roach movie) or even Tin Cup, it's at least a tangible improvement and clearly looks more like film than video in its overall appearance. Given the typically grain-scrubbed appearance of some other studios' recycled masters, I'll take it.

That said, there are moments when excess noise creeps in and doesn't play nice with the film grain and other textures, rendering a handful of Money Talks' busier and darker moments with lightly clumpy artifacts, but it's nothing major and certainly not all that noticeable in-motion. So while there's obviously a bit of room for improvement here, this is a solid catalog upgrade that, given the source material used, appears to be a best-case scenario for fans.

Money Talks Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

UPDATED 5/13/24: An initial production error was to blame for early faulty copies of Money Talks on Blu-ray, which used an incorrect DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix rather than its original 5.1 which was even promised on the back cover. Replacement copies with the same UPC code have finally been made available in recent weeks... so if you find yourself with one of those faulty 2.0 discs, please e-mail avdefreturns@alliedvaughn.com for assistance and a corrected copy should be mailed out promptly. Regarding the newly-fixed audio, this DTS-HD 5.1.Master Audio track offers a hefty and immediate improvement as Money Talks serves up a very robust and active surround mix with strong use of LFE and discrete effects during action scenes. Lalo Schifrin's original score also enjoys a dynamic presence and contributes to the film's surprisingly wide sound stage. Dialogue is, of course, clean and crisp with absolutely no signs of damage from start to finish. Overall, this is a great-sounding disc and easily outpaces earlier lossy home video editions, so buy with confidence as soon as first-party replacement copies are available at Amazon and other outlets.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only.

Money Talks Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and no inserts of any kind. The bonus features are almost nil, as WB's previous DVD editions didn't really have anything of interest either.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:25) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

Money Talks Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Brett Ratner's Money Talks marked the director's feature film debut and, while it feels like more of a warm-up for the massively popular Rush Hour and its sequels, it has its own charms and a scrappy, anything-goes plot that breezes by smoothly enough. That said, there are clearly weak links and the whole isn't much better than the sum of its parts, but it still has an infectious amount of charm and will likely hold up well for fans of action comedies from this particular era. Warner Archive's Blu-ray offers a solid upgrade from their parent company's ancient DVD edition; this new 1080p transfer looks decent, but the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix is the real star of the show.