5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.4 |
Teenager Johnny Dingle will do anything to keep his date with the hottest girl in school - even come back from the grave.
Starring: Andrew Lowery, Traci Lind, Edward Herrmann, Jay O. Sanders, Matthew FoxHorror | 100% |
Comedy | 24% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (448 kbps)
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Talk about determination, and talk about unfinished business. Director Bob Balaban's My Boyfriend's Back tells the story of a teenager who is tragically killed in the line of love and who returns from the dead, undeterred by his condition and certain that now, even without a beating heart in his chest, he'll finally open up that heart (maybe literally), overcome his fears (and his rotting flesh), ask her out (to somewhere other than the cemetery), and live (while dead) happily ever after. Though its title is something of a misnomer -- he's not really her boyfriend when he dies, ergo her "boyfriend" cannot be back (though it's an admittedly catchier title than The Guy Who Likes Me But Whom I Barely Know Exists Is Back) -- the movie is a spirited tale of love after life and the importance of following through on dreams, even when zombified.
Oops...
My Boyfriend's Back features a rugged, but reliable, 1080p transfer. Mill Creek's presentation is largely satisfying. Detailing is fair and clarity is good. Basic fabric textures are easy to see, background details -- particularly all the little colorful gems inside Missy's convenience store -- are clearly defined, and facial features show good basic definition. Light grain accentuates. Colors lack true nuance, contrast is a little overly aggressive, and reds in particular tend to appear overly saturated, but there's otherwise a fairly healthy, attractive balance and pop to the general palette. Black levels hold up rather well, though grain is often sharply accentuated on top. A decent amount of wear and tear is evident throughout.
My Boyfriend's Back scuffles onto Blu-ray with a rather mundane and forgettable, but ultimately serviceable, Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Basic dialogue imaging to the center is fine, though it can be, much like music, rather shallow at reference volume. Clarity in those key areas of speech and music never impresses beyond the ability to convey basic, story-required sounds while the track tosses in a few little extra goodies along the way. For example, the track manages a fairly wide sense of front-side space in locations like lengthy school hallways where little bits of student chatter, slamming lockers, and other environmental details help better define the scene. More aggressive effects struggle to find positive definition, whether a ringing alarm clock or gunfire.
My Boyfriend's Back contains no supplemental content. No pop-up menu is included, and the top menu only offers an option to play the movie. Movie playback begins on disc insertion, foregoing the single-option menu screen.
My Boyfriend's Back isn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but it plays fairly well. It manages to put a new spin on a rather old idea and it gets a lot of mileage from the concept, even as it must necessarily try and find a balance between humor, heart, and horror. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release features good video with room for improvement, a merely passable two-channel soundtrack, and no supplements. The chances of this movie ever seeing much of an improvement on home video in the coming years is close to zero, so fans may as well pick it up, particularly given its aggressive pricing.
2013
1986
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Slipcover in Original Pressing
2019
1987
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1987
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Collector's Edition
1999
Unrated Special Edition
2008
Collector's Edition
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2015
Collector's Edition
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