Rat Race Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Rat Race Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 8, 2021

If money makes the world go 'round then a couple of million bucks are certainly incentive enough for a gaggle of greedy folks to participate in a mad dash race from Las Vegas to New Mexico for a shot at pocketing all of that cash. That's basically the story of Rat Race, Director Jerry Zucker's (Airplane!, Ghost) ensemble Comedy that begs the questions: what is money really worth, and to what lengths will people go to get a hold of it? The movie works not for the story, though, but for the personalities that seek the money. Their greed often gets in the way of good sense, resulting in a comedy of errors that see them all bogged down and nearly burned out on the adrenaline that fuels their movement but stymies their critical thinking and clear headedness. It's a fun little romp.

At a Las Vegas casino, a handful of disparate individuals – a gambling addicted father named Randy Pear (Jon Lovitz), a mother named Vera Baker (Whoopi Goldberg) recently reunited with her long-lost daughter, a straight-arrow attorney named Nick Schaffer (Breckin Meyer), an infamous football referee named Owen Templeton (Cube Gooding, Jr.), insurance scammer Duane Cody (Seth Green), and a narcoleptic Italian named Enrico Pollin (Rowan Atkinson) -- win a unique golden coin that instructs them to gather for a very special event. They learn from the casino's owner, Donald P. Sinclair (John Cleese), that they have been selected to participate in a winner-take-all race from Las Vegas to Silver City, New Mexico where $2,000,000 awaits the first of them to unlock the lock box in which the cash is hidden. As they frantically set out to reach the cash first, by any legal, illegal, morally ambiguous, funny, and frantic means available to them, various others catch wind of the adventure and join them on the quest. Little do they know that they're really just racing as part of a larger gambling enterprise for the entertainment of several of the casino's high rollers.

Rat Race strings together some honest laughs as the characters face obstacles of their making, spurred on by uncontrolled avarice, that put them in comically dangerous situations that usually play on the same motif: the groups invariably run into vehicle trouble and find themselves stalled somewhere along the way. The movie grows a bit tiresome through the middle stretch as just about every group finds itself stranded on the side of the road when a bus or truck or car goes down. There are some truly random and bizarre happenings along the way, though. Enrico finds himself paired up with a medical delivery driver (Wayne Knight) who is transporting a heart to New Mexico. The Pear family winds up driving Hitler's personal vehicle. Duane and his brother Blaine (Vince Vieluf) find themselves tangled up with a greedy key maker (Silas Weir Mitchell). Owen finagles his way into driving a bus full of Lucille Ball impersonators. Vera and her daughter Merrill (Lanei Chapman) cross a woman who sells squirrels (Kathy Bates) and wind up stealing a vehicle built to break the sound barrier, and Nick pairs up with helicopter pilot Tracy (Amy Smart) who uses the opportunity to use the chopper as a weapon against her unfaithful boyfriend.

It's all so random that it winds up working. Most of the time. The repetitive structure grates a bit but the cast's enthusiasm and the film's ceaselessly forward momentum, even when characters are stranded on the side of the road, are enough to keep things gleefully exciting and agreeably enticing. There's not a stiff performance in the film. The cast seems more than happy to be on the journey. Each of them brings an infectious personality to the screen, defined by that singular focus but shaped and reworked through the course of the film by the shifting personal and family dynamics in play. While this is not Zucker's best work, it's one of his most approachable films and one that is not quick to grow old on repeat viewings.

Rat Race Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This is certainly not a pristine presentation of Rat Race. It looks good, generally, retaining a light grain structure and enjoying good, firm details, but the work here is a far cry from some of the finest catalogue releases Paramount has released of late. If nothing else it's balanced and capable, not at all home to severe processing. Fine details are left intact, and the filmic veneer has not been removed, either. Essential textures are very well defined, including basics like faces and clothes and extend to various locations, from dense casino floors to wide open natural terrain in the arid landscapes between Vegas and Silver City. Colors are fine, offering enough depth and vitality to satisfy. Contrast holds in a neutral position, allowing brighter primaries to pop and earthy backgrounds to hold steady. Skin tones and black levels are fine. The print is home to some mild splotches and speckling but on the flip side there are no encode issues to report. This is imperfect and the movie would benefit from a thorough remaster, but what's here is not at all poor. Most fans will be satisfied with the results.

Rat Race Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rat Race rolls onto Blu-ray with a decent, if only capable, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is rather straightforward. It's well amplified and aggressive at times, reminiscent, to be sure, of its era of big audio versus subtle output. Music can be powerfully aggressive and aggressively spaced, particularly for surround integration but also width as well. Clarity is not at the peak of perfection but high enough to appreciate nuance even in dense saturation. A few heavy action scenes play similarly, notably when Nick and Tracy attack Tracy's boyfriend with a helicopter. Environmental din disappoints, particularly on casino floors where there's little truly immersive ambience to be found. Dialogue is clear enough and center focused for the duration.

Rat Race Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Rat Race contains several extras. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Making Rat Race (480i, window box, 22:26): A generically constructed EPK that explores the story, the humor, the cast and characters, the road trip components and misadventures, and more.
• Deleted Scenes (480i, 4x3 and window box, 8:29 total runtime): Included are High Rollers, Monopoly, Lucys, Ricky Bus, Moving House, and Talking Cow. With Director Jerry Zucker introductions.
• Gag Reel (480i, window box, 3:43): humorous moments from the shoot.
• Rat Race: A Conversation with Jerry Zucker & Andy Breckman (480i, 4x3 and window box, 8:15): Chatting with the director and writer about their collaborations, the quality of the script, funny moments, casting smaller parts, character qualities and cast performances, and more.
• Jerry & Andy Call the Actors (1080p, 3:23:58 total runtime): From an interactive menu screen, listen to the director and writer call various actors from the film. Included are Vince Vieluf, Cuba Gooding Jr., John Cleese, Seth Green, Jon Lovitz, Lanei Chapman, Breckin Meyer, Whoopi Goldberg, Amy Smart, Wayne Knight, Paul Rodriguez, Charlotte Zucker, and Rowan Atkinson. This is a fun and unique extra and these are not short calls, either. There's a ton of great content here, both related to the film and not.
• Laughs (480i, 4x3 and window box, 5:06): Outtakes from the film.
• Theatrical Trailer (480i, window box, 2:27).

Rat Race Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rat Race is a comfortable Comedy that's well paced and fun. Cast enthusiasm is in evidence throughout and the movie's frenzied forward motion keeps things lively, though some middle stretch scenes do get bogged down in repetition. Paramount's Blu-ray looks and sounds good and the disc includes several supplements. Recommended.