6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.9 |
Charlie Mackenzie is a love-shy "poet" living in San Francisco, who frequents neighborhood coffee houses reciting his tortured odes to unrequited love. Burned by a string of failed relationships, Mackenzie's fear of commitment has intensified into outrageous extremes of paranoia. When he finds himself falling for the sweet-faced butcher at his local meat shop, he sees it as a final chance for love to overcome his painful cynicism. Feeling he has squelched his nagging fears, Mackenzie marries the woman. But his anxiety quickly manifests itself in the conviction that his betrothed is actually an infamous axe murderer whose antics are described in juicy detail in each week's issue of the Weekly World News.
Starring: Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Plummer, Brenda FrickerComedy | 100% |
Romance | 38% |
Dark humor | 22% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Indonesian, Thai
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
I'm smitten. I'm in deep smit.
There are fates worse in life than marrying an axe murderer. You could marry a bad cook, Lorena
Bobbitt, a Cleveland Browns fan, a reality show addict, or someone still holding out hope for an HD
DVD comeback. There are also worse fates than watching So I Married An Axe Murderer on
Blu-ray, like suffering through other "comedies" like Meet the Spartans, License To Wed, and Daddy Day Camp. Mike
Myer's
1993 hit comedy, fortunately, isn't quite as intolerable as these comedic duds, but it comes close.
I'm just not a fan of Mike Myer's brand of comedy, and while there are a few somewhat funny
moments in the movie, nothing stood out as side-splitting funny, especially in regards to the film's
primary characters.
Harriet "axed" the idea of elopement and went the whole nine yards instead.
So I Married an Axe Murderer hacks Blu-ray with a fairly bland 1080p, 1.85:1 transfer. Saawariya this is not, but for a 15-year old comedy, the results are acceptable. Despite a few niceties, this transfer is mostly uninteresting but seems fairly accurate to the source material. Flesh tones appear to be on the pinkish side of the scale, and black levels, while generally decent, sometimes exhibit a bit of crushing. Detail is moderately strong. One of the strengths of So I Married an Axe Murderer is its set design. Both the exterior cityscapes of San Francisco and the various interior locales all feature quite a bit to look at. Although much of the image is flat, these exterior shots around the city are impressive, featuring solid depth and clarity. Among the fabulous set pieces, the butcher shop and the Mackenzie house are fun to examine under 1080p scrutiny. There are many odds and ends to distract you from the movie, but these interiors are a joy to discover. Some scenes are noticeably soft, and not just in the background. Characters who appear center-frame and up front sometimes have both a soft edge and a halo around them, notably as they contrast with black backgrounds. Colors are never overly rich, save for the end of the movie. Harriet's red dress stands out well, and we can only wonder if the color signifies what may be to come the first time we see it on her. The rest of the hotel's nooks, crannies, and rooms, particularly the restaurant, are fairly colorful and interesting to look at as well. Finally, a fine layer of film grain adds a pleasing early 1990s cinematic feel to the picture. This high definition image from Sony won't leave too many viewers in awe of its quality, but fans should be pleased enough with this video offering.
So I Married an Axe Murderer isn't a painful listen that will leave you longing to slice off your ears, but like the image, it's a mostly vanilla listen. Presented in a lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound mix, the film is mostly front-heavy with a few discrete sounds, many of which sound unnatural and forced. The movie revolves around the song "There She Goes," as heard here performed by The Boo Radleys. I've only ever heard the song as performed by Sixpence None the Richer. This version is good, but I came to tire of the song by the end of the movie seeing as its played several times throughout. Neither this song, nor the film's music in general, offer an authoritative presence, but they all get the job done. Some of the discrete sounds across the front soundstage (and some in the rear) sound phony and out of place, almost like the sound engineers desperately wanted something to happen in a speaker other than the center channel, and there is sometimes an unsettling artificial sound oddly placed here and there that fits the scene, but doesn't fit the atmosphere. The film's opening sequence in the comedy club offers a bit of ambience in both the front and rear channels, but it is reproduced a bit too low in volume to feel natural. The dialogue is fine, and is probably the finest aspect of this listen. The thunderstorm at the end of the movie features some solid imaging. It's certainly not the best-sounding thunderstorm I've heard on Blu-ray, but considering the lackluster sound that accompanied the rest of the movie, it was a nice pick-me-up for the ears. This soundtrack suits this film just fine, but don't expect to be bowled over and blown away.
Despite the words "Special Edition" prominently displayed on the cover art for So I Married an Axe Murderer, there isn't anything on the disc save for an option to view Sony's standard BD-Live (profile 2.0) page and a 1080p trailer for Men in Black.
So I Married an Axe Murderer is a surprisingly unfunny comedy that never really gets off the ground. Once again, here is a movie with a fine concept that is marred by mediocre execution and unfunny jokes and gags. I'm not sure what happened with this disc, but like the infamous HD DVD Jack Ryan Collection, this one has been billed a special edition on the packaging, but there are no special features to be found on the disc. This was my first viewing of So I Married an Axe Murderer, so I don't know how much of an improvement this disc is over previous editions. Knowing Sony, I'm guessing this one is a cut-above the standard definition release, but I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this package that contains an unfunny movie, mediocre video and audio quality, and is falsely labeled as a special edition. It's worth a rental if you're curious, but is otherwise one to avoid save for the film's most die-hard fans.
2007
2008
Unrated
2005
Theatrical Version
2005
2012
Special Edition with Flair!
1999
1995
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1987
1990
2004
2009
1992
1995
2004
1987
2000
2002
2009
American Pie 4 | Unrated + Theatrical
2012