Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

The 'Burbs Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson April 5, 2018

After completing Innerspace (1987), Joe Dante faced acute challenges while working on his next film, The 'Burbs, for Universal. Dante read a script by TV and movie writer Dana Olsen and then had just seven weeks to begin principal photography. The pre-production process coincided with the period of a prolonged WGA strike. Dante told interviewers Valerie Boyd and Lou Cedrone that he always regarded Olsen's screenplay as "marginal" and it was never really finished once shooting began. Olsen also acted as a co-producer so he was on the Universal back lot as The 'Burbs was filming but the strike precluded him from making any changes on set. This caused the actors to improvise a lot of their lines and much of the dialogue stayed in the film. Tom Hanks was Dante's first choice to play Ray Peterson and the actor said "yes" to the first offer. Universal saddled Dante with an $18-20 million budget (an increase over the original $11 million) and gave his crew ten weeks to shoot in summer, 1988. At preview screenings, Dante recalled that audiences "were laughing in all the right places."

Dante was optimistic heading into the film's mid-February 1989 premieres so he was complete aghast when the critics mauled The 'Burbs. The director confided to Cedrone that he read eighty reviews which he says were "the worst ever." One review lead, for example, with "For sheer waste of talent, if not money, The Burbs deserves to be ranked with Ishtar." Dante remembered seeing only two that were positive and those were by critics writing in esoteric magazines. The 'Burbs went into wide release only a few days after Hanks netted his first Oscar nomination for Big. Reviewers thought that Dante's picture was a step back for the actor compared to Big and Punchline. They also laid much of the blame on Olsen, although they apparently weren't fully aware of all the actors' improvisations. In spite of headlines such as "On your way to the theater, avoid 'The 'burbs'", audiences flocked to the movie, especially in the first two weeks. The AP reported that the film took in $11.1 million during its first four days of release (including ticket sales on Presidents' Day). Universal Pictures cited this as the highest opening weekend ever for a first- quarter release. It also grossed $6 million in the following days to reclaim the top spot at the box office for a second consecutive weekend. Attendance tapered off, however, in the subsequent weeks and the film ended up grossing under $37 million.

Ray Peterson knows there's something peculiar going on inside his neighbor's house.

The 'Burbs remains a hilarious social satire of neighborhood relations in classic suburbia and Shout Select has fêted Dante's horror/comedy with a "Collector's Edition." My colleagues Dr. Svet Atanasov and Marty Liebman have also reviewed the movie on this site. You can read Svet's thoughts on the 2014 UK Arrow here and Marty's on the 2016 Universal budget release here.

The 'Burbs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout Select's release of The 'Burbs (#44 in the boutique label's series) is the second in the US. Shout advertises its 2017 transfer as a new 2K scan of the interpositive. The MPEG-4 AVC-encoded transfer sports an average video bitrate of 25998 kbps on this BD-50. Authoring and compression lags behind the Arrow and the Universal, although it's better than AU's Umbrella Entertainment. It also is comparable to DE's Koch Media and FR's Carlotta Films. I do wish, though, that Shout would have made this a two-disc set and put Dante's workprint and the rest of the extras on a separate BD-50.

I remember watching Universal's 1999 DVD of The 'Burbs on a 50" projection TV and noticing mosquito noise along the black levels as well as the scenes inside the Klopek house. There is thick grain displayed during the scenes in the Klopek living room and ones in their basement. Grain is also prevalent in the scene beginning where Ray takes his dog for a walk and a rainstorm swooshes in on Mayfield Place. The grain structure can be erratic and inconsistent. For instance, it's visible when Carol Peterson gives Art Weingartner a huge helping of breakfast (and then some) but the grain goes away during the very bright daytime outdoor scenes. The green leaves on the bushes are lush. Colors are rich and vibrant. However, Shout may have done some denoising to sharpen the colors. I've always remembered The 'Burbs as boating a grainy picture but it's hit-and-miss in this transfer. On the Universal transfer, Marty commented: "Grain is uneven, thicker and buzzing in places and virtually absent in others." A similar case can be made on the Shout, although I believe color delineation, sharpness, and detail are superior.

This isn't the exact same transfer as the remastered one prepared by Arrow which was "newly-restored from the original film elements." Dante was personally involved in approving the color temperature on the UK edition but Shout doesn't provide any details if he or his cinematographer Robert Stevens supervised the '17 2K scan. The Arrow likely has the best image of all BDs.

Shout supplies a dozen chapter selections.

The 'Burbs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 'Burbs's original Dolby Stereo mix receives a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track (2021 kbps, 24-bit). The master is in excellent condition with no noticeable source flaws. Dialogue is for the most part clear although I'm glad to have English SDH when the Klopeks speak. Thunderbolts, explosions, and other f/x get some good separation along the fronts. Jerry Goldsmith's score is a personal favorite and has a lot of variety. The prolific composer parodies his theme for Patton, which he re- scored for Bruce Dern's cantankerous ex-marine lieutenant. The organ pipes, which Goldsmith riffs for moments of haunted house horror, rise to a crescendo and this is nicely amplified on the uncompressed track. Dante pays homage to Leone and Goldsmith likewise tips his cap to Morricone, orchestrating arrangements from the scores of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and My Name Is Nobody.

Shout has supplied optional English SDH for the main feature.

The 'Burbs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Writer Dana Olsen, Moderated by Author Calum Waddell

• NEW Interviews with Director Joe Dante, Editor Marshall Harvey, and Director of Photography John Hora (38 min., 1080p)

• There Goes The Neighborhood: The Making of The 'Burbs – Includes Interviews with Director Joe Dante, Actors Corey Feldman, Courtney Gaines, and Wendy Schaal, Director of Photography Robert M. Stevens, and Production Designer James H. Spencer (66:32, 1080p)

• Alternate Ending (7:21, 480i)

• Original Workprint from Joe Dante's Archive (Includes Deleted and Extended Scenes) (105:57, 480i)

• Behind-the-Scenes Still Gallery (5:54, 1080p)

• Stills and Posters Gallery (7:53, 1080p)

• Theatrical Trailer (1:31, 1080p)

The 'Burbs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nearly thirty years after its theatrical run, The 'Burbs remains a humorous portrait of the growing dissidence in dealing with "different" neighbors within a heterogeneous community. If you own any of the other Blu-rays of the film, I think that Shout Select's Collector's Edition is worth picking up, although look for it on discount. It offers nearly forty minutes of new interviews and has a couple of nice archival image galleries. It definitely vaults ahead of the Universal BD. Shout also duplicates the UK audio commentary, retrospective doc, the complete workprint, and alternate ending. For image quality, I would go with the Arrow (and do note that it also has an exclusive music/effects track and booklet). For fans of Joe Dante, Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, and Bruce Dern, the Shout Select earns a VERY HIGH RECOMMENDATION.