The Dream Team Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

The Dream Team Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 19, 2016

Four New Jersey mental patients. One doctor. Yankees baseball. Road trip! Director Howard Zieff's (My Girl) The Dream Team follows a few nuts and their misadventures in the Big Apple when their big escape goes big-time wrong. A look at the fine line between clinical insanity and the comings and goings of everyday life, with plenty of humor and several great performances along the way, the film charms its way through a zany and unpredictable plot that goes to show that crazy is more than a diagnosis in a medical chart and sanity isn't all it's cracked up to be. The film stars Michael Keaton (Batman), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Peter Boyle (Taxi Driver), and Stephen Furst (Animal House) as the patients and Dennis Boutsikaris (*batteries not included) as their caring caregiver.

Take them out to the ballgame.

Four mental patients -- Billy Caufield (Keaton), Henry Sikorsky (Lloyd), Jack McDermott (Boyle), and Albert Ianuzzi (Furst) -- who rarely get to breathe the fresh air outside the walls of New Jersey's Cedarbrook Psychiatric Hospital are granted permission to embark on a day trip to New York City to catch a Yankees game. The catch is that their doctor, Weitzman (Boutsikaris), will chaperone the group, but it's a welcome retreat from the daily routine. On game day, they're each given $10 and hop in a van. But before they can make it to The House That Ruth Built, Albert has to pee. The bathroom at the gas station they pull into is out of order, so Albert's only recourse is to let it go in the alleyway behind. Unfortunately, it's not smooth sailing. Weitzman witnesses a murder and is knocked out cold. He's taken to the hospital, leaving the guys to their own devices, unsupervised, in the Big Apple. At first, they're afraid to leave the van, but as time ticks on and the good doctor doesn't come back to them, they take it upon themselves to search him out, while having a little fun along the way.

The Dream Team charms its way through a silly premise of increasingly unlikely plot twists that see the mental patients doing far more than simply catching a ride to the ballpark and sitting back to watch the game with the ever-elusive "dog" stuffed in their mouths (boy, $10 doesn't go as far as it once did, huh?). It's sort of like Adventures in Babysitting with crazies instead of kids, the story of a simple trip to the city going terribly wrong and in unpredictable, zany, and increasingly dangerous but always fundamentally humorous (and mostly light) ways. A couple of corrupt cops, murder, and various chase scenes add some dramatic heft and excitement, but the movie's real pleasures come in how the guys interact with the big, scary world, how they fit in, how they don't, and the increasing likelihood that, just maybe, they're not quite as crazy as they're made out to be, certainly not in a city populated by their peers, and equals, many of whom could also probably use an extended stay at Cedarbrook Psychiatric themselves.

The film smartly tailors many of the patients' misadventures to their personalities, little vignettes where Henry takes it upon himself to clean up trash, Jack wanders into a church, and Albert catches a few pitches of the ballgame on a cluster of TV sets in a window. Their collective maneuvers through the labyrinth of a city, and the labyrinth of danger they face in search of their doctor and friend, are a little more routine, and the film briefly struggles with pacing and overextending its stay in a few scenes, but for the most part it's an easy-come, highly enjoyable little escapist romp that features great performances all around and, to an actor, a deeper understanding of the individual ticks and history and the collective camaraderie that are the movie's real strengths. Keaton, Lloyd, Boyle, and Furst are wonderful, each of them really selling their conditions -- spelling them out in a dynamic group meeting before heading out to the old ballgame -- and breaking down barriers (even the baseball-obsessed Albert who communicates only through baseball lingo) that, through the first half or so of the movie, are masked by their cruder "mental patient" shenanigans. It's a pleasure to watch each actor step through their character and allow one another, their environment, and the growing truths, dangers, and realities of their misadventures through the city come to better define them beyond the insanity that's the movie's charm, but not its core.

The Dream Team Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Dream Team makes the trip to Blu-ray with a pleasantly filmic 1080p transfer. Universal's presentation retains a light, even, and accentuating grain structure. Details are very impressive. Basic clothing lines and facial definition are both quite good, but it's in the more complex city details -- a run-down alleyway, messy city streets -- where the complex and very raw textures really shine. Even little things like accumulated grime on a light switch in Henry's room at the psychiatric hospital stands out with impressive realism. Colors are likewise solid. Attire, clothes, signs, automobiles, a yellow man-sized chicken suit, and all sorts of colorful elements around the frame present with impressively stable and full vitality. Nighttime black levels don't struggle to maintain depth, and flesh tones appear neutral. A few pops and scratches hover over the image, the only real, and really, minor distraction and point of contention with the transfer. Video-wise, this is one of the better Universal catalogue releases to date.

The Dream Team Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dream Team's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack rarely extends beyond simple musical delivery and basic dialogue. Opening title music struggles to find its place, hovering oddly between center and sides. More energetic popular tunes manage a little more vitality and sense of wider spacing, though clarity is never more than passable in every instance. The track does manage a couple of nifty directional, speaker-specific moments; for instance, a cigarette butt is tossed into a trash can off-screen and lands in the right-front speaker with a noticeable clank. However, there's very little wide or immersive city ambient details, despite the film's many lively locations. Dialogue is the driving factor in the film, and it's presented with a fair phantom center placement and decent reproduction.

The Dream Team Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All that's included is The Dream Team's theatrical trailer (480i, 2:01). No top menu is included. The trailer, as well as audio and subtitle options and chapter selections, must be accessed in-film via the pop-up menu.

The Dream Team Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Dream Team isn't remembered as a classic, but it's an easy-watch and unforgettable entertainer shaped by a sharp wit, clever jokes, several great performances, a catchy story, and a great ride through life and what it means to be alive. Misadventure and humor abound, but at the core is a tender and touching story of friendship, trust, and breaking down barriers. The movie holds up extremely well, even approaching its thirtieth birthday. Universal's Blu-ray release of The Dream Team arrives, for this reviewer, into open arms. The disc is headlined by a strong video transfer. Even if audio is rather bland and the only supplement is nothing that can't be pulled up on the Internet in three seconds, it's a solid release, priced right, and a must-own. Heartily recommended.