Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

The Flintstones Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 28, 2014

Universal Studios was aiming high with the 1994 release of “The Flintstones,” a live-action adaptation of the beloved Hanna-Barbera cartoon, which debuted in 1960. The feature was a huge deal, emerging a year after the studio dominated summer 1993 with “Jurassic Park,” with merchandising deals and tie-ins galore, along with the possibility (almost certainty) that the effort would spawn a franchise that could carry on throughout a number of sequels. And then the film opened. The reality of its dismal quality hit the moviegoing public hard, and while “The Flintstones” wasn’t a flop, it was far from the smash the suits were counting on. Of course, a more enjoyable picture could’ve emerged from the colorful, boisterous source material, but someone, somewhere gave the keys to the kingdom to director Brian Levant, whose leaden ways with screen comedy are amplified in this unfunny, hyperactive translation of a property that’s best served through animation.

In the heart of Bedrock, Fred Flintstone (John Goodman) makes a living working in the Slate and Company Quarry with his best pal, Barney Rubble (Rick Moranis). Fronting his buddy some cash to help him and wife Betty (Rosie O’Donnell) adopt a rambunctious child named Bamm- Bamm, Fred fails to report the monetary transfer to his spouse, Wilma (Elizabeth Perkins), who dreams of a better life for their daughter, Pebbles. Realizing he has a chance to pay back Fred for his selflessness, Barney switches executive aptitude tests with his friend, allowing the dim-wit to be recruited by the evil Cliff Vandercave (Kyle MacLachlan), who’s looking for a working class boob to help cover-up his plans to create an automated excavation machine, which would allow the company to dump all of its employees and make a fortune. Fred, gifted a promotion and a new life of affluence, loses touch with what’s important, threatening to sever his relationship with a bewildered Barney.

“The Flintstones” is a film of pure detail. Levant (“Problem Child 2,” “A Christmas Story 2”), working with a sizable budget and a herculean design challenge, sets out to create a tangible Bedrock, with props galore, puppet dinosaurs, and a Stone Age setting of mountains and sand, hoping to translate the bigness of the cartoon to the screen. While a majority of the movie tends to fall on its face (sometimes intentionally), the craftsmanship on display here is fabulous, stunning as it shows off the particulars of Bedrock, generating an impressively real community during an era when CGI was just becoming omnipresent (the marriage of computer achievements and practical effects is a tenuous one here, and used sparingly to realize the hyperactivity of certain creatures, such as Fred’s pet, Dino). “The Flintstones” is terrific when focused on its creations, and while some are obviously corporate driven (including a stop as “RocDonalds”), the rest carry a lost art of imagination, with the Henson Creature Shop providing the film with dinosaurs and a “dictabird” (a piece of Fred’s bigwig office equipment, voiced by Harvey Korman), while costuming labors to bring dimension to outfits previously imagined flatly. I recommend watching the feature on mute, which silences the troubling screenplay and allows the eyes to take in an impressively mounted endeavor. Despite Levant’s best efforts to derail the fun, he achieves a rich expansion of this world for its live-action debut.

The plot of “The Flintstones” seems unreasonably mature, inching away from broad acts of friendship and conflict to pursue corporate satire, with Vandercave running an embezzling scheme with sexpot assistant, Sharon Stone (Halle Berry). Asides featuring adoption, nagging guilt, and estranged friendships tend to wear away the joy of the piece, which plays mainly to adults until Levant panics, tossing in the occasional “Yabba Dabba Do!” to help keep kids interested in the picture, while a mid-movie pterodactyl attack on downtown Bedrock is pulled out of thin air, hastily arranged so the effort can provide a splattery excrement joke nobody asked for.

The humor is dreadful throughout the movie, mangling its cartoon inspiration with awkward physical comedy and writer’s room-style jokes. Levant even breaks the fourth wall in his quest to emphasize the fun the audience isn’t having. One-liners and puns die left and right, yet casting here is spot-on, with the ensemble doing their best to embody their animated counterparts. Goodman is an ideal Fred, nailing the character’s daffiness and bulldozer-style personality, while physically a perfect match for Kramden 2.0. Moranis is gentle and sly as Barney, while being the lone cast member capable of understatement. Perkins and O’Donnell make for fine decoration, never really blossoming as participants in the plot, and Elizabeth Taylor provides an amusing cameo as Wilma’s mother and Fred’s nemesis. MacLachlan also locates the intended spirit of cartoon villainy with ease. Levant has gathered quite a collection of faces in “The Flintstones,” it’s just too bad he doesn’t know what to do with them for much of the film.

The Flintstones Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation emerges as another disappointing Universal catalog release. There's filtering present to restrain grain, giving the picture a video-like look, flattening fine detail on humans and creatures. The viewing experience isn't deep and sharp in a manner the design achievements deserve, lacking a fresh, textured feel. Colors are serviceable (best when highlighting dino skin and costuming) but fatigued, and skintones look a little bloodless. Haloing is detected throughout, and the print is clean, without overt damage. Black levels are mediocre, without crisp delineation in low-lit scenes, while dense hair solidifies, occasionally transforming into a purplish color.

The Flintstones Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix isn't nearly as immersive as one might expect from a blockbuster release. There's obvious restraint when exploring the Bedrock community, with the largely frontal track favoring dialogue exchanges, which are crisp and defined, and sound effects, which retain their cartoon inspiration. Surrounds are mild throughout, only jumping to life with music from the B-52s, and the climatic quarry showdown carries circular heft, along with a nice low-end rumble to match the falling boulders. It's a satisfactory mix without damage, just missing some needed emphasis.

The Flintstones Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with director Brian Levant is offered.

• "Discovering Bedrock" (43:12, SD) is an impressive overview of the production experience, covering casting, design achievements, and CGI efforts. Interviews with cast and crew are bursting with platitudes, but the most curious participant is Levant, who proudly details his love for "The Flintstones" and its original 1960s sitcom roots. That doesn't explain the dino poop gag in the movie, but his enthusiasm is appreciated.

• "MCA Soundtrack Presentation" (2:48, SD) is a music video for the "Flintstones Theme," performed by the "BC-52s." The film's cast gets in on the song and dance shenanigans.

• Art Department Concept Sketches (4:19, SD) supplies 36 images of various buildings and characters.

• Opening Sequence Comparisons (1:01, SD) is a split-screen presentation, pinpointing how close the production mirrored the original animated work.

• Production Photographs (24:03, SD) provides a look (205 images) at on-set activity, creatures, and prop details, closing with a poster gallery.

• And a Theatrical Teaser (1:00, SD) and Theatrical Trailer (1:47, SD) are included.

The Flintstones Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Flintstones" only managed to squeeze out a too-little, too-late prequel in 2000 ("The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas"), failing to catch fire as a barnstorming series of high adventures and booming laughs. Perhaps if producer Steven Spielberg took the reins of the production, the results would sparkle with genuine comic timing and rich sense of cartoon purpose. In Levant's hands, "The Flintstones" struggles for oxygen, losing its core appeal the longer it mistakes loudness for tribute.