7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Meek and mild mannered bookkeeper Henry Limpet has few passions in life. If Henry could have one thing it would be to become a fish. While on a visit to Coney Island, Henry falls into the water and miraculously gets his wish. Now a fish, he makes friends, Ladyfish and Crabby the hermit crab and loves his new life.
Starring: Don Knotts, Jack Weston, Andrew Duggan, Larry Keating, Carole CookFamily | 100% |
Comedy | 88% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
By the early 1960s, Don Knotts was one of the most familiar comic personalities on American television. His distinctive features, small stature and array of carefully timed nervous tics had made him a beloved regular on Steve Allen's "Man on the Street" comedy segments, but when he appeared as Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, beginning in 1960, Knotts became a TV legend. He won five Emmies for the role. In TV's earlier years, movies were notoriously snobbish about employing television actors, but Knotts was one of the exceptions. Beginning in 1964, Knotts made a series of successful family-friendly comedies, including The Reluctant Astronaut and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken for Universal and, later, The Apple Dumpling Gang for Disney. But Knotts's first venture on the big screen was initially considered a disappointment, even though it was a (then) groundbreaking effort by Warner Bros. to combine live action and animation. The last production by the fabled Warner animation division before it was shuttered, The Incredible Mr. Limpet featured Knotts both as an actor playing a character and as the voice of an animated ocean dweller. As Knotts explained in an interview included on this disc (recorded about two years before his death in 2006), it was the first time he had done voice work, although it would not be the last. Today, Mr. Limpet remains a cult classic that is fondly remembered by many who saw it in younger days and continues to be discovered anew by later generations. Mr. Limpet is based on a novel by Theodore Pratt, which was adapted for the screen by a team that included one prolific screenwriting veteran, Jameson Brewer, and two for whom this would be their only screenwriting credit, John C. Rose and Joe DiMona. The director was Arthur Lubin, who is best known for helming classic Abbot and Costello films like Buck Privates. Somewhat less famous is Lubin's other experience with talking animal stories; he directed over a hundred episodes of the TV series Mister Ed.
The image on Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray reflects both the age of the film and the budgetary limitations. It's a decent but not spectacular image that is at its best when showing off the various hues and shadows of Limpet's underwater habitat. The different shades of dark blue sported by Limpet vs. the many delicate shades of pink that adorn Ladyfish are delicately rendered, as are the dark shadings of the torpedoed Red Cross ship and the menacing outlines of the U-boats. The live-action scenes have the distinctive artificiality associated with studio films of the Fifties and Sixites, where the hair, make-up, costumes and decor all look like they belong on a soundstage or a backlot, because that's where almost every scene has been photographed. Audiences of the period didn't mind this kind of stylization, and no one should object to it today. It contributes to the film's required sense of a time gone by. (The cinematographer was veteran cameraman Harold E. Stine, who would go on to shoot M*A*S*H.) Black levels and contrast look about right, and detail ranges from fair to very good. To the extent that details suffers in individual shots or scenes, this must be attributed to the original photography and not to any post-processing of the transfer in the name of grain elimination or reduction. The film's grain structure remains visible and intact, though not in any way that's obvious or intrusive. Artificial sharpening was nowhere to be seen, nor did I detect any compression artifacts.
Mr. Limpet's soundtrack is mono presented as DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. The mix has acceptable, but not exceptional dynamic range. Voices are clear, but it is very obvious when certain elements have been added in post-production, notably Crusty's dialogue and any of the songs. The instrumental soundtrack by Frank Perkins (a prolific TV composer) sounds somewhat thin. The songs written by Sammy Fain and Harold Adamson sound better.
The extras have been ported over from the 2004 DVD. Omitted are something called the "Get in the Swim with Henry Challenge" and various DVD-ROM features.
A recent thread in the discussion forum at Blu-ray.com asked the question: "Do you still find Blu-rays visually stunning?" Viewers who approach their discs from such a perspective will almost certainly be disappointed by The Incredible Mr. Limpet, because it will never be "visually stunning". Seeing an animated character share the same frame with a live actor was an arresting sight when the film was first released, almost a half century ago, but today it's a common occurrence. Once the initial "grabber" loses its grip, which it always does with the passage of time, a film sustains its hold only if it has interesting characters and an involving story that provoke a favorable response from the audience. Mr. Limpet has these, and much of the credit is due to its diminutively iconic star, whose characters are almost always trying to do the right thing, even if by the unlikeliest of means. Recommended.
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