The Incredible Shrinking Woman Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.5

The Incredible Shrinking Woman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson February 22, 2018

The Incredible Shrinking Woman (hereafter TISW) was a pet project that Universal Pictures developed for Lily Tomlin three-and-a-half years in the making. The studio still had her in mind for the title role even after the dismal failure she and co-star John Travolta endured that was Moment by Moment (1979), which was written and directed by Tomlin's frequent collaborator, Jane Wagner. John Landis had been first attached to direct TISW and was wowed by Wagner's first-draft script, which had a sharp edge and a pointed political critique. It also required a monumental production and elaborate visual effects, which ballooned the budget Landis requested from Universal. According to longtime New York Times critic Janet Maslin, one scene entailed Tomlin making a speech on the steps of the Capitol. The project languished and Landis dropped out to make The Blues Brothers. Wagner did a re-write, dumbing down the material and drastically reducing the budget demands for very large sets. First-time director Joel Schumacher was hired primarily due to his background in fashion and producing commercials, which was tailor-made for the film's commentary on consumerism. (He had made two TV movies and penned three screenplays up to this point.)

In the town of Tasty Meadows, California, Pat Kramer (Tomlin) is a classic suburban Ms. Mom as her station-wagon license plate proclaims. When the film opens, she is exiting a supermarket and trying to get her young kids to settle down while on the ride home. One sprays an atomizer fogging the car up. Pat is harried putting the groceries away and dealing with her kids' multitudinous demands. Her husband Vance Kramer (Charles Grodin) is a rising ad account executive who doesn't seem to make time to play with his kids or ask Pat how her day went. While in her bedroom, something is spilled on Pat's polyester dress and she applies a detergent to eradicate the spot. Steam rises on the frock which vanishes like a puff of smoke. Pat is bewildered by its disappearance and pretty soon she finds herself starting to shrink. A visit to the Kleinman Institute for the Study of Unexplained Phenomena by her and Vance reveals that the cause stems from the personal-hygiene products, detergents, and other chemicals that Pat's been exposed. She reduces to four feet but as she continues to get smaller and smaller, she moves into a dollhouse.

Pat has more than just a small problem.

TISW was a well-matched vehicle for Tomlin who portrays three characters: Pat, the neighbor friend/beauty skin care saleswoman Judith Beasley, and the the switchboard operator Ernestine. She thrives mainly as Pat but not as much as Judith. Part of the problem is that the skits during the first fifteen minutes come across as silly and dumb. Grodin is his usual deadpan self as the husband and Ned Beatty is serviceable as the corporate executive but his shtick is just an extension of his character from Network. The film's villain is the Organization for World Management which wants to use Pat's blood type for a serum to shrink the world population. The evil scientists wield Orwellian control and place Pat in a rabbit cage. The movie's standout during the second half is Rick Baker as the Sidney the gorilla. Mark Blankfield also turns in good work as the laboratory assistant Rob, who also becomes an ally to Pat. The film becomes too ridiculous for its own good and pales in comparison to Jack Arnold's The Incredible Shrinking Man.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Incredible Shrinking Woman had only been available in the US as a manufactured-on-demand DVD-r from Universal's Vault Series before the studio reissued it on regular DVD in summer, 2017. (It also was released in Germany with a slightly opened up 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer courtesy of Jam Entertainment.) Shout Select has released Schumacher's big screen debut as a Collector's Edition, #34 in the sublabel's line. The MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 sports an average video bitrate of 29999 kbps, while the full disc clocks in with a total bitrate of 33.33 Mbps. Before the start of the movie, Shout issues a disclaimer about the presentation: "Our new high-definition transfer was taken from the best video and audio elements available to us." TISW intentionally exhibits a lot of diffused lighting with a soft and hazy look. Two Pittsburgh film critics noticed this in their reviews. One wrote how "Bruce Logan's photography is irritatingly blurry, making the film look as if it were photographed through a windshield." Another commented, "Schumacher's color picture is fuzzy, probably necessary to disguise such visual effects as the use of overlapping images (a tiny Tomlin in the same frame with regular-size people)." The main title sequence contains this stylistic choice as well as accented edge halos among its very coarse grain structure (see Screenshot #15.) Color delineation strengthens upon the appearance of Tomlin's character (see #21). The "designer colors," as Schumacher describes them, are showcased throughout suburbia and in the confines of the Kramer household: bright pink, orange, lime green, lavender, and pastels. These scenes are among the transfer's strongest. Shout's new 2017 HD transfer is in fact struck from a dated master that Universal licensed to them. While the picture apparently underwent a new scan, many film artifacts have not been cleaned up. The coarse grain is maintained but its rather uneven. There are image stability problems with the picture flickering from time to time. There is frequent dirt and blips that mar the frame.

Shout has divided the film up into twelve chapters.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout uses the film's original monaural sound track presented here as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 dual mono mix (1579 kbps, 24-bit). The source material is in good condition but the monophonic track shows very limited range as to be expected with an older recording. Dialogue is generally intelligible. Suzanne Ciani's score draws on her commercial jingles, some disco, and catchy tunes like "Galaxy Glue." The music demonstrates nice fidelity and some range along the front channels.

Optional English SDH are available for the feature.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Conversation with Actress Lily Tomlin and Screenwriter/Executive Producer Jane Wagner (26:30, 1080p) - a candid conversation in which Tomlin and Wagner concede that film's budgetary limitations hampered the film's political subtext and oversimplified its message. They are seated by each other and enjoy revealing anecdotes about a relatively enjoyable collaborative endeavor. (Tomlin and Wagner have worked together quite a few times.) In English, not subtitled.

• Interview with Director Joel Schumacher (28:18, 1080p) - the seventy-eight-year-old director recounts how he came on board The Incredible Shrinking Woman, reminisces about the filming experience, and working with all the major actors. In English, not subtitled.

• Interview with Cinematographer and Visual Effects Supervisor Bruce Logan (23:24, 1080p) - the most valuable extra on this disc. Logan explains in detail how he designed the storyboards, came up with the process shots, and employed VistaVision projectors for the background plates. In English, not subtitled.

• Audio Interview with Composer Suzanne Ciani (24:54) - Shout produced this audio-only interview with Ciani, who narrates descriptions of the cues and songs she wrote for The Incredible Shrinking Woman which are then played for us. Ciani also discusses her work doing music for commercials, which greatly influenced her precision scoring approach to the film. In English, not subtitled.

• On Location: Now and Then Featurette (3:07, 1080p) - Shout went back to the original shooting locations and captured how they looked in comparison to their appearance in the movie.

• "Edith Ann" Deleted Scene (1:05, upconverted to 1080) - an omitted scene that's in decent shape and presented in 1:33:1.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:31, upscaled to 1080) - a badly worn and color-drained trailer for The Incredible Shrinking Woman displayed in a cropped ratio.

• Still Gallery (5:13, 1080p) - the first twenty stills in this slide show consist of color photographs (majority blown up to full resolution) depicting various moments from the shoot of The Incredible Shrinking Woman. The next thirty images emanate from Universal's official press kit: black-and-white snapshots of Tomlin, Grodin, Beatty, Sidney, and Schumacher that are presented in both portrait and landscape. The following seventeen stills comprise more color lobby cards (except for one B&W shot). The last two are pages from an exhibitor's manual for the film.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One yearns to read Jane Wagner's initial screenplay of The Incredible Shrinking Woman and envision the type of comedy/sci-fi hybrid she could have created with John Landis at the helm. Joel Schumacher is fine in his first cinematic production behind the camera but he's hindered by an erratic script that was reformulated to suit the masses. The film shows its age but Bruce Logan does wonders with the camera and makes the very most of visual f/x that he got to work with. The transfer still could use some additional restorative work and care. Shout Select has produced some very good new extras, though. The movie isn't recommended but fans of Tomlin and Schumacher may want to add it to their collections.