7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.6 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
Bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is transformed into a manic superhero when he wears a mysterious mask.
Starring: Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Riegert, Peter Greene (I), Amy YasbeckComedy | 100% |
Fantasy | 15% |
Action | 13% |
Comic book | 11% |
Crime | 4% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, German
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
I have never been a real fan of Jim Carrey’s, but that does not mean I have not enjoyed his movies. I have always thought he needed a special vehicle to harness his over the top comedic acting, as he could get to be a bit much to watch on occasion. In 1990 he landed a cast role on the hilarious television series “In living Color”, which I thought was a perfect place to showcase his over the top comedic skills. Carrey film career really started in 1983 with the movie “Rubberface”, but he didn’t really enjoy cinematic success until 1989 with the under appreciated “Earth Girls are Easy” of which he co-starred with Damon Wayans. His career skyrocketed in 1994 when he starred in “Ace Ventura Pet Detective”, “The Mask, and “Dumb and Dumber”, all successful movies at the box office. My first noticed Carrey when I saw him on “In living Color” and later in “Batman Forever” where he played the hilarious villain Riddler. While I have not enjoyed most of Carrey’s films, the ones that stand out for me are “The Mask”, “Batman Forever”, “The Truman Show”, the cute “Me, Myself and Irene” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” which has turned out to be a Christmas movie I watch every year. He was also terrific in one of my favorite movies “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” as Count Olaf which is based on a popular children’s novel.
Next to the above mention movies, I cannot think of a more perfect movie to showcase Carrey’s over the top comedic style. Carrey and The Mask are a match made in heaven as far as I am concerned. I cannot think of another actor who could have been more perfect for the role. Adapted from a Dark Horse Comics series, it became fairly obvious a more comedic approach was necessary to take advantage of the madness that having a mask on would look to an audience. It also gave Carrey a chance to unleash his talents for lightening quick dialog riffs, improvisational physical comedy, and just generally silly buffoonery. While I think he is generally over the top in most of his movies, the over the top nature of the flick itself is a perfect fit for the character Carrey plays. His odd facial comedy fits The Mask like a custom glove, and the mask itself allows Carrey to run wild, and take the character in all kinds of directions, something that does not always fit in his other movies without being a bit much after a while. I thought this movie was funny when I first saw it on DVD, and it is still funny on this re-release on the Bluray format, which lends itself perfectly to the visual style of this film. The icing on the cake is we are treated with Cameron Diaz film debut, and boy what a debut it is!
The Mask slides onto the Bluray format in a 1080p/VC-1 encode framed at a 1:85:1 aspect ratio. The source appears completely free of blemishes, scratches, and pops. Black levels are excellent, stable, and inky deep, but shadow detail is occasionally lost in a slight black crush. Contrast seems dialed down a bit, but not enough to flatten the depth and pop of the images, but enough to dampen the difference between whites and dark areas. Colors are well saturated, vividly and boldly presented, preserving the cartoonish look of the film. I did see signs of DNR, but it was not as objectionable as I have seen on other titles; but it did give images a slightly glossy look. Grain is fine and well controlled always maintaining a film like quality throughout the flick. Detail and sharpness are variable, and there are no signs of edge enhancement that I could see. While the picture quality was just a tad soft, it is a big trade up from all of the DVD releases of the film up to this point.
New Line/Warner graces "The Mask" with a English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track encoded at a 16/48khz bit and sample rate which is quite good for a 15 year old movie. While primarily front focused, there is nice usage of the entire 360 degree sound field, as cartoonish sound effects are smoothly panned from channel to channel in the front hemisphere, and occasionally spilling into the rear channels. Randy Edelman score is nicely recorded, but spread so wide it is on the edge of sounding of sounding fractured and noncoherent. The overall sound tends to pool around the speaker location, never reaching into the room, but having decent depth. The LFE is used well, presenting deep, tight bass that nicely enhances the sound effects. Dialog is always intelligible even in the presence of sound effects and music. While not up to the standards of today digital tracks, the sound track sounds very good for a 1994 release.
The special features package carries over all the items from the 2005 special edition DVD.
Commentary by Director Chuck Russell
Commentary by Director Chuck Russell, New Line Cinema Co-Chairman Bob Shaye, Writer Mike Werb, Executive Producer Mike Richardson, Producer Bob Engelman, Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Squires, Animation Supervisor Tom Bertino and Cinematographer John Leonetti:
Return to Edge City(27minutes) This featurette covers the requisite talking points, including the film's comic book origins, motion picture adaptation, casting, digital effects and makeup. .
Introducing Cameron Diaz (13minutes): A closer look at how casting agents found and cast Diaz. .
Cartoon Logic (13minutes): A profile of Tex Avery's work, its influence on the film, and the digital effects' incorporation of his cartoon style.
What Makes Fido Run (10 minutes) details the training of Milo for the Mask
Trailer (1minute)
Additional Scenes (3minutes): Two scenes with optional commentary by Director Russell. .
All extras are presented in standard definition video.
I really liked this film, as I think it shows the comedic talent of Jim Carrey at his best. This movie is the perfect production for him to unleash his unique brand of comedy whether it is over the top, or damped down for a specific scene. Graced with a nice set of extras, decent picture and sound quality, and the debut of Cameron Diaz, I highly recommend this film for fans, and non fans of Jim Carrey. This movie is a lot of fun, and director Chuck Russell does a real nice job of crafting a true to life Tex Avery cartoon that lovers of the older short will truly enjoy.
2013
35th Anniversary
1988
2016
1991
2019
2014
The Unrated Other Edition
2010
2009
1989
2014
2015
1994
2005
Retro VHS Collection
1992
1985
1987
1999
Retro VHS Collection
1989
2001
1993