4.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
A big screen version of the trend-setting 1960's television series, updating the premise for the '90s. A trio of juvenile delinquents becomes undercover cops to infiltrate a drug ring in the ultra-hip L.A. club scene.
Starring: Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps, Dennis Farina, Josh BrolinCrime | 100% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Variety recently did a story on Claire Danes, as Homeland: The Complete Fourth Season hit the Blu-ray marketplace and the series’ fifth season gets underway on Showtime. The article’s thesis was that Danes should count her lucky stars that the television entry that first brought her quite a bit of notice, the late, lamented (and short lived) series My So Called Life, fell victim to low ratings, unable to withstand NBC’s “must see TV” sitcom juggernaut, ultimately being canceled after only 19 episodes. Variety made the case that had My So Called Life premiered in today’s fractured broadcast and cable landscape, its ratings probably would have been more than strong enough to have guaranteed its continued survival, something that would have locked Danes into a long term commitment that could have prevented her from stretching her thespian muscles in other entries, including of course Homeland itself. Of course some cynical naysayers could take the opposite tack and argue that had My So Called Life lived long and prospered, it might have prevented Danes from making The Mod Squad, one of the more bone headed reboots culled from a long ago television series of its era. Its era—circa 1999—is one of its chief drawbacks, for (as Baby Boomers will know), the original series aired at the tail end of the wake left by the Summer of Love, premiering in fall 1968 and running for five seasons well into the seventies and the dawn of the Watergate age. That disconnect proves to be a fatal flaw for this misbegotten film, for the late nineties would most likely hardly qualify in anyone’s mind as a “mod” time.
The Mod Squad is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Culled from the Metro Goldwyn Mayer catalog, The Mod Squad looks acceptable but fairly rough quite a bit of the time. Contrast is variable and at least at times anemic, casting a haze over already dark, ill defined sequences that offer very little in the way of general detail, let alone fine detail. Director Scott Silver's penchant to shoot in odd lighting schemes (especially artificial washes of blue) further depletes fine detail, even in extreme close- ups. While outdoor scenes fare a bit better in terms of real "pop" in the visuals, elements appear to have faded, though blues still look relatively vivid. Grain is quite gritty and heavy throughout the presentation, though resolves generally organically.
The Mod Squad's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers some good surround activity in a couple of larger set pieces, as well as the film's ubiquitous use of source cues that play out in scenes like a couple of club sequences. LFE gets a burst or two of energy courtesy of moments like explosions. Dialogue is generally easy to hear, but there occasional slight prioritization issues in some of the noisier moments, like some of those selfsame club sequences.
The Mod Squad probably could have worked, but from my perspective, it needed to be done as a period piece, placed firmly in that late sixties' milieu that made the original version's first couple of seasons so redolent. That could have allowed the filmmakers to have either played it straight, offering a cogent critique of so-called "youth culture", or, had they wanted to further the whole supposedly wacky comedy angle as evidenced by this version's Pete Cochran, they could have gone gonzo, offering satires of late sixties entries like Psych-Out. One way or the other, the nineties and The Mod Squad are uncomfortable bedfellows at best, an aspect only further exacerbated by Method-y performances by the star trio and some really hamfisted screenplay structuring. Technical merits are acceptable (video) to excellent (audio) for those considering a purchase.
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