6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Evicted from their Manhattan apartment, Walter and Anna (Hanks and Long) buy what looks like the home of their dreams-only to find themselves saddled with a bank-account-draining nightmare.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov, Maureen Stapleton, Joe MantegnaComedy | 100% |
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 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Portuguese: DTS 5.1
Spanish=Latin & Castilian
English SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Mandarin (Simplified), Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
For the vast majority, there's no bigger investment of one's life than love and no bigger investment of one's money than a home. Many -- most -- of life's adventures find their starting points in love and the comforts of one's own space, wrapped in those loving arms and surrounded by those warm, safe walls. But if one crumbles, sometimes so does the other. A love gone bad could mean a staleness settling over a once happy home. And if a home crumbles, and all that money invested in it seems lost or lessened, there could be few, if any, more challenging strains on the bonds of love. The Money Pit takes a look at how young love is shaped and evolved when a couple, not yet married but living happily ever after, buys a beautiful country estate for a fifth of its value, expecting the steal of the century but finding only decaying walls and diminishing spirits. Forget the usual fixer-upper home, never mind the noisy neighbors. This is true hell within four walls -- assuming those walls stand -- and it'll be the ultimate test of one couple's staying power as they struggle to laugh through, accept, and survive the never-ending deterioration of the place they call home.
There goes the tub.
The Money Pit's 1080p transfer could stand a little jump in quality, but it's hardly a disappointment. The image is fairly well defined and clear. Intimate detailing is not much of a factor, with clothes lacking textural nuance and faces a bit flatter than seems ideal. However, many of the examples of wear around the house -- grime, stains, rough edges -- are presented nicely enough. Colors lack vitality, favoring a somewhat drab, but not entirely worn down, appearance. Even the most vibrant attire or natural greens struggle to exhibit much authentic punch. Black levels are a touch prone to crush and often feature a spike in grain that's otherwise rather light. Skin tones are a hint pale. Print deterioration is extremely light and never particularly bothersome. Compression issues are few and far between.
Universal has invested in a 5.1 lossless soundtrack to accompany The Money Pit's Blu-ray release, but the track is decidedly front heavy. It's a bit uneven in quality, but it more often than not favors the better end of the scale. Music to begin is nicely lively, decently spaced across the front and featuring fine definition to the myriad of shakers and percussion instruments in play. The opening titles Pop song, which is located just about exclusively up front, features adequate definition, fairly wide space, and nice lyrical vibrance and balance. Sharp Metal music plays off to the edges in one scene with commendable heft and depth. Many of the film's most prominent sound effects come in the form of destruction. Crashes, collapses, hammer strikes, rattling and burping pipes, and all sorts of mayhem are, mostly, well pronounced and weighty, but lacking much surround definition. A big rig's horn blares for what is the most realistic sonic blast in the movie. A train rumbles through the stage and blows its whistle in one scene, neither of which are particularly well defined or imaged, resulting in the most disappointing sonic moment in the movie. Lighter details fill in some gaps, particularly early on when clatter spreads out to the sides when the couple is kicked out of Max's home. Anna's symphony warms up before practice to nice, wide, detailed effect. Dialogue is fine, centered and well prioritized and only on rare occasions succumbing to a light scratchiness or shallowness.
This Blu-ray release of The Money Pit contains two extras. Unlike many other Universal catalogue titles, a top menu is included.
The Money Pit is as frustrating movie. It's funny, but often uncomfortably so. It ends too darkly, even if that ending fits within the parallel themes the film presents. Performances are fine, and the movie's scenes of destruction are creative and well executed. Universal's Blu-ray release offers fair 1080p video, a good but decidedly front-heavy 5.1 lossless soundtrack, and a couple of brief extras. Rent it.
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