5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A husband and wife team of ex-spies arrive in New Orleans on maternity leave with their baby girl. There they are hassled by muggers, the police and their FBI boss, who wants them to do just one more job.
Starring: Kathleen Turner, Dennis Quaid, Fiona Shaw, Stanley Tucci, Larry MillerComedy | 100% |
Crime | 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 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Undercover Blues was one of the last pictures directed by the great Herb Ross, whose credits
include Play It Again, Sam, The Sunshine Boys and the original Footloose—and I have never
understood why it wasn't more successful. The script by Ian Abrams, co-creator of the TV series
Early Edition, is inventive; the casting is perfect (including a scene-
stealing baby); Ross's
direction is sprightly; and the pre-Katrina New Orleans locations look spectacular. Yes, the plot
is ridiculous and the characters are caricatures, but that's the idea. Spy movies have been
parodied in every way imaginable. Undercover Blues is one of the most light-hearted spoofs of
the bunch.
Produced and released by MGM, Undercover Blues has been licensed to Olive Films for its Blu-ray debut.
Undercover Blues was shot on film by cinematographer Donald E. Thorin (Midnight Run, Purple Rain) in a brightly lit style that complements the ebullience with which Jeff and Jane Blue approach their work. Olive Films' 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray sports a richly detailed and film-like image with a color palette dominated by (what else?) blue. Quaid and Turner were at the peak of their movie star looks, and Thorin photographs them to look like the kind of couple that would turns heads wherever they go. Young Michelle Schuelke, who never made another movie, is photographed with the glow of the ideally behaved infant that every advertiser covets and of whom every parent dreams. The source material is in excellent shape, and the transfer, whatever its vintage, does not suffer from distortion, interference or other untoward manipulation. Olive has mastered Undercover Blues with a high average bitrate of 31.20 Mbps, and the benefits are reflected in the lack of compression issues and the generally high quality of the image.
Undercover Blues was released in Dolby Stereo, which has been encoded here in lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0. It's mix engineered more for comedy than adventure, with guns, the occasional explosion and numerous martial arts blows treated in a cartoonish style. When played back through a surround decoder, the track spreads out around the room, but nothing notable is steered to the rear channels. The rapid-fire dialogue is cleanly reproduced, and the score by David Newman (Galaxy Quest) strikes the appropriately light- hearted tone.
The only extra is a trailer (1080p; 1.85:1; 1:55), which has slightly different footage than the film. MGM's 2003 DVD was similarly bare.
It's too bad that Quaid and Turner never teamed again, because their chemistry is excellent. If the
film had been more successful, we might have seen a sequel featuring an older Jane Louise as she
is introduced to the family business. But we can settle for one film, when it's this entertaining.
Undercover Blues is ripe for rediscovery, and Olive's audio/video treatment leaves nothing to be
desired except for the usual Olive flaw of omitting subtitles. Recommended.
2015
Collector's Edition
1987
35th Anniversary
1988
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