 |
Title: |
The
Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad |
| Reviewed
By: |
David Harrison
August 26, 2000 |
| Genre: |
Comedy |
| Video Format: |
Anamorphic
1.85:1 Widescreen |
| Audio Format: |
Dolby Digital 5.1 |
DVD Format:
|
SS-SL |
| Language Tracks: |
English, French |
| Subtitle Tracks: |
English |
| Length: |
84min |
| Rating |
PG-13 |
| Release Date: |
Aug. 15, 2000 |
| Regular/Special Edition |
Regular |
| Region Code: |
1 |
| Studio: |
Paramount |
| THX: |
No |
| Commentary |
Group Commentary
with David Zuker (Director, Producer), Robert Weiss (Producer),
and Peter Tilden (Host) |
| |
|
| Documentaries |
|
| |
|
| Featurettes |
|
| |
|
| Filmography
& Biography |
|
| |
|
| Interviews |
|
| |
|
| Trailers
& TV Spots |
|
| |
|
| Alternate/Deleted Scenes
& Clips |
|
| |
|
| Music Video(s) |
|
| |
|
| Other |
|
| |
|
| Cast &
Crew |
|
Cast
|
Leslie Nielsen |
| Written by |
Jerry Zuker,
Jim Abrahams, David Zuker, and Pat Proft |
| Produced By |
Robert K.
Weiss |
| Directed By |
David Zuker |
| The Review: |
|
From the Files of Police Squad comes The Naked Gun,
a full-length feature version of the short-lived television
series from the early 80s. Leslie Nielsen teams up
again with Jerry Zuker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zuker,
the brains behind the comedy smash Airplane. The Naked
Gun follows bumbling detective Frank Drebin as he
investigates the beating of his partner Nordberg.
Full of sight and sound gags and some great slapstick
comedy, The Naked Gun should make for an entertaining
evening.
|
| Image & Sound: |
| The image and sound
for The Naked Gun are not quite as good as I would like
them to be. The film itself is starting to show its
age, and grain seems to be present throughout the film.
I guess for a twelve year old film, things don't look
that bad. Sound quality is not quite up to par either.
The soundtrack has been re-mastered in Dolby Digital
5.1, but the rear surrounds are not very active. This
is not a true action film, so if you consider this film
a comedy the soundtrack should be just fine for this
type of film. |
| Extra Features: |
|
Considering the popularity of the Naked Gun series,
a few more extras would have been a nice addition.
As it stands there are two extras included on the
disc. The first is a theatrical trailer, and the second
is a decent audio commentary with David Zuker, Robert
Weiss, and host Peter Tilden. The extras are sparse,
but something is better than nothing, right?
|
| Commentary Track: |
| To be honest I expected
to enjoy the commentary a lot more than I did. I was
hoping that the three men would lend some insight on
the making of the film, and also be funny at the same
time. The men do crack some jokes, but I really didn't
laugh that much. I do like the idea of having a host
on the track, because in this case Tilden keeps things
moving by asking questions of the director and producer
to fill in the dead air. A commentary is always a welcome
addition, and I do recommend that you give it a listen,
but I was hoping to get a lot more out of it. |
| Finals Words: |
| The DVD edition for
The Naked Gun is a bit better than average, but nothing
to get too excited about. If you are looking for a reason
to laugh, I can think of no better movie to watch than
The Naked Gun. The only exception would be Airplane
made by a lot of the same cast and crew for this film.
It is really nice to finally have this first film (and
the rest of the series) on DVD. I'm glad that Paramount
chose to include a commentary (even though it is not
one of the best I've ever heard). Still, the overall
entertainment value is pretty good, so I do think you
should give The Naked Gun on DVD a try. |
|
Divas Talk-Two for the show
Diva Roundtable Review
|
