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Bowfinger
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Fabulous Films Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (14th September 2016). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** ENJOY THE FUN WITH EDDIE MURPHY AND STEVE MARTIN TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HIT COMEDY BOWFINGER. How does Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin), Hollywood’s least successful director, get Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy), Hollywood’s biggest star, in his ultra low-budget film? Any way he can. With an ingenious scheme and the help of Kit’s eager and nerdy brother Jiff, an ambitious and sexy wannabe (Heather Graham) and an over-the-hill diva (Christine Baranski), Bowfinger sets out to trick Kit Ramsey into the performance of a lifetime.
Video
Fabulous Films have released the underrated comedy "Bowfinger" on to Blu-ray in what is the worldwide debut for the format. Using a master licensed from Universal Pictures, Fabulous give the film a 1080p transfer in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 using an AVC MPEG-4 encode. It's good, but certainly not without problems. The most unfortunate thing here, is that this is clearly not a new master, suffering from several issues the 15 year old DVD also encountered. We see this firstly in the opening credits, where the same minor specks of dirt can be seen. Edge enhancement is surprisingly prevalent also, though not to the point of causing major distraction. It can mainly be seen around people, but many long curved lines on items such as cars or buildings do make it a little more distinct. Haloing makes an occasional appearance too, most notably around the yellow hat of one of Kit's entourage in the 95th minute. Mild banding can be seen in the odd skyline, and some textures do seem slightly too smooth, so some digital noise reduction does seem to have been applied at some point. It's not all bad though. Although I have described a few problems, they are not bad enough to warrant an avoidance of the disc. Colours are generally strong (aside from some minor crush) and I was surprised at the level of detail when comparing the same scenes to my old region 1 DVD release. Whilst this is a typical Universal catalogue transfer, it is still a huge upgrade on previous releases, and, quite frankly, I can't see Universal spending the dosh on a nice new scan on this one. The feature is uncut and runs 96:49.
Audio
Fabulous Films have presented the film with a single audio track in the original language; English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. "Bowfinger" is generally a dialogue driven film, with the vast majority focused towards the front of the sound stage. However, more subtle effects do make their way to the surrounds, and the occasional action sequence (like Jiff running through traffic) is immersive. Dialogue is clear and concise at all times, if a little flat in parts, and volume levels consistent throughout. David Newman's score never overpowers the dialogue, but makes its presence known. I noticed no issues with dropouts, scratches, pops, or background hiss. This lossless track does what it needs to. Unfortunately, no subtitles are included.
Extras
*Video extras are in standard definition. We start the extras with an audio commentary with director Frank Oz. This is a good solo effort with little dead air. Frank Oz allows his commentary to flow naturally by injecting occasional anecdotes between details about why certain scenes had particular touches, or why scenes were shot more than once. He also talks about where the included deleted scenes would have been injected into the film, the shooting locations, how scenes are built to show particular environments, and more. This is a solid commentary worthy of your time, though of course it would have been nice to have Murphy and Martin involved! Next up, we have the "Spotlight On Location" featurette (23:25). This is your typical by-the-numbers promotional featurette made for television, but still a nice inclusion. It features interviews with various cast and crew members answering pretty basic questions about the characters and the storyline, along with clips from the film and some occasional behind-the-scenes footage. The deleted scenes (5:20) section is a play all only, but has two scenes included. The first is an alternate version of one of the opening scenes, where the changes are merely cosmetic. The second features Steve Martin's character Robert Bowfinger going into various dry cleaning establishments to work out Kit Ramsey's address. There is also a selection of outtakes (2:50) and a theatrical trailer (1:02).
Overall
Bowfinger is a very underrated comedy with a fantastic supporting cast. Whilst the off-the-shelf transfer here is disappointing, it is still the best I have ever seen it look by far. It comes packaged with a decent set of extras ported from the previous DVD release.
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