The Bible… In The Beginning (1966)/The Cutting Edge (1992)/Four Weddings & A Funeral/A Guy Thing/Honeymoon In Vegas/Overboard/Wedding Daze (MGM Blu-rays)

 

Picture: C+ (Bible: B-)     Sound: C+ (Bible: B-)     Extras: C-/C/C/C-/C-/C-/D     Films: B-/C/C/C-/C-/C-/C-/D

 

 

MGM continues to issue back catalog titles on Blu-ray as strongly as any major name in the business and here are some of the latest.

 

 

Most of the Biblical epics tend to be weak, lame, corny and even campy, but some of the films that tend to work get bashed for being too slow and critics miss the point as they did with John Huston’s The Bible - In The Beginning (1966), one of only two films ever shot in the 70mm format Dimension-150 (Patton is the other, then the format folded) and is as good a film of The Old Testament that you could expect, something even an atheist could see.

 

Dino De Laurentiis actually produced and the cast includes Michael Parks, Ulla Bergryd, Richard Harris, Stephen Boyd, George C. Scott, Ava Gardner, Peter O’Toole, Gabrielle Ferzetti and Huston himself among others.  I like the look, the pace and feel of this film, in the hands of a master like Huston is one of the most effective and sincere of all the Biblical genre films.  I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job on these stories for the most part and in the large frame format has never been equaled since.  A trailer is the only extra.

 

The underrated D. B. Sweeney took the lead in the skating film The Cutting Edge (1992) which was a romantic drama where he could play hockey or land up being a world-class skater, which is opened up all the more when he falls for Moira Kelly as a female counterpart on ice.  I like the idea and the leads, but director Paul Michael Glazer could not make this work above formula and it was not the hit the cast deserved.  A trailer and making of featurette are the only extras.

 

Though a hit in its time, Mike Newell’s Four Weddings & A Funeral was always an overrated, silly and even shrill romantic comedy and it being British was not the problem, nor was the cast (including Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell) but the screenplay was just too smug and boring to ever believe any of this.  I am not a fan of Newell either, but this hit a chord and was a surprise hit.  Even with support from Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Redgrave, John Hannah and even Rowan Atkinson, people I like and respect as well, this still did not work for me and I would argue this is not even a typically British work.  Now you can see for yourself if it has aged well since its 1994 release.  Extras include a trailer, Deleted Scenes, two making of featurettes, a documentary on wedding and filmmakers feature length audio commentary track.

 

Chris Koch’s A Guy Thing (2010) is the most recent film here and one of the worst, wasting Jason Lee, Julia Stiles and Selma Blair in a very unfunny romantic comedy with no laughs, barely anything that works or any energy straitjacketed by a terribly formulaic screenplay   I never bought it and even a music score by Mark Mothersbaugh cannot save it.  Too bad.  Extras include a trailer, Deleted Scenes, three making of featurettes, Alternate Endings and Gag Reel with commentary by Koch and a feature length audio commentary track by the director, leads and Thomas Lennon.

 

Andrew Bergman is an innovative film scholar who has directed some good films and some flat ones.  Honeymoon In Vegas (1992) with the odd mix of Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker and James Caan (who rightly gets first billing) did some business in its time, but I never found the somewhat romantic comedy funny, effective, consistent or believable.  The younger two marry quickly Sin City (when it still had more sin to offer) but get in trouble with gangster Caan when they suddenly have a big gambling debt.  It is dull.  A trailer is the only extra.

 

Garry Marshall’s Overboard (1987) tried to capitalize on the real-life relationship between co-stars Goldie Hawn (still a box office draw) and Kurt Russell (having some hits here and there), but having him as a carpenter and her as a stuffy rich woman bombs as soon as they meet and the result was a dud that did not work.  Having Roddy McDowell as a butler, Edward Herrmann as her rich husband and Katherine Helmond does not hurt, but the flat script does not and we get a big screen sitcom that should have never been released to theaters.  A trailer is the only extra.

 

The worst is last in Michael Ian Black’s remarkably awful Wedding Daze (2007) with Jason Biggs trying to have a career after the highly overrated American Pie series and Isla Fisher looking for a hit that never happened.  He plays a man in love whose loving surprise and marriage proposal kills his fiancée, but he needs to grab another woman quick to marry for dumb reasons and chaos ensures.  Too bad it is not funny.

 

Edward Herrmann shows up here too, joined by Joe Pantoliano and Joanna Gleason, but even they cannot save this big dud and Black should stay in front of the camera.  Deleted Scenes and Alternate Endings are the lame extras.

 

 

The 1080p AVC digital High Definition image transfers on all the Blu-rays disappoint and come from older HD masters, but Bible (23 MBPS at 2.20 x 1) actually looks the best, though the print is not great.  Still, it is 70mm and has more detail, color range and depth than the later films, amazingly.  It still needs some restoration.  The rest of the films are 1.85 X 1.  All the discs also have DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes, with Bible’s sound having the best soundfield insofar as detail, range and realization, even though the sound is towards the front speakers, but this was a film originally designed for 6-track magnetic sound with traveling dialogue and sound effects, so that is to be expected.  The later films are digital releases save Edge, which comes from simple Dolby A-type analog audio and barely earns its sound rating.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo