Girls
Just Want To Have Fun
(1985/New World/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)/Operation
Petticoat
(1959/Universal/Paramount/Olive Blu-ray)
Picture:
B/B- Sound: B-/C+ Extras: D Films: C-/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Girls
Just Want To Have Fun
Import Blu-ray is available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment and can be ordered from the link below.
Here
are two comedies that are curios, but now necessarily funny.
We
reviewed Alan Metter's Girls
Just Want To Have Fun
(1985) a few times before, issued slowly all over the place because
Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker co-star in this school-is-boring
comedy and because the title is of the great song eventually made
classic by Cyndi Lauper. After an import DVD and U.S. Blu-ray from
Image, we have this New World picture as an Umbrella Region Free
Import Blu-ray. Here is my coverage of the other Blu-ray:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11517/Girls+Just+Want+To+Have+Fun+(1985/Image+Blu
The
film remains unfunny and even Hunt cannot save it, but while the
sound is again PCM 2.0 Stereo with some Pro Logic surrounds and not
only are there no extras, we do not even get a menu, the picture is a
slight surprise. Though it might even be the same print and
transfer, color is actually better on this Blu-ray for some reason.
I don't remember the film ever looking this good and despite some
detail issues, that is enough for me to rate it above the U.S.
Blu-ray. Too bad the film is a dud.
Blake
Edwards' Operation
Petticoat (1959) is a
military comedy in the mode of Gomer
Pyle and the like with
Cary Grant in his later prime as he schemes to revive a submarine and
get it going again, which helps when an enemy attack circa WWII
occurs. With the help of a young officer (Tony Curtis), they get the
ship going. They also take the advice of female crew and land up
painting the ship pink, a color Edwards was soon to become immortally
associated with, as he directed all the original Pink Panther films.
Originally
handled by Universal, critics hated the film, but the combination of
the stars, humor that might have seemed more risque at the time (but
also dumb at times no matter what), Grant could do no wrong at this
point and it was a huge hit. The leads are joined by a solid cast
that includes Arthur O'Connell, Dick Sargent, Dina Merrill, Marion
Ross, Gavin MacLeod, Marlyn Rhue, Gene Evans and Virginia Gregg. You
would never see a film made like this today since military comedies
pretty much died after Vietnam, but it is worth a look as a historic
curio and for the stars, though you might find this funnier than I
did, it still has a few amusing moments.
Jamie
Lee Curtis later appeared in an attempt to make it into a TV series,
but that revival failed.
There
are no extras, but the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image
transfer can be rough at times and definitely show the age of the
print, if not the actual film. Color is not what it should be,
including inconsistent and
Director of Photography Russell Harlan (Gun
Crazy,
The
Thing
(1951),
Riot In Cell Block 11,
Witness
For The
Prosecution,
Run
Silent Run Deep,
Rio
Bravo,
King
Creole,
The
Great Race,
To
Kill A Mockingbird)
deserves better. More scratches on the print than I expected, but
this still looks decent often. The
PCM 2.0 Mono is a little rougher than expected too with more harmonic
distortion than usual and could use some restoration work, including
on the Henry Mancini/David Rose music.
To
order the
Girls
Just Want To Have Fun
Umbrella import Blu-ray, go to this link to get it and many other
hard to find titles at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
