Clue – Blu-ray Disc Review

July 26, 2012 – 3:39 am - Posted by: Justin Sluss

Tags: Bill Henderson, Blu-ray, Christopher Lloyd, Colleen Camp, Eileen Brennan, Howard Hesseman, Jane Wiedlin, Jeffrey Kramer, John Landis, Jonathan Lynn, Kellye Nakahara, Lee Ving, Lesley Ann Warren, Madeline Kahn, Martin Mull, Michael McKean, Paramount Home Entertainment, Tim Curry

has an average rating of 7.2 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio Mono
includes three Alternate Endings
–
– 1985
– 86, 87 or 96 minutes
– Paramount
–
This uses 28.6GB total.
Street Date: August 7th, 2012

Overall Verdict – Great Film / Solid Presentation

Buy it on Blu-ray for $19.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is based on the board game of the same title from Parker Brothers, originally created by Anthony E. Pratt. The film was produced and the story was co-wrote by John Landis. Jonathan Lynn co-wrote the story, wrote the screenplay and directed the film. This was his directorial debut. However, Lynn is best known these days for later going on to direct the films “Nuns on the Run” (1990), “My Cousin Vinny” (1992), “The Distinguished Gentleman” (1992), “Sgt. Bilko” (1996) and “The Whole Nine Yards” (2000).

The setting is New England 1954. The story here is very much similar to that of the board game with the very same cast of characters and a very similar set of circumstances. The main character is the butler “Wadsworth” (played by Tim Curry) who’s in charge of the dinner party that six guests have been invited to at a large mansion called Hill House. They were all sent invitations and instructed to use nicknames. The six guests invited and in attendance are as follows: “Colonel Mustard” (played by Martin Mull), “Mrs. White” (played by Madeline Kahn), “Mrs. Peacock” (played by Eileen Brennan), “Mr. Green” (played by Michael McKean), “Miss Scarlet” (played by Lesley Ann Warren) and “Professor Plum” (played by Christopher Lloyd). The only other people in the house are the French maid “Yvette” (played by Colleen Camp) and the cook (played by Kellye Nakahara).

The six guests are very curious as to why they all have been invited here and what they have in common. The butler informs them that they’ll soon have their answers when their host, technically the seventh guest, “Mr. Boddy” (played by Lee Ving) arrives. Eventually Mr. Boddy does arrive and it’s then that the butler Wadsworth opens up a letter and informs the guests why they all have been invited and what they all have in common. They all are being blackmailed by Mr. Boddy. He’s very upset at first when he realizes what Wadsworth is telling the guests and tries to leave the house but with no success. He comes back and decides to give out gifts to all six of the guests. The gifts come wrapped with bows. The guests open them to find they contain the following: a candlestick, a lead pipe, a monkey wrench, a pistol, a knife and a rope. All six of these items could be used as weapons to do harm to someone. That being said, Mr. Boddy decides to turn off the lights in the room and let them have at what he thinks will lead to them killing the butler. The lights come back on and we find that it was actually Mr. Boddy who appears to have been killed. A gunshot from the pistol was fired but it didn’t hit him, it in fact hit the wall. It’s at this point that all the guests and even the butler begin to panic and the accusations start flying as to who is responsible. That sets up the plot here to the film and let’s just say that some other murders soon follow and it becomes one ultimate case of whodunit. Lots and lots of comedic relief is thrown in all along the way.

“Clue” is a hilarious comedy with its very obvious mystery elements. It actually proves be impressive and holds somewhat true to the original story, characters and plot of the board game it’s based on. This includes one all-star cast for sure, all of which are perfectly cast for their parts. Tim Curry almost steals the show so-to-speak as the main character and offers up the most comedic relief throughout the film. If you’ve never seen the film before then it’s very likely that just like the board game it’ll keep you guessing up until the last moment as to who is responsible for the murders. The beauty here is that actually there were originally three endings to the film shot and shown theatrically. These three endings are included in this Blu-ray Disc debut of the film — just as with the DVD release. This gives you the option to let it pick a random ending for you. More on that though in the bonus materials section. One final fact, this was the first film to be based on a board game. Sadly though, it was not the last.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. According to the technical specifications on IMDb this was shot on 35MM film using Panaflex cameras. The Hi-Def transfer here holds a solid black level, a somewhat vibrant color palette (although obviously subdued) and accurate fleshtones. There’s a good consistent amount of visible film grain here. Also there’s a really good amount of detail to be found in most every shot, especially the close-ups. This looks rather impressive to be a 1985 film and delivers a solid Hi-Def presentation well worthy of a “4 Star Rating” for overall video quality. This is by far the best the film has ever looked and will surely leave fans pleased with the Blu-ray Disc debut in terms of visuals. The excellent cinematography done by DP (director of photography) Victor J. Kemper has finally been done justice in a home video release.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio Mono. Let me first start of by saying that I’m sure that some of you may be wondering why this didn’t receive a 5.1 mix. That has to do with the fact it comes from a Mono source and the fact that this film roughly is about 95% dialogue. That being said, it’s safe to say that dialogue here is delivered very distinctly and never once is drowned out by any of the sound effects or music. Speaking of music, the film starts out with a beautiful bit during the opening credit sequence. The original music by John Morris is presented nicely here and does a great job of setting the mood throughout the film. Also the sound effects such as the thunder in the early part of the film come across very realistic and intense to just be in Mono. This delivers a solid lossless audio presentation that is well worthy of a “4 Star Rating” for overall audio quality. This rating is based on the type of film this is. Sure it’s no amazing restoration of the sound nor an “over the top” 5.1 mix but it does the film absolute justice in just Mono via two channels. Fans will be pleased with how this sounds.

Bonus Materials are ALL presented in full 1080p Hi-Def (HD) video quality with DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio Mono sound — unless otherwise noted below.

• Two Viewing Options Are Available via the “Play” Selection on the Main Menu:
– Option #1 – Play a Random Ending
– Option #2 – Play All Three Endings

The Three Alternate Endings Are Available to Play Separately (or All Together) via the “Extras” Selection on the Main Menu.

• “View Ending A” (8:36 – HD)
• “View Ending B” (8:47 – HD)
• “View Ending C” (7:24 – HD)
• “View Trilogy Ending” (17:34 – HD) plays all three endings together
• Theatrical Trailer (1:33 – HD) includes Dolby Digital 2.0 @224kbps sound.

Overall the bonus material here are nothing more than Three Alternate Endings with the option to receive a random ending or get all three played at the end of the film. You’re also given the option to be able to view them via the “Extras” selection of the Main Menu as discussed which is nice. Plus you get the original Theatrical Trailer in Hi-Def. Not the most impressive amount of supplemental material but it proves to be enjoyable none-the-less and make it worth watching the film again two more times to get the alternate endings or just view them via the menu.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Please be patient with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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