Dumb and Dumber – Blu-ray Disc Review

December 15, 2008 – 9:33 pm - Posted by: James Segars

Tags: Bobby Farrelly, Charles Rocket, DVD vs. Blu-ray Screenshot Comparison, Jeff Daniels, Jim Carrey, Karen Duffy, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr, New Line, Peter Farrelly, Teri Garr, Warner

has an average rating of 7.1 on IMDb
1080p in VC-1 on a 25gb disc
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
are all recycled, but nice.
–
– 1994
– 113 minutes
– New Line (Warner)
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This Blu-ray Disc uses 18.3GB for the movie out of 21.4GB total.

Overall Verdict – Recommended

Buy it for $19.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review by: James Segars —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is directed by the Farrelly brothers, Peter and Bobby (“Kingpin,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “The Heartbreak Kid“)

Am I wrong to give this film a 5-Star Rating for the film itself? No. I don’t think so. I wrestled with myself for all of five seconds, wavering between 4.5 and 5 for this film, and ultimately I’ve decided to stick with my gut, and what I believe to be true — at least for me.

Many will agree, and many will object — and that’s fine — but I whole-heartedly believe that “Dumb and Dumber” is the finest comedy to have ever graced the silver screen. Is it lewd, crude, and inappropriate? Absolutely. It’s the epitome of slap-stick, low-brow, laugh-out-loud humor, but beyond that it boasts — what I think to be — the best comedic performance by Jim Carrey, in addition to the surprisingly hilarious turn by the incredibly talented, Jeff Daniels. Say what you want about the comedic duos and buddy pictures that have come and gone — this one stands alone as the best of them.

Never before has a comedic script been so deceptively witty while being so crude. On the surface, “Dumb and Dumber” appears to be just another 90′s slapstick comedy. But there is so much more hilarity beneath the fart jokes and the immature banter. As I continue to grow with the film, I frequently find myself coming back to it, laughing just as hard as I did in theaters, discovering a new comedic element — thanks to the beautifully nuanced comedic delivery by Daniels or the over-the-top idiocy of Carrey’s “Lloyd.” It’s easy to miss the subtle and masterful comedic writing amidst the gut-busting laughs the film provides, and as such, a second/third/fourth viewing is highly recommended.

For these reasons, and many others, I believe that “Dumb and Dumber” is one of the best examples of comedic film ever committed to film. As you might imagine, I could go on forever about this film, but I won’t because my words will do little to entertain, and inform. All of that is best left to a viewing of this now-classic picture.

Video Quality on this release is 1080p in VC-1 on a BD-25 (25 gigabyte Blu-ray Disc) and presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

DVD vs. Blu-ray Screenshot Comparisons

Going into the film, I wasn’t expecting any miracles — although I can’t say that I wasn’t hoping for them. Because “Dumb and Dumber” was made back in the mid-nineties on a shoestring budget, the film elements weren’t the best back then, and they sure aren’t all that incredible now.

The good news is that the film seems to be in good shape, regardless. Yes, the film suffers from its fair share of scratches, hairs, and specks, but its safe to say that this film isn’t going to be remastered/transferred by Robert Harris anytime soon — even if we “Dumb and Dumber” fans would love to see that happen. Even still, the presentation is generally pleasing. Color saturation is appropriate and is a noticeable upgrade from it’s original DVD release, while black levels are nice and solid.

I wish I could say that the presentation is revelatory, and that it stacks up with some of the best catalog titles on Blu-ray, but it simply does not. Fine object details don’t come through nearly as much I’ve seen on films that are twice as old — which isn’t a bad thing per-se, but it does disarm the 3D Window Effect. In other words, the picture looks rather flat — with regard to apparent image depth, not color — but as I’ve said previously, I wasn’t expecting much out of this presentation.

All in all, we’re given a nice — if not average — presentation of the film that will please most fans, and give them enough reason to pick this up and toss their old disc. However, it is worth noting that the Unrated version is the only one available here, and while it is every bit as funny as the original, it is still different. If you’re the type of fan that won’t tolerate any liberties being taken with your much-adored theatrical version, be sure to hold onto your theatrical disc as a backup.

All things considered, this disc earns a “3-Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is in Dolby TrueHD 5.1.

Gone is the DTS: ES mix from the Unrated DVD, and in comes a much-appreciated lossless, TrueHD track. While the merits of TrueHD have been proven again and again on countless Blu-ray discs, you’d be hard pressed to find much here that’s worth writing home about. “Dumb and Dumber” has never been reference material by any stretch of the imagination, and to be fair, it does sound better than ever on this disc. However, it’s also important to note that the improvement over the DTS: ES track on the previous release isn’t exactly mind-blowing. In particular, enhanced Low frequency extension is noticeable — but slight — throughout the various songs in the film, and it seems to me that the overall clarity is marginally improved, but still an improvement nonetheless.

Whatever the track’s shortcomings may be, it is not the fault of the encode/presentation, but instead the limitations of the source material. With that said, I’m not sure “Dumb and Dumber” will ever sound better than it does here, but I’d still be curious to hear what a DTS HD:MA track might sound like compared to the TrueHD track we’re given.

Much like the video presentation, the audio is merely average, and as such it earns a “3-Star Rating” for overall audio quality.

Bonus Materials are presented in Standard Definition.

• “Still Dumb After All These Years” (18 minutes) This is the keystone of the disc. While it’s not nearly as deep as it could/should be — and Carrey or the Farrelly Brothers are nowhere to be seen — it’s still a great mini-doc for any “Dumb and Dumber” fan.
• “Deliriously Dumb Moments” – (7 minutes) – Brief looks at key, hilarious moments in the film. I got a real kick out of the Big Fire Stunt segment.
• “Additional Scenes/Alternate Endings” – (33 minutes) – A great supplement to the already fantastic film. Many segments were aptly cut, but there are others that might have been finessed into the film, but it’s clear that all of the choices were made to keep the pace steady. Clocking in at 113 minutes, the unrated version is already longer than most comedy films.
• “Trailers” – We’re given a couple fake trailers — which prove to be quite funny in their own right — and a couple run-of-the-mill promo spots/trailers from the original ad campaign.

Overall, while the bonus features are all decent, fans of the film that have purchased the Unrated DVD will be treated to no fresh supplementary material. However, if you’ve been hanging onto your Laserdisc/VHS/DVD of the original theatrical cut, you might be delighted to see so many alternate scenes/takes.

Even still, this disc is going to be docked because there is no included seamless branching option here. “Dumb and Dumber” fanatics/purists — like myself — would have appreciated a high def remaster of the original theatrical cut as well. While some might think the changes are minor, they are substantial enough to warrant the inclusion of the two separate cuts.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to see that one day. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

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

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