Michael Osadciw
Screenwriter
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Big
EXTENDED EDITION
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Original Release: 1988
Theatrical Version Length: 104 min
Extended Cut Length: 130 min
Genre: Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced
Colour/B&W: Colour
Audio:
English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Subtitles: English, Spanish
U.S. Film Rating: PG
Canadian Film Rating: PG
Release Date: AVAILABLE NOW
Rating: :star: :star: :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Starring: Tom Hanks (Josh), Elizabeth Perkins (Susan), Robert Loggia (MacMillan), John Heard (Paul), Jared Rushton (Billy), John Lovitz (Scotty Brennen)
Written by: Gary Ross & Anne Spielberg
Directed by: Penny Marshall
Have you ever had a really big secret?
Watching Big is such a blast from my past. When the film was released on video (on good old Betamax), I was about the same age as the main character Josh; a twelve year old boy who makes a wish to be big. I always wondered what it was like to be “big” and believed this film’s fun and simple portrayal of life in a toy company. To a twelve year-old, it seemed great to grow up! Now, almost twenty years later I’m asking for my childhood back!
This classic story shows how a child’s wish to be a grown up isn’t all that it seems. The next morning Josh wakes up to be 30 years old and as shocked as he is of his transformation he must be on his own immediately and adapt to the world. The beauty about this film is that Josh’s mind hasn’t grown up – he still thinks and acts like a kid making him stand out a crowd of people.
Thankfully he has help from his friend and he is able to secure a job at a toy company. His boyish personality promotes him in the company and even gets him a girlfriend. Despite his odd behaviour for an “adult” he changes the lives of others around him.
But his wish can’t stay true forever. He misses home and his life as a child. He’ll have to decide if he should stay 30 years old or return to his youthful looks and life, and be back at home with his family.
This is one film that I never believed could ever be released as an extended edition. The theatrical version was just fine as it was and still is my preferred cut. The extended version is generous with added scenes, about 26 minutes worth of new footage from new scenes, extended scenes, or just snippets or shots inserted here or there. They are either character building or just extended moments that don’t do much for the film at all. It slowed the film down a bit, but still appreciated all of the new scenes. If I were to watch this movie again, I’d probably watch the extended version a second time, although much like Apocalypse Now, if you are a first time viewer, I’d recommend the theatrical version first.
This special edition is spread out on two discs. The movie is on one and the special features are on the second disc. A six-page booklet is inside and the keepcase is enclosed in a cardboard slipcase. Just be careful peeling off the security plastic glued on all three sides of the case – the glue on mine was ultra sticky leaving an awful amount of sticky residue to attach to other DVDs filed on the shelf.
VIDEO QUALITY: 3/5 :star: :star: :star:Both theatrical and extended versions are found on a single DVD-9. The image has that soft ‘80s look to it. Colours are muted but accurate according to imagery nonetheless. Distracting is compression artefacts that seem to find themselves present along edges and between lettering. I found it more abundant than usual on my 8-foot wide screen, but virtually undetectable on a 36” CRT. The added scenes are easily detectable; they look slightly unnatural because of the ringing along the edges (most likely from cranked artificial sharpness). Colours look ever so slightly different but there is a small difference. The scenes are integrated seamlessly with the theatrical version but the overall difference of appearance is unusual. I’m surprised that more wasn’t done to keep the video consistent. In my opinion it feels like sloppy work. The aspect ratio is 1.85:1 and is enhanced for widescreen televisions. It’s not framed directly in the center (more black area up top) but at least you are able to see the full widescreen frame.
AUDIO QUALITY: 2.5/5 :star: :star:
The only audio track available is in stereo. The original audio mix is a bit weak and the 192kbps Dolby Digital encoding doesn’t help that at all in any manner. Despite its weak mix, it’s not problematic in any sense; imaging is tightly focussed in the center without any strange stray of sound. This is a dialogue driven film, so there isn’t much more happening in the mix aside from simple ambient sounds and a few effects. The audio in the extended scenes does sound slightly different, mostly with the dialogue. It’s a bit less polished and very slightly rougher sounding in some respects. Music is nicely delivered and matches the quality of the mix. I’ll say my usual ramble: the audio isn’t up to par with a decent sounding CD but that’s expected with many film soundtracks. Hopefully that will change one day.
TACTILE FUN!! ZERO / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
TACTILE TRANSDUCER ON/OFF?: OFF
No LFE channel.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 2.5/5 :star: :star:
Disc one includes a Big Brainstorming writers audio commentary hosted by DVD producer Pete Vantrella with contributors Anne Spielberg and Gary Ross. The commentary is unique in the sense that it’s not entirely contributed to in ‘real time.’ The commentary includes old recordings taped by the two writers when they were penning their ideas. It just so happened that Spielberg recorded many of these "get togethers" and now we can here snippets of them. They are edited down to include highlights but they are presented in the original order so you can get an idea of the order of the construction of the film with collaborative writing. You can listen to this commentary with the theatrical version only.
Disc two includes five featurettes or various quality. Big Beginnings (16m30s, 16:9) carries on similar conversation as heard in the audio commentary with both writers. This featurette has the camera focussed on the two of them as they discuss more of the film. If you managed to stay awake through that featurette, Chemistry of a Classic (23m45s 16:9) is a much better view. If you had to pick one featurette on this disc to watch (and only one) this would be it. It summarizes much of the film’s production fairly well, from directing to casting, etc…it also features new interviews from many more people (eg. producers and cast [but no Hanks]) and is much more engaging.
How engaging would work be if you really did have a career in the toy business? This is what The Work of Play (9m54s, 4:3LB) featurette tries to uncover as it interviews some top people in America’s biggest toys companies. How fun would this be?!?!
A Hollywood Backstory: Big featurette (21m15s, 4:3) and a minute and a half Fox vignette of the world premier of Big is seen in the Carnival Party Newswrap (4:3). Fox went to the carnival for this one – literally!
A separate deleted scenes section is selectable with optional introductions by director Penny Marshall. About 12 minutes of footage from the extended cut makes it here with the commentary (although I can’t say she’s very informative) while the rest is left for you to discover in the film. I was hoping for a few scenes left out of the extended cut (if any) as well as the rumoured alternate ending noted on IMDB.com.
Two theatrical trailers and TV Spots are included, all 4:3. Trailers for other Fox Flicks can also be found (can you guess they are mostly for Tom Hanks films?).
IN THE END...
This is an upgrade that is worth the money for fans of the film. It’s a rarity these days to have a new cut of a film over 25 minutes; we’re too used to these so-called unrated editions that are hardly different than the theatrical version. While the image quality varied over the film, I appreciated most of the added scenes and the new featurettes, especially since I never guessed I’d see a special edition of this title coming.
Michael Osadciw
May 07, 2007.
