"Throw Momma From The Train" (Wal-Mart exclusive) PQ review (1 Viewer)

[Ron Reda]

I watched the entire film last night and while I cannot compare it to the previous DVD incarnations, I was pleasantly surprised. Granted, I set the bar pretty low and while things started out a tad rough (with Billy Crystal typing away at his keyboard during the opening credits), it cleans up pretty well after that. Some night scenes exhibit less detail than their well-lit counterparts (from memory, the scene with BC on the beach and some shots of Danny DeVito outside at the phone booth and during the shots from further away), but these were few and far between. Regarding the indoor, daylight and/or well-lit night scenes, I found the detail to be quite good. Regarding the colors, the palette of this film is rather drab but when color is present in the frame (the scene with BC's agent played by Rob Reiner comes to mind), brighter colors tend to pop quite a bit (the flowers and RR's clothing in the aforementioned scene). There are some instances of dirt and specks here and there during select scenes but to me they were not prevalent. Ultimately, I think the transfer is a success given the film's age. The best thing that I can say about this transfer is that to me, it was good enough to where I stopped worrying about issues and picking nits and simply had fun watching the film. I found myself thoroughly enjoying it and LOL'd on a few occasions. For fans of the film, this is easily worth $10.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

That is good to hear, Ron. I've never owned this film in any format, so took the Wal-Mart.com plunge -- along with When Harry Met Sally, A Fish Called Wanda, The Big Country and Jackie Brown. I was a little worried, since these were inexpensive Wal-Mart exclusives, but The Big Country was well done, too.