- Joined
- May 9, 2003
- Messages
- 3,103
Blu-ray Disc/DVD REVIEW
Coming To America
Special Collector’s Edition
Studio: Paramount
Film Year: 1988
Film Length: 116 min
Genre: Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
BD Resolution: 1080p
BD Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC @ over 30MBPS
Colour/B&W: Colour
Audio:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Spanish Dolby Digital Mono
French Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English, English SDH+, French, Spanish
Film Rating: R
Release Date: June 5, 2007
Film Rating: :star: :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley
Story by: Eddie Murphy
Screenplay by: David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein
Directed by: John Landis
Coming to America is a fun comedy, really a romantic comedy once it gets going, that gives us a glimpse into the heyday of Eddie Murphy’s career back in the 80s. The film follows Murphy and Arsenio Hall as an African Prince and his servant who venture to New York in search of a bride. The movie is slow going at first, but picks up once the guys are on the streets of the Big Apple and the pieces fall into place. The prince’s adventures in New York primarily happen in a low-rent area of Queens populated by a score of characters, many of whom are played by Murphy and Hall in various states of prosthetic makeup. In spite of the rough language heard throughout and a few moments of nudity early on, this is actually a fairly sweet film that simply tells the story of Cinderella in reverse. Murphy and Hall have a lot of fun here, but they are at their best when playing the various character roles on the periphery of the film. The film is also a fun place to spot actors who rose to fame shortly afterward, including Samuel L. Jackson, Eriq La Salle and Louie Anderson.
Coming To America was previously released on standard DVD in 1999 in a bare-bones edition. Paramount has now re-issued the film as a Special Collector’s Edition in standard format, as well as well as HD-DVD and the Blu-Ray edition seen for this review. The Blu-Ray edition presents a 1080p transfer, as well as all the special features of the new standard DVD, which are presented in standard definition aside from the theatrical trailer. The new transfer is beautiful to behold, particularly in the African scenes where the art direction and the costumes have colors and textures that are truly lovely. Once the action moves to New York, there’s less for the transfer to do, but the textures are still on display in full detail and in some scenes, the picture is stunning. If you are a fan of Eddie Murphy, you will definitely enjoy this film. If you haven’t seen it before, the Blu-Ray disc is a great place to start.
VIDEO QUALITY: 4.5/5 :star: :star: :star: :star:
Coming to America is presented in a beautiful 1080p MPEG-4 AVC transfer that is full of color, from the accurate flesh tones to the textured costumes on display. One costume in particular benefits from this new transfer. When we are introduced to Shari Headley’s character, she wears a patterned suit jacket with a decorative flower that matches the jacket pattern. With the 1080p transfer, this kind of detail comes through brilliantly. The textures of the various wardrobes are also finely detailed – It is easy to tell the quality of the suits and casual clothes worn by the Prince as opposed to the many civilians he encounters. At the same time, Rick Baker’s heavy prosthetic makeup stands up under the increased resolution and shows more shadings and detail as Murphy and Hall pop up in the various bonus cameos.
One exception to the rule, however, causes me to once again take back half a star, as I did on the Trading Places review. The detail is SO good that the film’s establishing flyover and static shot of the Zamunda Royal Palace makes the palace painting look even more two-dimensional than was clearly intended by John Landis. The point of the shot is that we are looking at a fairy tale palace to suit the fairy tale story, but it is still quite jarring to see an almost cartoon-styled painting in the middle of a real setting. So I have taken back the half-star in complaint. Other than that, the transfer is great. As I have noted, the amount of colors and details to show really drops off once we get to Queens, but there are still some fine details to be seen here and the transfer makes the most of them.
AUDIO QUALITY: 4/5 :star: :star: :star: :star:
Coming To America is presented in a 640kbps 5.1 Surround mix in English with lesser mixes in French (2.0) and Spanish (Mono). The English mix is solid, with a lot of directional sound effects and voices throughout the film. One scene where Eddie Murphy walks down the neighbourhood street at 2AM, singing the praises of his new love, is delightfully decorated with voices coming at us from all sides demanding that he “SHUT THE @#$@@#$ UP!!!!” The music is present in the surround channels at regular intervals throughout the film, allowing Nile Rodgers score to ride through the film with the viewer in a pleasant but unobtrusive way. This really isn’t a film that makes use of any LFE that I could tell at first viewing. There may have been some subtler effects, particularly with the music, but this is not a movie or a mix about massive atmospheric effects. As a simple romantic comedy, the mix serves the film well – with dialogue sent clearly to the front channels and the effects and other voices distributed throughout all 5 main speakers.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 3/5 :star: :star: :star:
The Blu-Ray presentation of Coming To America includes all of the special features (totaling about an hour and fifteen minutes) to be found on the standard DVD edition, and almost all of them are presented in non-anamorphic standard format. The only exception to this is the theatrical trailer.
Theatrical Trailer (2:46) – This is the only special feature presented in High Definition – 1080p MPEG-2 to be precise. It’s a nice transfer of the trailer, but the MPEG-4 AVC transfer of the feature itself is superior.
Prince-ipal Photography: The Coming Together of America (24:39) – This is a somewhat more detailed look at the making of the film than you might expect. David Sheffield discusses the origins of the script (although he somehow doesn’t mention the Buchwald matter which became a sticking point years later). John Landis discusses his enthusiasm for the movie but also admits that working with Eddie Murphy on this film was a far different idea than working with him on Trading Places five years prior. There is a brief mention of two characters from that film who get a brief but satisfying cameo here. The filmmakers admit that they wanted Sidney Poitier for the role of the King but simply couldn’t afford him on their budget. There is also an explanation of the name of the African country, Zamunda - it's a conversion of the name of Andy Kaufman's former partner from the 70's. Some still photos from the shoot are displayed, which reveal that there are some deleted scenes or shots that have never seen the light of day, even now. (Apparently, several of Murphy and Hall’s additional characters were meant to be seen at the film’s conclusion, but were edited out of that scene in the final cut.) Unfortunately, not a single cast member from the film appears in the featurette, so we do not get to hear any reflections or thoughts from them.
Fit for Akeem: the Costumes of Coming To America (18:05) – This featurette focuses on Deborah Nadoolman (Landis) and the multitude of wardrobe designs she created for the film. Nadoolman primarily focuses on the African aspects of the shoot, from the ocelot and lion pieces used on the Prince and King, to the dancers’ outfits for the royal reception sequence, to the multitude of high-class colourful outfits that needed to be designed to show the upper class of a fictional African nation.
Character Building: The Many Faces of Rick Baker (12:55) – This featurette focuses on frequent Landis collaborator, makeup artist Rick Baker, whose prosthetic pieces helped Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall assume a multitude of additional roles in the film. Baker is justifiably proudest of the character of “Saul”, an idea that was hinted at in an old Murphy film on Saturday Night Live but is realized here in terrific detail. Baker ruefully notes that the studio was so fooled by the various disguises that they asked him to make Murphy and Hall more recognizable as themselves in his final designs.
Composing America: The Musical Talents of Nile Rodgers (11:09) – This is a brief look at the music of the film, intercut with fresh interview footage of Rodgers. The interviews mostly cover Rodgers’ ability to mix classical motifs with traditional African percussion with a more uptempo Jazz or disco style as the Prince goes through the nightclubs of New York.
A Vintage Sit-Down with Eddie and Arsenio (5:38) – This is the ONLY special feature that actually includes any input from the cast. However, this material is from the film’s premiere publicity interviews with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, which were conducted in 1988 before the film’s late June opening. (The DVD says this footage was shot in 1989, but this makes little sense, given that Murphy was in the midst of directing Harlem Nights at the time). Murphy and Hall are interviewed together and generally just have a good time. Hall does most of the talking, although Murphy does mention one incident during filming where he apparently went into a local club and partied for two hours during a long exterior night lighting setup and then brought most of the clubgoers back to the set...
Photo Gallery – This is just a brief series of promotional stills and scene photos from the film. You can go back and forth through the photos using the remote arrows.
IN THE END...
Coming To America is a fun romantic comedy that gets a good 1080p transfer here for the Blu-Ray release. It’s a great opportunity to see Eddie Murphy at the peak of his popularity during the 1980’s, and it’s even more instructive if you have just seen the Blu-Ray release of Trading Places. It's truly a shame that there is no cast participation on this DVD other than a 5 minute archival interview with Murphy and Arsenio Hall, but there is enough interview material with Landis and his creative team to ease the sting a lot. This is a gentle film at its heart, and it will definitely please Eddie Murphy fans – as you get to see him in no less than four roles in one movie.
Kevin Koster
May 30, 2007.
Coming To America
Special Collector’s Edition
Studio: Paramount
Film Year: 1988
Film Length: 116 min
Genre: Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
BD Resolution: 1080p
BD Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC @ over 30MBPS
Colour/B&W: Colour
Audio:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Spanish Dolby Digital Mono
French Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English, English SDH+, French, Spanish
Film Rating: R
Release Date: June 5, 2007
Film Rating: :star: :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley
Story by: Eddie Murphy
Screenplay by: David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein
Directed by: John Landis
Coming to America is a fun comedy, really a romantic comedy once it gets going, that gives us a glimpse into the heyday of Eddie Murphy’s career back in the 80s. The film follows Murphy and Arsenio Hall as an African Prince and his servant who venture to New York in search of a bride. The movie is slow going at first, but picks up once the guys are on the streets of the Big Apple and the pieces fall into place. The prince’s adventures in New York primarily happen in a low-rent area of Queens populated by a score of characters, many of whom are played by Murphy and Hall in various states of prosthetic makeup. In spite of the rough language heard throughout and a few moments of nudity early on, this is actually a fairly sweet film that simply tells the story of Cinderella in reverse. Murphy and Hall have a lot of fun here, but they are at their best when playing the various character roles on the periphery of the film. The film is also a fun place to spot actors who rose to fame shortly afterward, including Samuel L. Jackson, Eriq La Salle and Louie Anderson.
Coming To America was previously released on standard DVD in 1999 in a bare-bones edition. Paramount has now re-issued the film as a Special Collector’s Edition in standard format, as well as well as HD-DVD and the Blu-Ray edition seen for this review. The Blu-Ray edition presents a 1080p transfer, as well as all the special features of the new standard DVD, which are presented in standard definition aside from the theatrical trailer. The new transfer is beautiful to behold, particularly in the African scenes where the art direction and the costumes have colors and textures that are truly lovely. Once the action moves to New York, there’s less for the transfer to do, but the textures are still on display in full detail and in some scenes, the picture is stunning. If you are a fan of Eddie Murphy, you will definitely enjoy this film. If you haven’t seen it before, the Blu-Ray disc is a great place to start.
VIDEO QUALITY: 4.5/5 :star: :star: :star: :star:
Coming to America is presented in a beautiful 1080p MPEG-4 AVC transfer that is full of color, from the accurate flesh tones to the textured costumes on display. One costume in particular benefits from this new transfer. When we are introduced to Shari Headley’s character, she wears a patterned suit jacket with a decorative flower that matches the jacket pattern. With the 1080p transfer, this kind of detail comes through brilliantly. The textures of the various wardrobes are also finely detailed – It is easy to tell the quality of the suits and casual clothes worn by the Prince as opposed to the many civilians he encounters. At the same time, Rick Baker’s heavy prosthetic makeup stands up under the increased resolution and shows more shadings and detail as Murphy and Hall pop up in the various bonus cameos.
One exception to the rule, however, causes me to once again take back half a star, as I did on the Trading Places review. The detail is SO good that the film’s establishing flyover and static shot of the Zamunda Royal Palace makes the palace painting look even more two-dimensional than was clearly intended by John Landis. The point of the shot is that we are looking at a fairy tale palace to suit the fairy tale story, but it is still quite jarring to see an almost cartoon-styled painting in the middle of a real setting. So I have taken back the half-star in complaint. Other than that, the transfer is great. As I have noted, the amount of colors and details to show really drops off once we get to Queens, but there are still some fine details to be seen here and the transfer makes the most of them.
AUDIO QUALITY: 4/5 :star: :star: :star: :star: Coming To America is presented in a 640kbps 5.1 Surround mix in English with lesser mixes in French (2.0) and Spanish (Mono). The English mix is solid, with a lot of directional sound effects and voices throughout the film. One scene where Eddie Murphy walks down the neighbourhood street at 2AM, singing the praises of his new love, is delightfully decorated with voices coming at us from all sides demanding that he “SHUT THE @#$@@#$ UP!!!!” The music is present in the surround channels at regular intervals throughout the film, allowing Nile Rodgers score to ride through the film with the viewer in a pleasant but unobtrusive way. This really isn’t a film that makes use of any LFE that I could tell at first viewing. There may have been some subtler effects, particularly with the music, but this is not a movie or a mix about massive atmospheric effects. As a simple romantic comedy, the mix serves the film well – with dialogue sent clearly to the front channels and the effects and other voices distributed throughout all 5 main speakers.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 3/5 :star: :star: :star:The Blu-Ray presentation of Coming To America includes all of the special features (totaling about an hour and fifteen minutes) to be found on the standard DVD edition, and almost all of them are presented in non-anamorphic standard format. The only exception to this is the theatrical trailer.
Theatrical Trailer (2:46) – This is the only special feature presented in High Definition – 1080p MPEG-2 to be precise. It’s a nice transfer of the trailer, but the MPEG-4 AVC transfer of the feature itself is superior.
Prince-ipal Photography: The Coming Together of America (24:39) – This is a somewhat more detailed look at the making of the film than you might expect. David Sheffield discusses the origins of the script (although he somehow doesn’t mention the Buchwald matter which became a sticking point years later). John Landis discusses his enthusiasm for the movie but also admits that working with Eddie Murphy on this film was a far different idea than working with him on Trading Places five years prior. There is a brief mention of two characters from that film who get a brief but satisfying cameo here. The filmmakers admit that they wanted Sidney Poitier for the role of the King but simply couldn’t afford him on their budget. There is also an explanation of the name of the African country, Zamunda - it's a conversion of the name of Andy Kaufman's former partner from the 70's. Some still photos from the shoot are displayed, which reveal that there are some deleted scenes or shots that have never seen the light of day, even now. (Apparently, several of Murphy and Hall’s additional characters were meant to be seen at the film’s conclusion, but were edited out of that scene in the final cut.) Unfortunately, not a single cast member from the film appears in the featurette, so we do not get to hear any reflections or thoughts from them.
Fit for Akeem: the Costumes of Coming To America (18:05) – This featurette focuses on Deborah Nadoolman (Landis) and the multitude of wardrobe designs she created for the film. Nadoolman primarily focuses on the African aspects of the shoot, from the ocelot and lion pieces used on the Prince and King, to the dancers’ outfits for the royal reception sequence, to the multitude of high-class colourful outfits that needed to be designed to show the upper class of a fictional African nation.
Character Building: The Many Faces of Rick Baker (12:55) – This featurette focuses on frequent Landis collaborator, makeup artist Rick Baker, whose prosthetic pieces helped Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall assume a multitude of additional roles in the film. Baker is justifiably proudest of the character of “Saul”, an idea that was hinted at in an old Murphy film on Saturday Night Live but is realized here in terrific detail. Baker ruefully notes that the studio was so fooled by the various disguises that they asked him to make Murphy and Hall more recognizable as themselves in his final designs.
Composing America: The Musical Talents of Nile Rodgers (11:09) – This is a brief look at the music of the film, intercut with fresh interview footage of Rodgers. The interviews mostly cover Rodgers’ ability to mix classical motifs with traditional African percussion with a more uptempo Jazz or disco style as the Prince goes through the nightclubs of New York.
A Vintage Sit-Down with Eddie and Arsenio (5:38) – This is the ONLY special feature that actually includes any input from the cast. However, this material is from the film’s premiere publicity interviews with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, which were conducted in 1988 before the film’s late June opening. (The DVD says this footage was shot in 1989, but this makes little sense, given that Murphy was in the midst of directing Harlem Nights at the time). Murphy and Hall are interviewed together and generally just have a good time. Hall does most of the talking, although Murphy does mention one incident during filming where he apparently went into a local club and partied for two hours during a long exterior night lighting setup and then brought most of the clubgoers back to the set...
Photo Gallery – This is just a brief series of promotional stills and scene photos from the film. You can go back and forth through the photos using the remote arrows.
IN THE END...
Coming To America is a fun romantic comedy that gets a good 1080p transfer here for the Blu-Ray release. It’s a great opportunity to see Eddie Murphy at the peak of his popularity during the 1980’s, and it’s even more instructive if you have just seen the Blu-Ray release of Trading Places. It's truly a shame that there is no cast participation on this DVD other than a 5 minute archival interview with Murphy and Arsenio Hall, but there is enough interview material with Landis and his creative team to ease the sting a lot. This is a gentle film at its heart, and it will definitely please Eddie Murphy fans – as you get to see him in no less than four roles in one movie.
Kevin Koster
May 30, 2007.
