Grumpy Old Men/Grumpier Old Men (Comedy Double Feature) [Blu-ray]

COMEDY DOUBLE FEATURE

GRUMPY OLD MEN
 GRUMPIER OLD MEN

Studio: Warner Bros
Film Years: 1993, 1995
Film Length: 103mins, 101mins
Genre: Comedy

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Colour/B&W: Colour

BD Specifications: 1080/24p

Gumpy Old Men Audio

Grumpier Old Men Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio English 5.1
French Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Espanol Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Subtitles:

English SDH, Francais, Espanol

Release Date: February 23, 2010.

Who says it’s no fun getting old?  Old friends John and Max (Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) have enough time on their hands to jab daily insults at each other.  The day isn’t long enough for these widowers, an exchange of words while trying to get some good ice fishing in living in their little Minnesota community.  Their grouchy relationship gets even pettier once the attractive widow Ariel moves in across the street (Ann Margret) and the two men find themselves fighting for her time.  Grumpy Old Men is a hilarious portrayal of the life beyond retirement when time slows down along with our hearts.

Grumpier Old Men is the sequel that brings back most of the cast including the men’s kids played by Daryl Hannah and Kevin Pollak, John’s dad Burgess Meredith, and new to the cast is Sophia Loren as Maria Sophia Coletta Ragetti who plays Max’s new life interest in more ways than one – she’s gonna turn the bait shop into a restaurant!  With the same writer but under new direction, the movie cracks out similar jokes as the first with a slightly different overall feel.

This is the first time these films have been released on Blu-ray and Warner Bros. has chosen to make them part of their double feature lineup.  I’ll agree with this decision.  Movies on blu-ray discs have become so laced with special features that a bare-bones release seems contrastingly stark.  This set is also upgrade worthy over the previous DVDs because much like Spies Like Us and Funny Farm, it’s the first time available in their original theatrical ratio.

PICTURE QUALITY: GRUMPY OLD MEN 3.5/5 

PICTURE QUALITY: GRUMPIER OLD MEN 4/5 

I don’t own the DVDs, but these must be new widescreen masters of the films.  Grumpy Old Men look does look slightly older than the other, but both have excellent image quality.  Resolution is excellent; never once did I feel like I was missing out on any details.  The colour choices for this HD release look very good as it doesn’t seem to stress anything out of the ordinary.  The winter gray skies of the first film cast the overcast colour tone across the whole image and contrasts to the warmth of summer when casting a fishing line out on the water in the second film.  Black levels are good, white level doesn’t peak, and I’m a happy viewer.  The aspect ratio is 1.85:1.

SOUND QUALITY: GRUMPY OLD MEN 3/5 

SOUND QUALITY: GRUMPIER OLD MEN 3.5/5 

Like Spies Like Us and Funny Farm, Grumpy Old Men’s 2.0 surround soundtrack is available in LOSSLESS AUDIO via DTS encoding/decoding.  This was virtually unheard of in the past, but it’s great to see the soundtrack not subject to lossy audio just because it didn’t originate as 5.1.  In this instance your receiver will default to your matrix surround encoder to split the sound up.  Using Pro-Logic IIx in my Integra DTC-9.8 to split everything up, the soundtrack is heavy up front with mostly music being sent to the surrounds.  The DTS HD-MA 5.1 soundtrack on the sequel is also of the same caliber but with more distinct separation across the front soundstage and in the surrounds.  This allows dialogue to be just a bit more intelligible and the whole soundtrack deliver more air and space to the listening room.

SPECIAL FEATURES: ZERO/5

Not a single special feature on this disc, unless you consider the “double feature” status of this disc a special.

IN THE END…

While I don’t want to use this word, these movies are “sweet” as we remember Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau’s career.  They are charming and funny and remind us of the fun we can have in our life before it ends, because the end is inevitable.  Dump the pan & scan DVDs and pick up these films with new HD transfers.  The only grumpy old men will be the ones who don’t upgrade.

Michael Osadciw
10.02.28
GO CANADA!