DVD Review HTF Review: Airplane: "Don't Call Me Shirley!" Edition (2 Viewers)

[PatWahlquist]

Adressing a couple points in the above posts:

As far as I could tell, the ZAZ commentaries between this new release and the old one are the exact same.

For the Long Haulin' Version, the TA logo pops up and then just goes right into the interviews. It seems kind of pointless to even have a TA logo when it serves no more purpose than to warn you a break is coming up.


They kinda address this in one of the commentaries, that the deleted scenes just aren't that funny, so they cut them. They also said when they were doing test screenings prior to the original release, if the audience didn't laugh to a gag, it was cut.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You know what?

In all fairness to Paramount, I'll accept
that argument. If this is the case then I
owe an apology to the studio for my remarks.

 

[george kaplan]

Not necessarily. It's one thing for the studio not to provide an extended version. It's another thing for them to make deleted scenes and other extras unavailable except by having to watch the whole film again. And the fact that the picture quality isn't improved is also a

While deleted scenes are one of the few reasons why I upgrade my dvds, I'm going to pass if I can't access them in a reasonable fashion. It saves me some money, but it's a major disappointment. I saw this out a week early at Costco, and I am so glad I resisted the urge to pick it up.

 

[WillG]

Don't worry, they would not have let you have it anyway. Sometimes Costco puts stuff out early but street dates are loaded in their system and the DVD won't scan at the register until street. Anyway, did they have a good price on it. Maybe I'll pick it up, but only if I can find it real cheap.

 

[george kaplan]

I don't recall the price exactly, I think it was $12 or $11. One of the reasons I waited was to see if there would be a better price. It looks like it's probably a bit cheaper than Best Buy, but not a whole lot.

 

[Bob clamer]

Best Buy & Circuit City have it for $12.99.

 

[Patrick McCart]

If the transfer is the same, it surely (Shirley?) doesn't deserve a 2/5 rating.

It's a little soft and dull, but it was shot like that on purpose. Compression is excellent and it doesn't look like any digital tampering was applied. No edge enhancement at all. The opticals (dissolves, titles) are grainier, but they're always going to look like that. Detail, while the image looks a little soft, is really nice. In close-ups, you can see lots of facial details. Textures of jackets and walls are finely detailed, too.

Compared to the awful Top Secret transfer, it's terrific.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I just watched this new DVD edition.

As one of the biggest complainers in this thread
regarding the way this Don't Call Me Shirley
edition was assembled, please allow me to change my
opinion.

I spent a good portion of my day watching this new
DVD release. I say good portion because watching this
long haul version takes up quite a bit of one's
time as there is a lot of interview footage intertwined
with the original 87 minute film.

To be honest, I dreaded watching Airplane again.
I did not want to see this DVD for the mere fact that
I have watched the film dozens of times since its release
and I know every bit of dialogue by heart.

With all that in mind, I must say that watching this
DVD was a highly enjoyable experience. Here's why....

I am a HUGE fan of Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker.
I have been greatly in tune with their humor since
Kentucky Fried Movie right through Top Secret
and The Naked Gun films. Nobody can make funnier
movies than these guys, and it's the type of humor that
I so easily connect with.

Now...

While watching the Long Haul Version, a TA
logo appears on the screen dozens of times throughout
the film during key sequences. You are then "branched"
out to interview footage, or in a few cases, deleted
scenes.

I can't begin to tell you how entertaining and
informative this was. First of all, I could sit and
listen to Abrahams and the Zuckers for days. It's
a real hoot watching these men recollect their
experiences making this film. These guys are funny!

What I found most startling was the goofs that
were never taken out of the film and that nobody ever
caught -- until now.

As many times as I have watched Airplane, I
never caught the most obvious gag flaw in the Saturday
Night Fever dance spoof sequence. It involves a
quick switch between a stuntman doing a backflip and
the exchange of Robert Hayes springboarding back on
the dancefloor. Nobody watching that film all these
years bothered to shift their eyes away from the center
of the action over to the corner of the screen where
you could clearly see Robert Hayes crouching in
the crowd, readying to replace his double.

When I saw this flub I was amazed!

There are also other flubs pointed out that include
a soundstage guy laying cable amongst airport action
and a man in the background of the plane whose beard
was supposed to fly off during a key sequence but
never did.

....and for all these years I always questioned the
offscreen laugh that takes place when Peter Graves
answers the "white phone." Sure enough, there is an
explanation given for it.

You can sort of tell that I really enjoyed watching
this Long Haul Version. In a way, I now
understand why the decision was made not to include
the interviews and deleted scenes in a separate area.
By watching it almost incorporated into the film, you
get the information you need at the appropriate time
so, for example, you can easily reference the goof-ups
on the spot.

For all of you who made the decision not to buy this
DVD for the way it was assembled, I am now going to
urge you to reconsider. Without a doubt, I think the
Don't Call Me Shirley Long Haul Version
presents Airplane in a manner you have never
seen it before.

Look forward to your comments.

PS: By the way, I could not find the deleted "Hi Jack"
(hijaak) scene that was shown on television. Is it
included here?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yup! I think it's early in the flick, though I don't recall for sure...

 

[Matt Butler]

Ron,
The "Hi Jack" scene is in the very beginning of the Long Haul version. Its the second or third break either right before or after the David Leisure interview.

I was kinda annoyed at the breaks in the Long Haul version but as Ron said it is VERY informative and fun if you are a fan of Airplane!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'd not advise that anyone try to actually watch the movie via the "Long Haul" thing - with 60 breaks, there's no way to enjoy it. View it as a supplement only...

 

[Dale MA]

I received this as a Christmas gift & have scanned through bits of the Long Haul version of the film (with intentions to watch the complete Long Haul version soon) & I echo Ron's statement, it's actually a rather fun way of doing things, I also LOVE the menu on the disc, very inventive

 

[Michael Allred]

Completely disagree. Imagine if every studio forced you to watch a movie just to watch the supplements. It's just a bad idea.

Paramount?

 

[BrandonJF]

Not if the supplements refer specifically to the part of the movie they are watched with.

Think of it as one long documentary. Typically, these DVD supplements are filled with clips from the movie, followed by talking heads. What's the difference here? Given how many supplement breaks there are throughout the movie, you watch a "clip" then watch the supplement that it pertains to. Otherwise, if they slid these off to the side, you're gonna need something to setup the context anyway.

I don't see it as a problem if it's done well.

 

[TonyD]

i have it on order but this is a bad precendent.
what reason could there be for not allowing the sups to be viewed out of the movie?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I think all branching features should be presented so that you can watch them with the movie if desired but also check them out SEPARATELY if desired. Put them elsewhere with a "Play All" function. Best of both worlds...

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Guys,

As I said...

I was totally against the way Paramount put this
DVD together before viewing it --- but after viewing
it, I sort of agree that it was a good decision.

With most films this sort of branching would NOT
work. Here it DOES simply for the fact that the
interviews and deleted scenes are inserted exactly
at the points they need to be and allow you to go
back and review a few minutes of the movie footage
on the spot.

That being said, it would have been nice if Paramount
allowed access to the material separately.

Guys, it works very well here. I am certain this is
not going to be standard practice for future releases.

 

[george kaplan]

I still have a problem with this. It might work great as a feature length documentary, but the next time you watch the film, wouldn't it be nice to be able to spend 20 minutes enjoying the deleted scenes, without having to watch a 2 hour documentary with everything you just saw included in it? If it had been viewable with or without the rest of the film, that would be fine, but to do it only with the rest of the film still gets a from me. And more importantly, why put out a new version and not improve the picture quality? Still a non double-dip for me.