HTF REVIEW: The Animal - Uncut (1 Viewer)

THE ANIMAL
UNCUT





Studio: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
Year: 2001

US Rating: Unrated
Canadian Rating: 14A

Film Length: 84 minutes
Genre: Comedy

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: English & French
Closed Captioned: Yes






Release Date: February 3, 2004


Movie Rating :star: :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

Rob Schneider plays Marvin, an evidence clerk at a police station who dreams of becoming a real policeman one day – that is if he can ever pass the agility test. After many failed attempts, he finally has the opportunity to shine when he answers an emergency call at the police station when there are no policemen available. An accident occurs on the way to the scene that leaves Marvin trapped in his car twisted, and nowhere to go.

After a series of freaky animal images while unconscious, Marvin gets himself together and finds his way back home. But things don’t seem normal anymore as he seems to have more strength then before. He seems to think its come from the “Badger Milk” he bought from a TV add – something that was designed to increase strength. But strength is more than what he acquires when his animal instincts become public in a big way and increases his rank within the police force. While not everyone can tolerate Marvin’s new act, his newfound friend Rianna (Colleen Haskell) can because of her love for animals. Marvin finds out he was a part of a mad scientist’s experiment that put him together with animal parts to survive, and he will have to tell her the truth about his animal abilities while at the same time try to evade the raving mad public out to get Marvin for assaults he doesn’t believe he committed.

The Animal is being re-released in an uncut version not seen before. It’s sexier and it’s longer…well, by about a minute I gather. I’ve never seen the original version in comparison to this one but based on an alternate scene I’ve seen in the trailers and featurettes there is a nudity scene with the “Badger Milk” commercial. The rest of the deleted scenes seem to have stayed on the cutting room floor, and surprisingly many more scenes are found in the rest of the special features as quick clips and are not included in the deleted scenes menu. If you’re quick you’ll be able to catch them. If there are any other small snippets in the film others are able to describe, feel free to post it here on this thread. Aside from the additional scene(s), this movie is a hoot. It’s a movie people have slammed or loved because of its mindless humor. It depends on your cup of tea. With a team like Rob Schneider (with an excellent performance), Adam Sandler, and Tom Brady producing and writing, what would you expect?


Video Quality? :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2 / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

The picture is very pleasing on this 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced image. It is free from noise and grain, as well as edge enhancement. I enjoyed all aspects of image quality from the deep black levels to the balanced colours and accurate flesh tones. Honestly, there was nothing distracting in this image at all. If I were to nitpick, I would say some scenes seemed a little softer than others, but marginally so. You will be pleased with the quality of this release.


Audio Quality? :star: :star: :star: 1/2 / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

The audio tells a different story regarding quality. The main channels are most active in this Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding, while the surrounds are used for subtle ambient effects. There are only some instances of aggressive 5.1 uses like during the P.O.V. sequences that utilize all channels including the LFE. Otherwise, the rock music soundtrack is the only loud aspect of this movie, but many times its mixing amongst other sounds is variable in volume. Offspring’s Original Prankster has a very noticeable ‘rise in volume’ for no apparent reason other than what seemed as messy work (someone slowly turning the volume up during recording). Up and down volume with the music is common through this movie and I found it annoying if anything.


Special Features? :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

The list of features is virtually the same to what was included in the release in 10/01. A director’s commentary as well as a Rob Schneider commentary is included on this disc, as well as non-enhanced widescreen deleted scenes totaling about two minutes total. They are quick trims and none of them add anything important to the film.

Comedy Central’s Reel Comedy Featurette is still included. Its video quality looks great in 4:3, and features Rob Schneider and Colleen Haskell for 21 minutes giving a very basic discussion of this film as it was released in theaters. There isn’t anything important in this featurette as a lot of it features clips from the movie and was used to get people to the theaters. There is also a making-of featurette that gets behind the scenes for about eight minutes. Being so brief, it just offers a basic outlook behind the scenes featuring mostly director Luke Greenfield and Colleen Haskill.

”What’s In Marvin” Game is also probably the same game in the previous release. Use your buttons on your remote to highlight an animal and see a deleted scene in the film of the Doctor talking to Marvin in his lab about the animals used in him, and then see the clip in the film when Marvin acts like that animal.

Bonus trailers (including a DD5.1 16:9 trailer for this film) are included, as well as a chapter selection card inside the case. There are no DVD-ROM features.


Thoughts…

I enjoyed this movie although from talking to many people about it, it seems to have mixed reviews. The presentation of the audio and video are fine, but not stellar. If you own the original release, I can’t justify the purchase for this new version for the extra little bit added into this film. If you haven’t seen this movie before I do recommend looking at it because you may find it hysterically funny. Naturally I’ll point you in the direction of this uncut version for its (assumed) completed vision.

Michael Osadciw
04.02.01