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Johnny Dangerously
Studio: Fox
Year: 1984
Rated: PG-13
Film Length: 90 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
This is fargin' war!"
You fargin' bastages on Home Theater Forum should
be grateful. You worked so fargin' hard to campaign
against those iceholes at Fox Home Video to stop
the bullshty and release Johnny Dangerously
to DVD. Well, the corcksuckers finally came through
and thanks to the membership of this fargin' forum,
the DVD is finally here.
It's easy to see why members of this forum campaigned
so hard to get Johnny Dangerously released --
it's a zany comedy that spoofs the great gangster
pictures of the twenties and thirties, with as much
gags as there are bullet holes.
Things never were easy for Johnny (Michael Keaton/
Byron Thames) -- what with his mother (Maureen
Stapleton) needing an operation and a neighborhood
bully muscling in on his newspaper corner -- times
are getting pretty tough. Befriended by kindly mob
boss Jock Dundee(Peter Boyle), Johnny Malone, under
the pseudonym of the title, is becoming a wealthy
and important figure in the crime rackets.
Johnny is the up and coming choice for local New
York mob boss of the Dundee gang, who're at war
with the Murone gang, led by that fargin' icehole
cork-sucker bastage, Roman Murone (Richard Dimitri),
who completely butchers the English language.
Then there's Danny Vermin (Joe Piscopo), Johnny's
old street corner rival, who ain't too happy that
Johnny is running the crime family and sets to
oust him in any diabolical fashion including
framing him for the murder of the Crime Commissioner
But you know things are really tough when Johnny's
little brother Tommy Kelly (Griffin Dunne) goes to
law school to become the District Attorney, vowing
to put all the crime folks away. Little does he
know that his big brother is Johnny Dangerously.
Perhaps the shady District Attorney (Danny Devito)
can change Tommy's mind by stuffing his pockets.
How is the transfer?
One of the biggest concerns I have with catalog
comedy titles on DVD is that the studios really
don't go out of their way to clean up the source
material. I suppose you really can't blame them,
as such cost and effort and should naturally take
priority with other types of titles.
But upon watching Johnny Dangerously, I
was surprised to find just how tremendous this
film looked. Fox has given this film a 4-star
transfer. I don't know if this film went through
any type of restoration or not, but I am sold on
its very clean transfer that shows no blemishes
and absolutely no grain. Even the darker interior
scenes remain detailed and smooth with no graininess.
Colors are dead-on accurate with deep blacks that
can be found in the gang's pinstripe suits or the
vibrant reds of the dames' dresses or even Tommy's
sweater. Take a look at Johnny as he dodges a street
corner of assassins and you'll be amazed by how
white his suit is. It's not dirty white caused
by film impurities -- it's white that's clean and
bold. It's so nice to see a comedy catalog title
look so wonderful compared to some of the other
like titles of this period recently released to DVD.
The mono soundtrack sounds very strong and clear
with no audible background hiss.
Special Features
One must give kudos to the Production team over
at Fox who really got into the spirit of this movie
and gave us one of the funniest menu screens I
have ever seen. In fact, as the menu first appeared,
I was drinking a soda and nearly spit it out in
laughter.
Essentially, this DVD is bare-boned, though after
seeing how good the transfer is, I have no complaints.
In addition to the film's original theatrical
trailer, we get trailers for Hot Shots!; Hot
Shots! Part Deux; Freddy Got Fingered; Office Space;
Dude, Where's My Car?; Mrs. Doubtfire and There's
Something About Mary.
Final Thoughts
Johnny Dangerously has the same tongue in
cheek humor as most Zucker Abrahams comedies, though
I must admit that the film was far funnier when I
watched it 18 years younger. Rewatching it again
after all this time just didn't have the same impact,
but nevertheless, still managed to bring a few
chuckles to light.
Fox has given more attention to this transfer that
I expected a second-rate catalog title to receive.
For those members of this forum that have been so
patient for this film's release, you are not going
to be disappointed. After all, I was disappointed
once.....ONCE.
Release Date: August 27, 2002
Johnny Dangerously
Studio: Fox
Year: 1984
Rated: PG-13
Film Length: 90 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
This is fargin' war!"
You fargin' bastages on Home Theater Forum should
be grateful. You worked so fargin' hard to campaign
against those iceholes at Fox Home Video to stop
the bullshty and release Johnny Dangerously
to DVD. Well, the corcksuckers finally came through
and thanks to the membership of this fargin' forum,
the DVD is finally here.
It's easy to see why members of this forum campaigned
so hard to get Johnny Dangerously released --
it's a zany comedy that spoofs the great gangster
pictures of the twenties and thirties, with as much
gags as there are bullet holes.
Things never were easy for Johnny (Michael Keaton/
Byron Thames) -- what with his mother (Maureen
Stapleton) needing an operation and a neighborhood
bully muscling in on his newspaper corner -- times
are getting pretty tough. Befriended by kindly mob
boss Jock Dundee(Peter Boyle), Johnny Malone, under
the pseudonym of the title, is becoming a wealthy
and important figure in the crime rackets.
Johnny is the up and coming choice for local New
York mob boss of the Dundee gang, who're at war
with the Murone gang, led by that fargin' icehole
cork-sucker bastage, Roman Murone (Richard Dimitri),
who completely butchers the English language.
Then there's Danny Vermin (Joe Piscopo), Johnny's
old street corner rival, who ain't too happy that
Johnny is running the crime family and sets to
oust him in any diabolical fashion including
framing him for the murder of the Crime Commissioner
But you know things are really tough when Johnny's
little brother Tommy Kelly (Griffin Dunne) goes to
law school to become the District Attorney, vowing
to put all the crime folks away. Little does he
know that his big brother is Johnny Dangerously.
Perhaps the shady District Attorney (Danny Devito)
can change Tommy's mind by stuffing his pockets.
How is the transfer?
One of the biggest concerns I have with catalog
comedy titles on DVD is that the studios really
don't go out of their way to clean up the source
material. I suppose you really can't blame them,
as such cost and effort and should naturally take
priority with other types of titles.
But upon watching Johnny Dangerously, I
was surprised to find just how tremendous this
film looked. Fox has given this film a 4-star
transfer. I don't know if this film went through
any type of restoration or not, but I am sold on
its very clean transfer that shows no blemishes
and absolutely no grain. Even the darker interior
scenes remain detailed and smooth with no graininess.
Colors are dead-on accurate with deep blacks that
can be found in the gang's pinstripe suits or the
vibrant reds of the dames' dresses or even Tommy's
sweater. Take a look at Johnny as he dodges a street
corner of assassins and you'll be amazed by how
white his suit is. It's not dirty white caused
by film impurities -- it's white that's clean and
bold. It's so nice to see a comedy catalog title
look so wonderful compared to some of the other
like titles of this period recently released to DVD.
The mono soundtrack sounds very strong and clear
with no audible background hiss.
Special Features
One must give kudos to the Production team over
at Fox who really got into the spirit of this movie
and gave us one of the funniest menu screens I
have ever seen. In fact, as the menu first appeared,
I was drinking a soda and nearly spit it out in
laughter.
Essentially, this DVD is bare-boned, though after
seeing how good the transfer is, I have no complaints.
In addition to the film's original theatrical
trailer, we get trailers for Hot Shots!; Hot
Shots! Part Deux; Freddy Got Fingered; Office Space;
Dude, Where's My Car?; Mrs. Doubtfire and There's
Something About Mary.
Final Thoughts
Johnny Dangerously has the same tongue in
cheek humor as most Zucker Abrahams comedies, though
I must admit that the film was far funnier when I
watched it 18 years younger. Rewatching it again
after all this time just didn't have the same impact,
but nevertheless, still managed to bring a few
chuckles to light.
Fox has given more attention to this transfer that
I expected a second-rate catalog title to receive.
For those members of this forum that have been so
patient for this film's release, you are not going
to be disappointed. After all, I was disappointed
once.....ONCE.
Release Date: August 27, 2002
