DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Office Space - Special Edition With Flair! (1 Viewer)

[DaViD Boulet]

Agreed.

It's rare that film has such an impact on me that I keep thinking about it...and wanting to rewatch it. Who would have thunk...but Office Space made the list. I can't wait to watch it again with a group of like-minded friends.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Great review Michael! I too am very disappointed in the loss of those special features, but at least the quality of the video is improved.


Amen Bros Dave

This film is a pure joy to watch, but even better with a group of fans!

The film was shot here in Austin, and is a huge cult classic around these parts at least. It truly captured the physical and psychological environment brought on by all the hundreds of hi-tech start-ups and their inorganic cubicle office spaces and middle management mentality. A great deal has changed here in Austin (for the better), and so this film has also become somewhat of a time capsule for Austinites familiar with the dot.boom/bust that was happening around the time the film was made and then released.

In fact, I am currently trying to organize a big 'Office Space' charity event. While I was not able to lease out the use of the actual building used in the movie, I did secure the use of a nearly identical one. Each attendee will get a goody bag with plenty of 'flair', and free raffles for various items from the movie. There will be several printers and bats (and goggles) available for those wishing to release their inner demons (and who sign an injury waiver form).

Music will be from a DJ playing all the songs from the film and the catering will be from TGIF of course, which was unceremoniously spoofed in the film.

Naturally, I'll have the film running in at least one of the large conference rooms. There is even a good possibility a couple surprise guests from the film will be there, but wont know for sure until all the details and date gets worked out.

Once everything is set, I'll send you a TPS Report on it!

 

[Shane Martin]

I agree with Michael and David, the PQ is VERY good and a prime reason to rebuy this since it was released non-anamorphically last time.

David,
I would guess if you rule out Warner all together, 99% of what we get in DD 5.1 is 448. If you put Warner in play, then that # is probably in the 85-90% but that's a guess at best.

As we always said in DTS vs DD arguements, it's in the mix! LD 5.1 is a key example of this.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Wow, the image was amazing compared to the last release. For me, that alone was worth it. I'm dissapointed about the the Milton shorts and commentary being dropped, but considering what I've read concerning "Beavis and Butthead" and Mike Judge, it's not entirely surprising. In any case, it doesn't mean I'm not enjoying this release.

 

[Dan Buckley]

Same thing happened to me. I just exchaned it for another one at the store. Still a bit of a pain.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

I thought this was a complete cop out by Fox. They know we've been waiting for a SE of this film... and they give us this???

You guys are a little too kind in your reviews. I would only give the transfer a C+ at best. There was some slight frame judder, EE and filtering, and there were small bits of dirt and scratches in some areas-- not a lot, but this is a fairly new movie and it should be from a pristine source! I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Judge and/or the DP weren't even consulted on this transfer.

The mix was uninspiring. The inspired songs could have at least been remixed totally to 5.1 discrete in order to enhance the "work sucks" vibe throughout the film. Kick it up a notch, so to speak. Heck, Mi Casa Studios was able to do discrete surround music for at least one classic James Bond movie... you'd think Fox could do something like this for a newer film like Office Space!

My only other question is this: was this film Super35 and should it have been transferred at 2.35:1?

Boo! to you Fox! You had plenty of time to do this right.

Dan

 

[TravisR]

In theory, since it's Super 35 you could have shown it at 2.35 but it would be the wrong aspect ratio since it was composed for 1.85.

 

[Corey_Smith]

Anyone notice a problem in the audio of Office Space SE? At about 57:45, there's a loud audio blip as it switches scenes. It's the scene just before Peter explains the virus for Joanna. I assume it could be a layer change. I have a Sony DVP NC80V

Thanks.

Corey

 

[Shane Martin]

I have the same player and didn't notice a thing. I know when I see a layer change because I see my blue light on the old Sony ES receiver blink off and on.

 

[Scott Temple]

Office Space and The Big Lebowski are two of the best comedies ever produced.

I'm a little disappointed, but overall satisfied with the new Office Space DVD. The most important reason I wanted it rereleased was for a 16x9 transfer. 20th Century Fox delivered on that. But, because this is a Special Edition (with flair, no less) I sort of expect more than just a 27 minute featurette and eight (very short) deleted scenes. If Mike Judge didn't want to record a commentary couldn't they have gotten a few or even just one of the cast members to record one? The Milton shorts would have been a very nice addition and I'm a little bit disheartened to learn that there are more deleted scenes that aren't on this new disc because supposedly, they couldn't be found. I bet the outtakes are hilarious. Too bad more wasn't included.

There are so many funny bits in this film.

"What, what would you say, you do here?"
"Well, look. I already told you. I deal with the goddamned customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills. I am good at dealing with people. Why can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?!"

And the bit where Milton kept mumbling to himself, "I could set the building on fire." everytime after someone pissed him off, had me in stiches. The second time I heard that I knew that damn building was going up in flames by the end of the movie.

"The cake. There's lots of cake, but there are many people. The ratio of people to cake is too high. I could set the building on fire."

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Make sure you use the new cover sheets.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Know what cracked me up?

Right in the beginning of the movie where
the white guy had his radio blaring rapping
along to the music until the black guys appear.

I have done stuff like that under similar
circumstances while in my car. It was easy
to relate to and highly laughable!

 

[CraigF]

^ What I liked about that scene: he was sort of pretending to be a black guy by rapping along, but when a real one appeared he locked his car...says a lot.

Edit: so many good scenes and lines in this movie. Somehow, my favorite line was (to paraphrase) "you either take someone down, or someone makes you their bitch"...being delivered by a large man to two scrawny guys about surviving in a "federal ass-pounder".

 

[ChrisWiggles]

He's not out to lunch, but it's a very misleading number. You lose a LOT when you move from RGB to subsampled 8-bit YCbCr, but much of that is not relevant or important color information. Still, there can be some differences with HD YCbCr compared to film. However, with a much bigget pipeline as in D-cinema and beyond, it can be done right.

As for the audio, I don't really understand your point, if you are referring to what's heard during the mixing, perhaps, but the film isn't running a PCM soundtrack or anything like that, it's just DD or DTS, so the loss has already occurred by the time you hear the film in the the theater. The only way you'd be able to hear the original is if you were in the mixing booth.

So, don't make broad sweeping statements about DVD unless you understand what that means, and I don't see how that's relevant to a specific DVD. All SD sources are going to be limited of course. More relevant is how this DVD actually looks w/regard to what DVD can provide which is understandably limited.

regards,
chris

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

Did anyone else get the Best Buy gift set? I was sort of disappointed with it, but maybe I am expecting too much for an extra $6. The stapler is small and cheap, and it is not even a Swingline. The coffee mug is OK, except that the graphics on the side are a bit over done. One side is the "Office Space Special Edition With Flair" logo, and the other side has a picture of Lumberg. I would have preferred a mug with the Initech logo on it.

I did manage to find a package deal that includes the real Swingline stapler and some Initech stuff:

http://www.techcomedy.com/www.redswi...ow_product.php