Kyrsten Brad
Senior HTF Member
OK my overwhelming desire to actually see this movie again which I haven't seen in years finally got the better of me and I purchased the existing DVD release (September 2002) of Disney/Touchstone's Captain Ron (1992). Having been released in the early days of the DVD revolution, the transfer left something to be desired. But I'm doing this write-up in the hopes that someone with clout at Disney/Buena Vista Pictures might read this and would see fit to release a well-produced Blu-ray of Captain Ron.
The Movie: I remember this being one of the most hilarious family adventure tropical vacation themed films from this time period (another from Disney/Touchstone being My Father The Hero (1994) which it does draw some comparisons and is available on Blu).
The subplots of this movie were numerous and just too funny. There is of course the lovely teenage (age 16 I believe) daughter who announces she's engaged which triggers this whole vacation. The first meeting with Captain Ron who arrives (as it turns out) in someone else's jalopy of a car which of course rolls into the ocean after Captain Ron gets out to meet the family. There's Captain Ron's relationship with young Ben who looks up to Captain Ron and admires him even though Captain Ron takes Ben's money in a Monopoly game. I could go on but the folks at Wikipedia did a half decent job so here the Wiki Link to Captain Ron. And then there's the (PG-13) rated shower scene where we do get some nudity ( Mary Kay Place's breasts are briefly visible from above in the shower as is her derrière thru the translucent glass door).
Oh and also look for legendary musician Paul Anka who plays the boat dealer near the end of the film as the Harveys are coming into the port.
Excerpt From Wikipedia: "Martin Harvey (Short) is a middle-aged office worker who lives in the suburbs of Chicago with his wife Katherine (Place), 16-year-old daughter Caroline (Sisto), and 11-year-old son Ben (Salisbury). When he learns his recently deceased uncle has bequeathed him a sailing yacht once owned by Clark Gable, he decides to take his family to the island of Ste. Pomme de Terre ("Saint Potato" literately "Apple of Earth") to retrieve the yacht so he can sell it. Katherine resists the idea, but agrees after Caroline announces she has just gotten engaged to an uncouth young man.
When the Harveys arrive at the island, they discover that the yacht, the Wanderer, is in terrible condition. Upon hearing this, the yacht broker cancels his plan to send an experienced captain to help them sail to Miami, and instead hires a local sailor, Captain Ron Rico (Russell), a one-eyed man with a very laid back attitude, and Navy veteran who claims to have piloted the USS Saratoga. He initially plans to inspect the yacht before setting sail, but launches immediately when he discovers the car he arrived in has rolled off the dock and sank. As the yacht moves out to sea, the car's owner arrives at the dock and shouts "You stole my wife, but you are not stealing my car!!", and tries to shoot Captain Ron.
We learn that Captain Ron is different from anything they have ever experienced. He has no problem taking Ben's money in a game of Monopoly, giving him beers to drink, and then charging him for them later, but shows a surprising loyalty to Martin, who he only refers to as "Boss". Martin, however, doesn't like him, "Moron", as he calls him in his diary, and believes that he doesn't know what he's doing."
Technical Aspects: Being a release from the earlier days of DVD, it becomes quite apparent that the transfer was probably one originally done for VHS. This DVD shows up on modern HDTV in letterbox format and in apparent 480i/480p at best resolution. You can use the zoom feature on your HDTV to fill the screen but PQ tends to suffer quite a bit with these early DVD transfers.
From IMDB:
Runtime
1 hr 30 min (90 min)
1 hr 36 min (96 min) (Argentina)
Sound Mix
Dolby
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio
1.85 : 1
Camera
Panaflex Camera and Lenses by Panavision
Laboratory
Continental Film Laboratories, Miami (FL), USA
Technicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA (prints)
Negative Format
35 mm (Eastman)
Cinematographic Process
Spherical
Printed Film Format
35 mm (Eastman 5384)
Summary: A wonderful fun film which unfortunately still has not seen a Blu-ray transfer (like too many of Disney's live-action films) as the Caribbean locales would look wonderful with a 4K transfer. Oh and I have send a letter to the folks at Disney Movie Club requesting a 4K transfer Blu-ray release of this film. Odd thought that My Father, The Hero got a very nice Blu-ray release (probably because of a teenage (age 16) Katherine Heigl appearing in the film) but we're still waiting for Captain Ron.
The Movie: I remember this being one of the most hilarious family adventure tropical vacation themed films from this time period (another from Disney/Touchstone being My Father The Hero (1994) which it does draw some comparisons and is available on Blu).
The subplots of this movie were numerous and just too funny. There is of course the lovely teenage (age 16 I believe) daughter who announces she's engaged which triggers this whole vacation. The first meeting with Captain Ron who arrives (as it turns out) in someone else's jalopy of a car which of course rolls into the ocean after Captain Ron gets out to meet the family. There's Captain Ron's relationship with young Ben who looks up to Captain Ron and admires him even though Captain Ron takes Ben's money in a Monopoly game. I could go on but the folks at Wikipedia did a half decent job so here the Wiki Link to Captain Ron. And then there's the (PG-13) rated shower scene where we do get some nudity ( Mary Kay Place's breasts are briefly visible from above in the shower as is her derrière thru the translucent glass door).
Oh and also look for legendary musician Paul Anka who plays the boat dealer near the end of the film as the Harveys are coming into the port.
Excerpt From Wikipedia: "Martin Harvey (Short) is a middle-aged office worker who lives in the suburbs of Chicago with his wife Katherine (Place), 16-year-old daughter Caroline (Sisto), and 11-year-old son Ben (Salisbury). When he learns his recently deceased uncle has bequeathed him a sailing yacht once owned by Clark Gable, he decides to take his family to the island of Ste. Pomme de Terre ("Saint Potato" literately "Apple of Earth") to retrieve the yacht so he can sell it. Katherine resists the idea, but agrees after Caroline announces she has just gotten engaged to an uncouth young man.
When the Harveys arrive at the island, they discover that the yacht, the Wanderer, is in terrible condition. Upon hearing this, the yacht broker cancels his plan to send an experienced captain to help them sail to Miami, and instead hires a local sailor, Captain Ron Rico (Russell), a one-eyed man with a very laid back attitude, and Navy veteran who claims to have piloted the USS Saratoga. He initially plans to inspect the yacht before setting sail, but launches immediately when he discovers the car he arrived in has rolled off the dock and sank. As the yacht moves out to sea, the car's owner arrives at the dock and shouts "You stole my wife, but you are not stealing my car!!", and tries to shoot Captain Ron.
We learn that Captain Ron is different from anything they have ever experienced. He has no problem taking Ben's money in a game of Monopoly, giving him beers to drink, and then charging him for them later, but shows a surprising loyalty to Martin, who he only refers to as "Boss". Martin, however, doesn't like him, "Moron", as he calls him in his diary, and believes that he doesn't know what he's doing."
Technical Aspects: Being a release from the earlier days of DVD, it becomes quite apparent that the transfer was probably one originally done for VHS. This DVD shows up on modern HDTV in letterbox format and in apparent 480i/480p at best resolution. You can use the zoom feature on your HDTV to fill the screen but PQ tends to suffer quite a bit with these early DVD transfers.
From IMDB:
Runtime
1 hr 30 min (90 min)
1 hr 36 min (96 min) (Argentina)
Sound Mix
Dolby
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio
1.85 : 1
Camera
Panaflex Camera and Lenses by Panavision
Laboratory
Continental Film Laboratories, Miami (FL), USA
Technicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA (prints)
Negative Format
35 mm (Eastman)
Cinematographic Process
Spherical
Printed Film Format
35 mm (Eastman 5384)
Summary: A wonderful fun film which unfortunately still has not seen a Blu-ray transfer (like too many of Disney's live-action films) as the Caribbean locales would look wonderful with a 4K transfer. Oh and I have send a letter to the folks at Disney Movie Club requesting a 4K transfer Blu-ray release of this film. Odd thought that My Father, The Hero got a very nice Blu-ray release (probably because of a teenage (age 16) Katherine Heigl appearing in the film) but we're still waiting for Captain Ron.
