HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Rush Hour (1 Viewer)

[Citizen87645]

Rush Hour
Release Date: Available now
Studio: Warner Home Video
Packaging/Materials: Single-disc Blu-ray "ECO-BOX"
Year: 1998
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1:38:00
MSRP: $24.98







THE FEATURE

SPECIAL FEATURES



Video

1080p high definition 16x9 2.40:1

Standard definition



Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio: English 7.1 / Dolby Digital: German 5.1, Italian 5.1, Castillian 5.1, Spanish 2.0, Czech 2.0, Hungarian 2.0, Thai 5.1

Stereo



Subtitles

English SDH, German SDH, Italian SDH, Castellano, Czech, Hungarian, Thai, and 19 other languages.

Variable






The Feature: 3.5/5
Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) is called to Los Angeles when the daughter of an old friend is kidnapped and held for ransom. Picking Lee up from the airport is LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), who's been stuck with the job of babysitting him by the FBI. Agents in charge of the case don't want Lee (or Carter for that matter) interfering with the investigation, though the two men have their own opinions on the subject. Once they get past their initial differences, the two find they make a pretty good team; soon they're on the trail of the kidnappers, who appear to be connected to one of Lee's old enemies, a crime lord named Juntao who's been at large for the last two years. If they can manage to stay alive long enough to rescue the little girl, they may even finally bring Juntao and his gang to justice.

Brett Ratner's "Rush Hour" has a lot of work cut out for it, walking in the shadow of great opposites attract, buddy cop movies like "48 Hours" and "Lethal Weapon." Drawing on the inherent charm and charisma of its two leads, it manages to get the job done, even generating laughs with the most predictable and clichéd of jokes. The martial arts action is pretty homogenized compared to Chan's earlier work, but then the film was never meant to appeal to hard core martial arts fanatics, instead going for mainstream appeal. Though my reaction to "Rush Hour" was not particularly positive when it came out 12 years ago - pretty much because of my martial arts fanaticism - the film and its sequels have grown on me over time. Recognizing the movie for what it is certainly has helped in getting me to that point of appreciation.

Video Quality: 3.5/5
The film is accurately framed at 2.40:1 and presented in 1080p with the VC-1 codec. Image quality can be quite strong at times - offering deep, well-saturated colors, strong blacks and decent detail - but inconsistent contrast, variable sharpness, and unrealistic colors crop up all to often, as do edge halos and what looks to be some level of noise reduction. The overall increase in color depth and detail likely makes the Blu-ray an improvement over the DVD, but it's certainly not the best the film could look.

Audio Quality: 4.5/5
The 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix features a crisp center channel, dynamic activity throughout the speaker array and clean and robust LFE. That's not to say the mix itself is aesthetically pleasing, being one of the least subtle and natural sounding ones I've heard in a long while. Some might argue it suits the film, but even with a National Lampoon movie I wouldn't want to be distracted by gimmicky pans and overpowering music cues. Things could have been dialed back a fair amount and still gotten the point across.

Special Features: 4/5
The majority of extras from the original DVD release have been carried over to the Blu-ray, the exception being the cast and crew biographies. The overall highlight of the set turns out to be the behind-the-scenes "A Piece of the Action" documentary. The inclusion of Ratner's early work seems a bit...premature, considering how much he had under his belt at the time "Rush Hour" was made. Still seeing how someone got started is always interesting, if anything for perspective.

Commentary by Director Brett Ratner: The first of multiple commentaries on the release, Ratner definitely proves he likes to talk. There isn't much he leaves out in either this commentary or the other tracks attached to his work, offering a nice blend of technical information and humorous anecdotes from production.

Isolated Score with Commentary by Composer Lalo Schifrin: Finding the score too gimmicky, I didn't linger long on this feature, but I wholly support the concept of including an isolated track.

A Piece of the Action: Behind the Scenes of Rush Hour (40:53, SD): Loosely edited look behind the scenes is appealing for its plentiful footage showing cast and crew at work and play. Though some may dislike the way the material is put together, the fact it's not a slickly edited electronic press kit piece makes it feel more genuine and organic. Additional bloopers at the end are also a plus.

Whatever Happened to Mason Reese? (13:12, SD): Ratner's humorous NYU student film catches up with 1970s child actor Reese, who was known for doing commercials and appearing on the Mike Douglas Show. The back story behind the making of the film is actually more interesting than the film itself (including how Reese broke his leg), thanks to Ratner's optional commentary track.

Deleted Scenes (3:03, SD): No surprises here - the handful of scenes prove to be unnecessary.

Theatrical Trailer (2:29, SD)

How Deep Is Your Love? (4:40, SD): Ratner-directed music video for Dru Hill, with optional commentary.

Nuttin' But the Love (4:29, SD): Ratner-directed music video for Heavy D & the Boyz, with optional commentary.

Recap
The Feature: 3.5/5
Video Quality: 3.5/5
Audio Quality: 4.5/5
Special Features: 4/5
Overall Score (not an average): 3.5/5

Warner Home Video turns in a bit of mixed bag for the first of the Chan-Tucker "Rush Hour" films. The video transfer has some obvious problems, while the audio track - while technically sound - proves to be an annoyance for its heavy handed mix. Though the special features prove to be consistently entertaining, the release will likely just appeal to those who never picked up the movie on DVD. For those who did, there's not much here in the way of an upgrade.