Happy Gilmore (HD DVD)

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"Happy Gilmore" is a funny film. It is a comedy. There are a few special effects, but this is not the kind of film that is visually stunning. A lot of the exterior shots take place on lovely golf courses. You get to see a lot of grass, a few bunkers and some water hazards. They all look nice and pretty. Detail is good, but not as stunning as many of the other titles released thus far. Regardless, the hi-def transfer of "Happy Gilmore" looks very good and the pristine source materials exhibit perfectly saturated colors, which are bright and beautiful. Black levels are generally good, but one night scene where Chubbs takes Happy to the miniature golf course for putting lessons could have had truer blacks. The transfer does not disappoint, but "Happy Gilmore" does not match up to some of the tour de force titles already released on the format.

Sound:

The HD-DVD title throws us both English and French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtracks. Spanish speaking folk will have to settle for a Dolby Digital Plus 2.0 mix. As is the case with the video, "Happy Gilmore" is not a film that will ooh and ahh viewers with its technical capabilities. The sound is clear and natural sounding. The all-important dialogue is reproduced clearly. The film´s musical score is rendered nicely and populates the speakers nicely. However, much of the material for the film takes part in the front three speakers and the rear surrounds are dormant for much of the film. Compared to my DTS LaserDisc, the HD-DVD shows some minor improvement, though the .1 LFE channel sounded deeper and fuller on the Laser. The sound quality of "Happy Gilmore" is more than adequate for the film. Whether it had been marginally better or worse would not have mattered much.

Extras:

I have one question. It is a question that has been on my mind for over a month now. I have thirteen HD-DVD titles. This question applies to every Universal released title among them. Where are my theatrical trailers? Universal continues to port over all of the supplements from the DVD releases, but none of the menu driven content or the theatrical trailers. I feel like I´m getting slighted here. Trailers may not seem like much, but sometimes they have deleted moments in them and they can be very entertaining. Is their inclusion on home formats a thing of the past? Has the trailer park packed up and moved on? I´d like to know.

The features that did make the transition from DVD to HD-DVD are a bit thin for this release. They are provided in 480i/p and Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. Yes, they are direct ports from the DVD. The Outrageous Deleted Scenes mentioned on the packaging are funny little snippets. There are seven of them and they can be played individually or all together. The sound and video quality of these deleted scenes were very poor. The sound had a great deal of hiss associated with it. The (to use the box quote) wacky, gut-busting Outtakes ran for under five minutes. They were funny, but brief. With only about fifteen minutes total of value added content, "Happy Gilmore" continues to be a head-scratching release for HD-DVD.

Closing Thoughts:

If all catalog titles will sound and look this good, I can imagine picking up some of my favorites for HD-DVD. However, a good DVD played on an upconverting player is not going to be too far behind. "Happy Gilmore" is a confusing title to release this early to froth up the appetites of consumers and get them to buy into the new format. Yes, it is a statement that catalog titles are forthcoming, but is it a statement that Universal went the quick and cheap route with this title? My feelings on this release are a truly mixed bag. In one way, I´m happy to see catalog titles already released, but "Happy Gimore" does nothing to add to my fervor about the new format. For those of us that skipped DVD for this film, it is surely a worthwhile purchase for Sandler fans and this is especially true for VHS owners. For those that have the early pan and scan release, this is still a wise selection. If you already have a widescreen DVD of the film, I´d recommend picking up a different title for your new Toshiba player.

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