Where was the Baron in the Sixties, when we really could have used a flight of fancy like this?
And yet, even when the lines or the plot let us down, the visuals pick up the slack. That's not surprising, because, as I said, "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" is first and foremost a visual effects film. But where was the Baron in the Sixties, when we really could have used a flight of fancy like this?
Video:
There are a number of scenes where the open-air shots are grainy (a 6/10 at best), but then you look down at two characters treading water in the next shot and the clarity and level of detail is nothing short of remarkable (a 9 or 10). For the most part it's a wonderful picture, but there are also a number of those grainy scenes that intrude. "Baron Munchausen" was transferred to a 50GB disc using AVC/MPEG-4 technology and presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which stretches to fill out the 16x9 monitor. Black levels are strong again, except during those grainy sequences which also tend to look a very slightly washed out. The curiosity is that there are such astounding moments of clarity that you're quick to forgive those grainy and color-robbed segments, especially when you hear on the bonus features all that the filmmakers had to go through to make this film.
Audio:
The featured soundtrack on this one is an English or French Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and it's a pretty vibrant audio, with a full and rich bass and pretty good use of the rear effects speakers. Especially when the cannonballs fly you also get a nice sense of movement across the speakers, and there's a nice wide spread across the front speakers-though at times, the dialogue and central placement of characters makes it seem as if the front center speaker is bearing a lot of the burden. For an effects film, there's a decent balance between the booms and explosions and the dialogue.
Extras:
If you're thinking about getting into filmmaking, you'd better avoid these bonus features. Otherwise, you'll hear people like Gilliam and Idle say how rotten folks are in the business, and how Gilliam had to pay people out of his pocket because the financing reverted to Film Finance, and they pulled the plug. You'll hear how there were three producers and enough conflict between one of them and Gilliam to last a lifetime. To be honest, while I felt for these guys, I really got tired of hearing about the politics on every single feature. You hear it on the commentary track with Gilliam and McKeown, you hear it in spades on "The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen" (a three-part making-of feature that's almost all strife and politics), and you even get a sense of it on the Blu-ray exclusive trivia track every now and then.
In other words, if you're not into studio politics, about 75 percent of this stuff won't appeal to you. You'll wish that there were more revelations like how Sean Connery was slated to play the King of the Moon, but was replaced by mutual consent after the script evolved in a different direction. Williams was brought onboard as a last-minute replacement to do the part for practically nothing, but because he didn't trust the producers he and his agent insisted that he not be credited, so the studio couldn't "pimp" Robin Williams . . . meaning, they couldn't use Williams to sell more tickets or, now, Blu-rays and DVDs. As I said, it's interesting for a while, but it always seems to come back to a kind of bitter reflection.
There are three storyboards with intro and outro by the filmmakers to show how some scenes were originally conceived (but had to be changed because of money), and four deleted scenes as well.
The trivia track is okay, but sluggish on my Samsung BD-P1400. An icon would come up, then the lettering, then the lettering would fade, and finally the icon. It just felt like a slow, almost taunting process, while the trivia itself seemed less than astounding. I actually wanted more from the original book than what we got.
Bottom Line:
"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" isn't a film that was made specifically for children, though director Terry Gilliam admits that partly made this because of his daughter. Mostly, it was a story that stuck with him from the time he heard about it and from the time he was struck by the visuals of the 1961 Czech film version, and wanted to create something so highly visual that it would just pop off the screen. The effects are very good, and so is the whole visual look-good enough to earn Oscar nominations (but no wins) for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Effects/Visual Effects, and Best Makeup. But Gilliam says that "Momentum is everything in filmmaking," and what momentum this one lost in production unfortunately transferred to the screen. Despite a second-act sag, the visuals still make "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" a worthwhile film--especially if you see it, as Gilliam does, as part of a trilogy involving "Time Bandits" and "Brazil."
Video:
There are a number of scenes where the open-air shots are grainy (a 6/10 at best), but then you look down at two characters treading water in the next shot and the clarity and level of detail is nothing short of remarkable (a 9 or 10). For the most part it's a wonderful picture, but there are also a number of those grainy scenes that intrude. "Baron Munchausen" was transferred to a 50GB disc using AVC/MPEG-4 technology and presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which stretches to fill out the 16x9 monitor. Black levels are strong again, except during those grainy sequences which also tend to look a very slightly washed out. The curiosity is that there are such astounding moments of clarity that you're quick to forgive those grainy and color-robbed segments, especially when you hear on the bonus features all that the filmmakers had to go through to make this film.
Audio:
The featured soundtrack on this one is an English or French Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and it's a pretty vibrant audio, with a full and rich bass and pretty good use of the rear effects speakers. Especially when the cannonballs fly you also get a nice sense of movement across the speakers, and there's a nice wide spread across the front speakers-though at times, the dialogue and central placement of characters makes it seem as if the front center speaker is bearing a lot of the burden. For an effects film, there's a decent balance between the booms and explosions and the dialogue.
Extras:
If you're thinking about getting into filmmaking, you'd better avoid these bonus features. Otherwise, you'll hear people like Gilliam and Idle say how rotten folks are in the business, and how Gilliam had to pay people out of his pocket because the financing reverted to Film Finance, and they pulled the plug. You'll hear how there were three producers and enough conflict between one of them and Gilliam to last a lifetime. To be honest, while I felt for these guys, I really got tired of hearing about the politics on every single feature. You hear it on the commentary track with Gilliam and McKeown, you hear it in spades on "The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen" (a three-part making-of feature that's almost all strife and politics), and you even get a sense of it on the Blu-ray exclusive trivia track every now and then.
In other words, if you're not into studio politics, about 75 percent of this stuff won't appeal to you. You'll wish that there were more revelations like how Sean Connery was slated to play the King of the Moon, but was replaced by mutual consent after the script evolved in a different direction. Williams was brought onboard as a last-minute replacement to do the part for practically nothing, but because he didn't trust the producers he and his agent insisted that he not be credited, so the studio couldn't "pimp" Robin Williams . . . meaning, they couldn't use Williams to sell more tickets or, now, Blu-rays and DVDs. As I said, it's interesting for a while, but it always seems to come back to a kind of bitter reflection.
There are three storyboards with intro and outro by the filmmakers to show how some scenes were originally conceived (but had to be changed because of money), and four deleted scenes as well.
The trivia track is okay, but sluggish on my Samsung BD-P1400. An icon would come up, then the lettering, then the lettering would fade, and finally the icon. It just felt like a slow, almost taunting process, while the trivia itself seemed less than astounding. I actually wanted more from the original book than what we got.
Bottom Line:
"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" isn't a film that was made specifically for children, though director Terry Gilliam admits that partly made this because of his daughter. Mostly, it was a story that stuck with him from the time he heard about it and from the time he was struck by the visuals of the 1961 Czech film version, and wanted to create something so highly visual that it would just pop off the screen. The effects are very good, and so is the whole visual look-good enough to earn Oscar nominations (but no wins) for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Effects/Visual Effects, and Best Makeup. But Gilliam says that "Momentum is everything in filmmaking," and what momentum this one lost in production unfortunately transferred to the screen. Despite a second-act sag, the visuals still make "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" a worthwhile film--especially if you see it, as Gilliam does, as part of a trilogy involving "Time Bandits" and "Brazil."
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