Mrs. Doubtfire (Blu-ray)
APPROX. 125 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1993 - MPA RATING: PG-13
" ...an argument could be made that this is the finest release of a fifteen year or older film on the Blu-ray format.
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The good news is that "Mrs. Doubtfire" is a quality catalog title from Twentieth Century Fox home video and easily one of their better efforts for catalog titles on Bu-ray. The picture is mastered with the AVC MPEG-4 codec at a solid 28.5 MBPS transfer rate. The picture is sharp and detailed with vivid coloring and hardly any noticeable flaws. In fact, about the only complaint I had with the picture was one minor instance when I saw a little of the dreaded shimmering on a car´s grille. The vast majority of the film was very nicely detailed and highlighted every hair on Robin Williams´ back. Not that you really want to see that, but it is provided by the clarity of 1080p resolution. Coloring was also strong and I felt that "Mrs. Doubtfire" on Blu-ray could rival most pictures produced today. Flesh tones were accurate and whites were clean and bright and blacks were deep and true and exhibited excellent shadow detail. The print is clean. I must say I was more than satisfied with "Mrs. Doubtfire" on Blu-ray.
Audio:
The first DVD release of "Mrs. Doubtfire" featured a 5.1 mastered soundtrack and I was quite impressed with that release. My LaserDisc set contained THX processed Dolby Surround. It was good, but lacked the top-of-the-line AC-3 mix of the day. Two moments always stand out when I think of the audio for "Mrs. Doubtfire" and that is the scene where "Jump Around" is played or Aerosmith´s "Dude Looks Like a Lady." They are loud and fill a room with sound. The Blu-ray release of "Mrs. Doubtfire" features a potent, but front-heavy English 5.1 DTS HD Master Lossless Audio mix, as well as the English 5.1 Dolby Digital surround mix from the DVD release and Spanish and French tracks.
Well, the two musical selections that stand out are still head and shoulders above anything else heard in the film. The "Jump Around" scene exhibits a good degree of .1 LFE provided bass and contains a nice amount of bleed to the rear surrounds. The Aerosmith number where Mrs. Doubtfire air guitars along is another sonically strong moment. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is a number of decibels quieter and falls into the same lifeless front-heavy mix that plagues most comedies. It isn´t a flaw of the technology, but caused from limited source materials. Most comedies just do not have the information needed for an overly engaging soundscape and "Mrs. Doubtfire" doesn´t provide too many ambient effects in the rears to compensate. It is a technically sound mix with clear dialogue, but aside from two or three musical selections, it isn´t overly lively.
Extras:
The latest release of "Mrs. Doubtfire" finally rivals the offerings from the previous three-disc LaserDisc release, but this new edition still cannot claim to be the definitive release of the film. The commentary track by Chris Columbus that was present on both the pricey LaserDisc release and the first DVD pressing is sadly missing from this Blu-ray release. I would have replaced Dolby Digital 5.1 mix with the commentary track if it was a question of space or perhaps limited the foreign language support on the disc. This Blu-ray release is similar to the recently released special edition on DVD and contains essentially the same supplements. While the commentary is not present (I´ll save my old DVD for that if I ever feel the need to listen to it again), this is a very nice release when it comes to supplements.
The features are broken down into six categories; the first of which is called "Cutting Room." Two options exist under this category. The first is Deleted & Extended Scenes (32:06) and the second is Alternate Scenes (4:29). There are a total of eighteen deleted and extended scenes and they run for over half an hour. Many of these scenes add to the overall story and some showcase more of Williams´ hilarity. "Mrs. Doubtfire" is a long film and I can understand why most were left on the cutting room floor, but some of these scenes are very good. They are definitely worth watching. The four alternate scenes are also good, but it is a short series of snippets and lacks the quality of the excised collection. Both collections can be viewed separately or collectively with a "Play All" selection.
The second sub menu selection is "Production Office." This contains three supplements. From Man to Mrs.: The Evolution of Mrs. Doubtfire (26:37) is a quality five-chapter feature. "From Man to Mrs." looks at the production of the film from script to screen and contains many nice interviews with those involved. Robin Williams details how his wife first read the story and thought it would be a great movie for the actor to star in. A Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery is included as well as a second featurette, Aging Gracefully, A Look Back at Mrs. Doubtfire (13:42). "Aging Gracefully" is a retrospective look at the film from a few years ago, but what is said still holds quite true today.
"Animation Studio" is the third set of features. These features pertain to the original animation short featured in the beginning where Daniel quits his job over one of the characters smoking. These offerings begin with A Conversation with Legendary Animator Chuck Jones (4:17), which has the animator talking about his work on the film and views towards animation. This is a short but sweet vignette. The Original Pencil Test (2:26) is pulled over from the LaserDisc and shows the animation in pencil art form. The Final Animation Sequence (5:14) shows the full Chuck Jones created animation with the voice work of Robin Williams in place. It´s fun. Finally, the Final Animation Sequence with Alternate Backgrounds (5:51) with a style more in line with Jones classic work. Never before has a small part of a film had this much supplemental material provided for it.
The fourth category of special features is "Make-Up Department" and you can bet that the fictional work of Uncle Frank and Aunt Jack is worth checking out. Make-Up Application with Ve Neill (4:10) is a brief little feature with Robin Williams talking about getting the make-up placed onto him. Ve Neil then provides some commentary to a few scenes showing the transformation occur. I really do wish that a little more time was spent on the transformation of Daniel to Mrs. Doubtfire. The second feature of the "Make-Up Department" is a Make-Up Photo Gallery that shows the stages of make-up. The third and final extra found here are a series of Make-Up Tests (17:54). These five tests are dress rehearsals with Robin Williams in make-up as he masters his performance under the latex and make-up. These are quite funny at times.
The next stop is "Stage A." Only one feature is contained her and it is the Improvisation of Mrs. Doubtfire (36:55) and provides the ability to view Robin Williams improvising a number of scenes throughout the film. Seven scenes are provided after the introduction. These scenes are collections of alternate takes of Robin Williams improvising through the script. The scene number and take number of each alternate take are shown. What is unique with these scenes is they show what goes on around the takes and you can hear and see many aspects of filmmaking that goes along with these improvisations. This is perhaps my favorite feature of the Blu-ray release and more than makes up for the absence of the commentary track and deleted scene comments that existed on previous releases.
The final category is the Publicity Department. These are all promotional materials and the Original 1993 Featurette (5:29) is perhaps the highlight of these numerous, but short features. This is a short vignette that advertises the film with some talking heads moments, a very familiar narrator´s voice and some clips from the film. There is even a Barbara Bush joke in there. Meet Mrs. Doubtfire (5:22) is a unique little promotional clip that uses some tricky camera work (and a poorly blended split screen) that allows Robin Williams to interview Euphegenia Doubtfire. This was cute, but a little too promotional to be as entertaining as it could have been. Three Theatrical Trailers, two TV Spots and a collection of Theatrical Posters and a Publicity Photo Gallery finalizes the lengthy collection of supplements on this Blu-ray disc.
Closing:
"Mrs. Doubtfire" is a comedy that I´ve always enjoyed and the primary reason for my enjoyment of this film is the incredible performance by talented comedian Robin Williams who lends his finest performance for this film. He is absolutely outstanding in this movie, a role which allows him to showcase his impersonation abilities, physical humor and energy. It has been a few years since I last watched the film and I can no longer remember my date from seeing the film theatrically. Time may have eroded my memories, but the Blu-ray release shows that the look of the film has not eroded one bit as "Mrs. Doubtfire" looks better than she ever has. The sound is limited, but potent during two moments in the film. The supplements are first rate and although they are not complete, they are numerous and entertaining. "Mrs. Doubtfire" may very well be the finest catalog title release from Fox and an argument could be made that this is the finest release of a fifteen year or older film on the Blu-ray format.
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