Beethoven's Big Break (DVD)

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Audio:

"Beethoven´s Big Break" is released onto DVD with a pedestrian English Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. There is not a lot of surround sound presence and the .1 LFE channel does not have much to do in this front-heavy mix. This is typical of comedies and I can´t imagine a Direct-to-DVD release of this magnitude was given a lot of time in post-processing to create an enveloping soundtrack. Dialogue is clean, but there is not a lot to listen to in this film. Beethoven´s barks sound pretty good as well. The sound design for this film is extremely limited and doesn´t provide a film with too many discrete effects. The musical score by Robert Folk is forgettable. The only foreign language support found on the DVD release of "Beethoven´s Big Break" are subtitles in Spanish and French, with support for English SDH.

Extras:

A lot of credit has to be given to Universal for allowing "Beethoven´s Big Break" to begin playing immediately upon the disc booting. There were no promotional clips and the film began immediately. This allow earns praise, but the disappointing film includes some decent bonus items. The first side of the DVD includes a short collection of Deleted Scenes (2:04). There are two to be exact. The first involves a room service gag and the second a request for a paw print. The Gag Reel (10:41) is the funniest part of the entire DVD, but is your typical gag reel fare. The final item of the first side is the Feature Commentary with Director Mike Elliot and Stars Jonathan Silverman and Moises Arias. I´m going to be honest and state that I did not listen to the commentary track, but it is there for those interested.

Flipping the unlabeled disc over yields a few other juicy nuggets and the full frame version of the film. This side does boot up with promotional clips for other discs including "Barbie´s Thumbelina," "Curious George" and others. Thankfully, Universal only included these clips on the full frame side. The commentary is provided on both sides of the platter, and two other items are thrown in for good measure. How Did They Do That?! (8:51) is a nice look at how the filmmakers worked with the various animals and achieved many of the shots in the film. I did enjoy this segment. The second and final item on the B Side is Moises Steals the Show (3:58) and this is a very brief vignette with child star Moises Arias and spends a good part of its time talking about how smart the child star is. This is four minutes of your time you don´t need to waist.

Closing:

For a film to spawn five sequels would typically suggest a very vibrant and strong franchise, but the fact that a sixth "Beethoven" film has been produced is almost mind-numbing. I´m not sure of what justifications are given to keep the big Saint Bernard slobbering, but the film must still be selling well and while Rhea Perlman and Eddie Griffin are not A-List stars, they are familiar faces and this suggest that "Beethoven" films are not the cheapest to produce. Somebody must love these pictures, but I am definitely not one such person. The DVD release is average at best and limited by its photography and sound design. The supplements are decent, but the disc must be flipped over to enjoy them all. I have to admit that I feel Universal has released a pretty decent DVD for a film that I can hardly understand was created in the first place. After five "Beethoven" films, was there really a need for a sixth?

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