If you’ve ever lived in the workaday white collar world or fear doing so, you’ll find a lot that’s quite familiar in “Office Space.”
As a story, "Office Space" is only so-so. The plot leaves much to be desired but there are a ton of great moments and quotable lines that the weak narrative is obscured. Anyone who has experienced the corporate environment will find something to identify with, from TPS Coversheets to fears of downsizing to getting lost in the bureaucratic shuffle.
Video:
While I´ve got no basis for comparison, since I never broke down and bought the old version of "Office Space" on DVD, I can´t tell you if this version is an upgrade. But what I can say, with certainty, is that the movie looks pretty good. The colors are about where I expected them to be, though there appears to be a haze over the entire transfer, like it´s just slightly out of focus. It´s not horrible, though it does create the sensation that something is just slightly off. The transfer does look better than I was expecting, however. Grain and film artifacts aren´t a problem at all.
Audio:
The expansion of the Dolby Digital audio track to 5.1 surround does leave a few bits of dialogue without a proper anchor, between channels and without localization, but overall it sounds good. The music is solid and expansive, though other than those cues I wouldn´t expect to get much out of your rear channels.
Extras:
Writer/director Mike Judge hosts a retrospective documentary that talks about the genesis of "Office Space" and how Judge made the transition from animation to features. I´d have liked to see the complete "Office Space" cartoon. The actors participate with great snippets and honest commentary. This is an excellent feature, and hits everything I wanted to know… the stapler, the fax machine smash, and just how real this film is.
There are eight deleted scenes that look like they were recorded on video and are completely unprocessed. Nice to have them, though.
The film´s theatrical trailer, running two and a half minutes, is recorded for history. It´s a great trailer, actually, though I don´t ever remember seeing it.
The DVD-Rom extras include a silly flash game where you get to fight traffic. As if regular road rage weren´t enough, now I have to put up with it at home. There are also downloads for your computer to brighten up your cubical, including desktop wallpaper, "Office Space" themed screen savers, buddy icons, and even Initech letterhead.
Film Value:
If you´ve ever lived in the workaday white collar world or fear doing so, you´ll find a lot that´s quite familiar in "Office Space." There are some outlandish moments that seem a smidge silly, but I´m willing to forgive in favor of a movie that utterly cracks me up.
Video:
While I´ve got no basis for comparison, since I never broke down and bought the old version of "Office Space" on DVD, I can´t tell you if this version is an upgrade. But what I can say, with certainty, is that the movie looks pretty good. The colors are about where I expected them to be, though there appears to be a haze over the entire transfer, like it´s just slightly out of focus. It´s not horrible, though it does create the sensation that something is just slightly off. The transfer does look better than I was expecting, however. Grain and film artifacts aren´t a problem at all.
Audio:
The expansion of the Dolby Digital audio track to 5.1 surround does leave a few bits of dialogue without a proper anchor, between channels and without localization, but overall it sounds good. The music is solid and expansive, though other than those cues I wouldn´t expect to get much out of your rear channels.
Extras:
Writer/director Mike Judge hosts a retrospective documentary that talks about the genesis of "Office Space" and how Judge made the transition from animation to features. I´d have liked to see the complete "Office Space" cartoon. The actors participate with great snippets and honest commentary. This is an excellent feature, and hits everything I wanted to know… the stapler, the fax machine smash, and just how real this film is.
There are eight deleted scenes that look like they were recorded on video and are completely unprocessed. Nice to have them, though.
The film´s theatrical trailer, running two and a half minutes, is recorded for history. It´s a great trailer, actually, though I don´t ever remember seeing it.
The DVD-Rom extras include a silly flash game where you get to fight traffic. As if regular road rage weren´t enough, now I have to put up with it at home. There are also downloads for your computer to brighten up your cubical, including desktop wallpaper, "Office Space" themed screen savers, buddy icons, and even Initech letterhead.
Film Value:
If you´ve ever lived in the workaday white collar world or fear doing so, you´ll find a lot that´s quite familiar in "Office Space." There are some outlandish moments that seem a smidge silly, but I´m willing to forgive in favor of a movie that utterly cracks me up.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]16917[/release]