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Dom Robinson reviews
Paramount
- Cert:
- Cat.no: PHE 8110
- Running time: 112 minutes
- Year: 1988
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 24 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround
- Languages: English, German
- Subtitles: 15 languages available
- Widescreen: 1.78:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Theatrical Trailer
Director:
- John Landis
(An American Werewolf in London, Beverly Hills Cop 3, The Blues Brothers, Blues Brothers 2000, Coming To America, Innocent Blood, Into the Night, The Kentucky Fried Movie, Michael Jackson’s Thriller,National Lampoon’s Animal House, Oscar, Spies Like Us, The Stupids, Susan’s Plan, Three Amigos!, Trading Places, Twilight Zone: The Movie)
Producer:
- Robert D. Wachs and George Folsey Jr.
Screenplay:
- David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein
Music:
- Nile Rogers
Cast:
- Prince Akeem: Eddie Murphy
King Jaffe Joffer: James Earl Jones
Semmi: Arsenio Hall
Queen Aoleon: Madge Sinclair
Cleo McDowell: John Amos
Lisa McDowell: Shari Headley
Hold-up Man: Samuel L. Jackson
Darryl: Eriq La Salle
Mortimer Duke: Don Ameche
Randolph Duke: Ralph Bellamy
Once upon a long ago, there was a time when Eddie Murphy was funny.
Those days pretty much came to a halt after 1989’s Harlem Nights,save for a one-off resurgence inAnother 48 Hoursbut there was still this comedy to enjoy about a the young Prince Akeem (EddieMurphy) who lives in a fairy-tale palace with his family and now he hasreached his 21st birthday he feels he should be able to take care of all oflife’s little bits and pieces by himself. Anyone who’s seen the film willremember “Wipers!” and “The royal penis is clean, your highness.”
But life’s not always so easy and now he’s come of age, it’s time for anarranged marriage – something by which he is less than impressed. So, he jetsoff to America with his best friend Semmi (chat show host Arsenio Hall)to find a woman to marry who makes a mental match as well as a physical one.It leads him to work in a burger joint, McDowell’s, owned by Cleo McDowell(John Amos) and he falls for the boss’ daughter Lisa (Shari Headley),despite the fact that she’s currently dating E.R.‘s Peter Benton(Eriq La Salle) in a frightwig!
The excellent cast also includes James Earl Jones as Akeem’s fatherKing Jaffe Joffer, Madge Sinclair as Queen Aoleon and cameos forSamuel L. Jackson as the man who holds up the restaurant and analmost-triumphant return for the Duke brothers from Trading Places,Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy. Cameos are also abound forMurphy and Hall in a number of roles.
The 16:9 print looks mostly clean and is anamorphic, giving it one up on theRegion 1 DVD which isn’t the latter. Bright and clear, it does look better thanI had expected.The average bitrate is 7.93Mb/s, often peaking over 9Mb/s.
The soundtrack has been remastered to Dolby Digital 5.1, but while comediesdon’t lend themselves to excessive special effects, the dialogue is clearand occasional musical outbursts fill the soundstage. DD5.1 is available inEnglish only as the Germans get Dolby Surround.
There are 24 chapters to the film, with subtitles in 15 languages:English (and hard of hearing), Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic,Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish and Turkish. The menus are static and silentand the only extra is a 2½-minute Theatrical Trailer.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.