Inspector Gadget

• Cert:
• Cat.no: D 034644
• Running time: 75 minutes
• Year: 1999
• Pressing: 2000
• Region(s): 2, PAL
• Chapters: 13
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround
• Languages: 8 languages available
• Subtitles: 7 languages available
• Widescreen: 1.85:1
• 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: DVD 5
• Price: £19.99
• Extras : Scene index

Director:

David Kellogg

(Cool as Ice, Inspector Gadget)

Producers:

Screenplay:

Music:

Cast:

John Brown/Inspector Gadget/Robo Gadget: Matthew Broderick
Sanford Scolex/Dr. Claw: Rupert Everett
Brenda/RoboBrenda: Joely Fisher
Penny: Michelle Trachtenberg
Kramer: Andy Dick

Inspector Gadget is what security guard John Brown (Matthew Broderick) becomes after being blown up in his car by the man also injured and soon to be named Dr. Claw (Rupert Everett), whose hand is vapourised courtesy of a stray bowling ball.

Quite simply, this film takes us from Gadget’s beginning, through a number of one-liners, to attempting to apprehend Dr. Claw for being such a dastardly-fiend with all manner of special effects at his command, not least of all an evil Robogadget.

Inspector Gadget also features cameos from Mr. T as himself and Richard Kiel, reprising his Bond role “Jaws” as, “Famous Guy with Metal Teeth”.

As colourful as the recent post-Burton Batman franchise, we are presented with an anamorphic 1.85:1 image with a blisteringly sharp picture – exactly what’s required to bring Gadget’s cartoon-like world to the silver screen, with only a handful of flecks on the print. The average bitrate is a reasonably-steady 8.36Mb/s.

The sound comes across perfectly and is used frequently for the aforementioned special FX, whether it’s for explosions, John Debney‘s rousing score or for the Inspector’s gadgets.

Extras :

Chapters : Just a mere 13 chapters to the film. Not enough, but the same as the Region 1 DVD.

Languages and Subtitles : English, Italian and German in Dolby Digital 5.1, with Dutch, Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Greek in surround. Subtitles come in: French, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, Icelandic, Croatian and English.

Menu : Static and silent with a shot of the front cover.

Overall, this is certainly an entertaining 75 minutes, even for an adult, but Warner must be having a laugh charging £20 for such a short film with zero extras – and the last eight minutes are the closing credits!

Even the Region 1 DVD manages a featurette and a music video.