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- Cat.no: CDR 96100
- Cert: 12
- Running time: 97 minutes
- Year: 1997
- Pressing: 1999
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 36 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround
- Languages: English, German
- Subtitles: 14 different languages available
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Scene index, Theatrical trailer, Filmographies
Director:
- Marco Brambilla
(Demolition Man)
Producers:
- Bill Borden and Carolyn Kessler
Screenplay:
- Max D. Adams, Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais
Music:
- John Lurie
Cast:
- Emily T. Hope: Alicia Silverstone (The Babysitter, Batman and Robin, Clueless, The Crush, Hideaway, Le Nouveau Monde, True Crime (1995))
Vincent Roche: Benicio Del Toro (Basquiat, The Fan, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Fearless, Licence To Kill, Swimming with Sharks, The Usual Suspects)
Raymond Perkins: Christopher Walken (Annie Hall, Antz, Batman Returns, Biloxi Blues, The Deer Hunter, Last Man Standing, Pulp Fiction, Things To Do In Denver…, Touch, True Romance, A View To A Kill, Wayne’s World 2)
Greg Kistler: Harry Connick, Jr. (Copycat, Hope Floats, Independence Day, Little Man Tate, Memphis Belle)
Excess Baggageheadlines Alicia Silverstone, who must be one of the youngest actresses tostart her own production company, as Emily T. Hope, a spoilt rich girl who attemptsto get some recognition from her father by faking her own kidnapping and locking herselfinside a car boot, settings things up so that it won’t be long before she’s rescuedand her mission is accomplished. Things don’t go to plan and the car is inadvertentlystolen by Benecio Del Toro, soon followed by Emily’s sinister ex-CIA ‘uncle’Christopher Walken who is sent to track her down. Crooner Harry ConnickJr. also puts in an appearance as Del Toro’s partner-in-crime.
The trailer makes this appear to be a laugh-a-minute comedy and from that it’sdisappointing as it has a few comic moments but spends most of its time ploddingalong from one scene to another. Plus the concept of a romance occuring between akidnapper and his ‘victim’ is a well-worn one and one that came off a lot betterin 1994’s The Chase starring Charlie Sheen and Kirsty Swanson. Del Torogives his usual trademark mumbles throughout the film and even Walken, one of thebest performers in his class, gives a performance he could’ve phoned in.
Things don’t improve later either as predictable double-cross follows predictabledouble-cross, culminating in an ending that’s predictable. I hope I’m not beingpredictable by using the word predictable again…
The picture quality is almost spot-on with only minor artifacts occasionallyon view but which won’t be noticeable from the usual viewing distance. The film ispresented in its original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 and the average bitrate is5.10 Mb/s,occasionally going over 7Mb/s. The print is also enhanced for 16:9 widescreentelevisions – thus allowing for 33% higher resolution.
The sound is fine and available in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround, butnothing major happens on the soundtrack and there’s only a trace of typical AmericanAOR in this, the sort of film expected to be chock-full of them. However, itdoes include the superb One Headlight by The Wallflowers, possiblyone of the best “road movie”-style songs of all time.
Extras : Chapters/Theatrical Trailers :One of this disc’s plus-points is that it is very well-chaptered with 36 coveringthe 97-minute film. A theatrical trailer is also included. Languages/Subtitles :English and German are available in Dolby Digital, with a surround option availablefor the former. However, this is rather redundant given a DVD player’s ability todownmix a DD5.1 track into Dolby Surround, resulting in a more punchy sound overallwith more bass. Subtitles are available in FOURTEEN languages :English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew, German, Turkish,Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Greek and Norwegian. Filmographies :Filmographies are available for Alicia, Del Toro, Walken and Connick Jr.but it’s surprising that there’s nothing in the way of biographies given Ms.Silverstone’s recent career-offshoot into running her own production company.A commentary track from her could have proved more interesting than the film itself,but no such thing is here and don’t expect any more extras on the American DVD either. Menu :The menu is static and silent, the main screen mirroring the cover artwork.
Upon selecting the “Start Movie” option, you’ll first see a “Sony PicturesDVD Center” logo, followed by the Dolby Digital helicopter trailer, the copyrightlogo and then the film itself.
Overall, if you like this film and you’re not bothered about extras then it’sworth a look. Auf Wiedersehen Pet‘s creators Dick Clement andIan La Frenais have been uncredited script-doctors on a few occasions inthe Hollywood movie industry including high-octane thrillers such as The Rock,bringing much more comedy into a film than there normally is, but they werecertainly having an off-day when they were employed for this film. It’s alsodisappointing is that this film has a lot less going for it than another film by thesame director, Marco Brambilla, one of my favourite action-comedies ofthe 90’s, Demolition Man.
FILM : *PICTURE QUALITY: ****½SOUND QUALITY: ***EXTRAS: **——————————-OVERALL: **½
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
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.