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Travis Willock reviews
MGM Home Entertainment
- Cert: PG-13
- Cat.no: 1004104
- Running time: 102 minutes
- Year: 2002
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Chapters: 32
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 (Eng only)
- Languages: English, Spanish
- Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: $26.98
- Extras:4 Featurettes, Audio Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Bloopers/Outtakes, Barber School Interactive Game, Music Video, Photo Gallery,Theatrical Trailer
Director:
- Tim Story
Screenplay:
- Mark Brown, Don D. Scott, and Marshall Todd
Cast:
- Calvin: Ice Cube
JD: Anthony Anderson
Eddie: Cedric the Entertainer
Jimmy: Sean Patrick Thomas
Terri: Eve
Isaac: Troy Garity
Ricky: Michael Ealy
It’s good to say Ice Cube has rebounded from the garbage that wasAll About the Benjamins.
I guess that’s really not a hard act to follow butthis film is one of the best comedies I’ve seen in a while. The factthat it doesn’t rely on gross out tactics makes it even better. Becominga surprise hit last August (made $80 million), MGM has supplied a greatDVD albeit a little early.
Barbershop tells the story of owner Calvin (Ice Cube) who wants to makesomething more of his life and his father’s shop doesn’t hold anyopportunities. When he sells the shop to a loan shark he begins to havesecond thoughts about how much it means to him. He begins torealized that it’s much more than a barbershop but a very importantplace to many. Now Calvin must find a way to get his barbershop back bythe end of the day or lose it forever.
Despite the simple story this is pretty engaging. From monolouges at thebarbershop to snippets of two men trying to break into an ATM machine(don’t worry it all falls into place) this will surely produce somelaughs. Every actor gives a great performance and the script is edgyenough to be engrossing.
Barbershop is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. Given that thefilm is only a few months old the print is in great shape with only acouple of knicks and scratches. The transfer is great as well with onlysome minor pixelization to spoil it. Colors are deep and very sharp.
Audio is presented in an average 5.1 track. The entire film is prettymuch dialouge based but this is fine.
MGM has given this release quite a few extras and these are actuallyworth watching for once. Here’s how it stacks up:
- Audio Commentary: A very good track featuring director Tim Story,producers Robert Tietel and George Tillman Jr., and writer Don D. Scott.This is worth a listen since the way Barbershop was made is actuallyquite interesting.
- The Hair Club: 4 featurettes, all are full frame with non-anamorphicclips. “The Final Cut” runs 18 minutes and focuses on the story andgeneral shooting of the movie. “Set, Press, and Style” runs 5 minutesand focuses on the set design. “Finishing Touches” runs 6 minutes andfocuses on costume design. “Hairdo’s and Don’ts” runs 7 minutes andlooks at the different hairstyles over the years. Each featurette iswell produced and worth watching.
- Deleted Scenes: 6 minutes, 7 scenes, non-anamorphic. These scenes aredecent but you can tell they really didn’t mesh with the film. Most arequick cuts anyway. All can be viewed with optional commentary bydirector Tim Story.
- Outtakes: Little over 5 minutes, non-anamorphic. These are reallyfunny, definitely worth watching for the bootleg DVD gag.
- Barber School Interactive Game: A basic trivia game featuring clips of the actors. Actually pretty tough to crack.
- “Trade it All” Music Video: Features Fabolous, P. Diddy, and Jagged Edge.
- Misc: Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery features what the name implies.The theatrical trailer is anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen.
Not jam packed in the extras department but each feature is worthwatching and not just a bunch of promo fluff.
Packaging is amaray featuring the theatrical poster as the cover. Thefilm is split into a good 32 chapters, menus are animated with clipsfrom the film.
Overall, Barbershop is a suprise film that is definitely worth a watch.MGM has also made a great DVD to back the film up.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALLEmailTravis Willock
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.