Clasic Spoof! (Young Frankenstein (DVD))

Member Name: Welshlad

Product:	Young Frankenstein (DVD)
Date:	04/05/01 (268 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fun film, great DVD, superb extras

Disadvantages: age hampers quality of transfer

First off, this film is classified as a PG, which should instantly tell you that despite the title of "young Frankenstein", this is not horror gore fest or serious horror movie that is suitable only for adults.


THE FILM


Directed by the excellent Mel Brooks and produces by Michael Gruskoff, Young Frankenstein holds a cast of members such as Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle amongst others and was first released in the UK way back in 1974.
Running for the best part of 110 minutes, ?Young Frankenstein? tells the story of Fred Frankenstein (played superbly by gene Wilder) who has somehow been left a castle in Transylvania after the death of his great, great grandfather. Upon arriving for his first inspection of this ?barons? castle he meets the rest of the crew, before settling in and discovering his relations book on how to create a monster. Naturally, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he is compelled to have a go, and a monster is born!
From then on, the film tells the hilarious consequences that arise due to the creation of this monster, and it is clear for all to see the outright spoof of the original 1930?s Frankenstein movie, to the extent that (according to the extra features) the same props were even used and the locations matched.
The plot develops as well as in any other comedy and the humour is firmly tongue-in-cheek, yet original and always hugely entertaining. Mel Brooks influence is apparent, and the film is far better than its budget would suggest. The cast works wonderfully together, and the right blend of characters have been selected as each and every one gives outstanding performances, never letting themselves or the movie down.
In fact, its quite a shame that this film has such a low profile, as a large number of acclaimed ?film lovers? may never even have heard of this movie, let alone see it, although I am yet to hear of anyone who has taken the time and given this e
xcellent spoof a chance, and not enjoyed it immensely.


THE DVD


Its actually very easy for any DVD release to be granted "collectors edition" status, yet its something different for them to actually be regarded as so. However, this is a collectors edition DVD in every sense of the word, and although it is by no means a new DVD release, it is still every bit as fresh as the day it was released.
Presented in an Anamorphic widescreen picture with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the film looks very good indeed. Although a very old film, and in black and white, the picture admittedly looks its age, but stands the test of time well, and results in a very watchable and even enjoyable print of the movie that is simply the best version of this film visually that you will find today.
Again with a film of this age the audio is not going to be anything groundbreaking or spectacular, and we are given a plain old stereo sound track, and to be frank (pun intended again!) there would have been little sense is spending the time and money remixing it to Dolby Digital 5.1 when the film is so light on effects and the audio plays such a minor role in this films overall appeal. Of the track we do have, it does a fair old job, with the dialogue quite clean and uncluttered, with the odd sound effect acceptably reproduced ? a typical soundtrack for a near 30 year old film if you like...

Where this "collectors" edition really comes into its own though is in terms of the special features.

Extras on the disk include:

Commentary: Feature length commentary by Director Mel Books (again, not had the chance to listen to this, but I have been told that this is very entraining and informative, and well worth the time listening to, which I hope to some time soon)

Deleted Scenes: Seven Deleted scenes that have never been seen before apparently, all of which are quite interesting and a worthy addition to the DVD


Chapters: There are 28 chapters for the film which is very good.

Outtakes: 5 hilarious minutes of outtakes are present, and this si the favourite feature on the whole disk for me. Very funny outtakes, and probably the feature I most enjoy on all DVD?s

Trailers: Numerous Trailer sand TV spots are on the disk, each very different and some very entertaining indeed.

Documentary: titled ?Making Franken-Sense of Young Frankenstein? provides a very useful and insightful documentary that does add to the movie, although obviously only watch this after you have watched the main feature.

Mexican Interviews: A very strange inclusion! This shows a Mexican interviewer talking to Marty Feldman, Gene Wilder and Cloris Leachman in a mixture of Spanish and English. Not quite sure why this was in there, but it?s weirdly amusing and worth the mention. Very odd, In keeping with the film I suppose?

The menus are still, no animation which is a bit of a shame (always a big fan of animated manus) and they are also silent. This could easily have been implements, and is a shame they were not, but then again the film and the DVD are stood in good stead.


SUMMARY

Overall, if you?re a Mel brooks fan then chances are you would already own this wonderful DVD. Likewise, if you are a fan of Spoof movies, then again this is a worthy film to check out. Certainly one of the better Spoof films about and also a very amusing comedy that can be enjoyed by absolutely anyone who watches. The film is non-stop entertainment of the highest order, and it is situated on a very competent DVD packed with extras that are meaningful and genuinely worth of inclusion on the DVD. It is clear that this DVD release has been thought through and constitutes a very reliable and entertaining purchase...Go Buy it now!

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