Ever
wonder why you never hear anything about the Canadian space program?
Perhaps you should ask those two rocket scientists from the Great White
North- Bob McKenzie and his brother Doug. If these two guys are any
indication of what the general populace of Canada is like, it’s pretty
doubtful that you’ll ever be hearing anything about the Canadian space
program. With that said, I have to admit that I genuinely love the
McKenzie brothers and I particularly love their first (and sadly only)
cinematic opus STRANGE BREW ($20).
For
those of you unfamiliar with the McKenzie brothers, they were two of the
hilarious characters from SCTV, which were brought to life on both the
small screen and the silver screen by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis. The
exploits of these two beer-loving morons from Canada continually made me
laugh and when they finally found their way to the motion picture screen, STRANGE
BREW made me laugh even harder. There isn’t anything sophisticated
or elegant about the comedy of the McKenzie brothers- it’s all wholesome
honest stupidity that strives for nothing more than making folks laugh.
The
plot of STRANGE BREW follows Bob (Moranis) and Doug (Thomas) from
the depths of independent filmmaking to the even deeper depths of trying
to scam some free beer from Ellsinore Brewery. Unfortunately our heroes
find themselves running afoul of the mad Brewmeister Smith (Max von
Sydow), who is plotting to take over the world (or at least Canada) by
putting a mind-controlling drug into the latest batch of Ellsinore beer.
Finding themselves framed for kidnapping and proved legally insane (which
wasn’t particularly difficult), the McKenzie brothers end up confined to
the mental asylum whose property adjoins Ellsinore Brewery. Will our
heroes ever escape from the clutches of the evil Brewmeister Smith and
save the day? What do you think? The cast of STRANGE BREW also
includes Paul Dooley, Lynne Griffin, Angus MacInnes, Tom Harvey and the
voice of Mel Blanc.
Warner
Home Video has made STRANGE BREW available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide
screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9
displays. This transfer provides STRANGE BREW with the best looking
home presentation that it has ever had. Unfortunately, STRANGE BREW
must have had a budget that hovered around ten bucks, because this is a
really cheap looking movie that no transfer could improve. Short of George
Lucas coming in and doing one hundred million dollars worth of CGI
improvements, this is probably the best that STRANGE BREW is ever
going to look. Of course, since STRANGE BREW was produced in 3-B (3
beers and it looks great), many of the film’s fans may not notice
certain deficiencies in the visuals. The image is a bit on the soft side,
plus film grain is rather noticeable throughout. There is some speckling
on the film element, but nothing too bothersome. Colors tend to be on the
muted side, plus flesh tones sometimes look a little pale. Blacks are
accurately rendered and contrast is decent. Digital compression artifacts
are a non-issue.
Although
the packaging indicates that a Dolby Surround soundtrack is on the DVD, STRANGE
BREW is presented in Dolby Digital monaural. Considering the budget of
this movie, the listing on the packaging must contain a typo. The
soundtrack is relatively clean, but is otherwise flat and undistinguished.
Sound effects are pretty unconvincing and the film’s music, while
amusing, lacks any kind of significant fidelity. Dialogue is always
understandable and is usually pretty darn funny. A French language track
is also encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French and Spanish
subtitles.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which provide access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few extras. I’m
sure that fans of the McKenzie brothers will be disappointed by the fact
that there is no commentary track on the DVD, either by Dave Thomas and
Rick Moranis as themselves or in character. However the DVD does include
an original SCTV sketch directly related to one of the movie’s key plot
points. Seeing this SCTV sketch makes me long for the show’s release on
DVD. Also included on the DVD is a trailer for The Animated Adventures Of
Bob And Doug McKenzie, which I would imagine is a show in the works- at
least I hope. A cast & crew listing, some filmographies and a
theatrical trailer close out the DVD’s extras.
STRANGE
BREW is goofy, stupid, hilarious good fun. Warner has done a nice job
with the DVD release, making this a disc that fans will definitely want to
own. So pick up your DVD, a case of Molson Canadian, and take off, eh!
Ever
wonder why you never hear anything about the Canadian space program?
Perhaps you should ask those two rocket scientists from the Great White
North- Bob McKenzie and his brother Doug. If these two guys are any
indication of what the general populace of Canada is like, it’s pretty
doubtful that you’ll ever be hearing anything about the Canadian space
program. With that said, I have to admit that I genuinely love the
McKenzie brothers and I particularly love their first (and sadly only)
cinematic opus STRANGE BREW ($20).
For
those of you unfamiliar with the McKenzie brothers, they were two of the
hilarious characters from SCTV, which were brought to life on both the
small screen and the silver screen by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis. The
exploits of these two beer-loving morons from Canada continually made me
laugh and when they finally found their way to the motion picture screen, STRANGE
BREW made me laugh even harder. There isn’t anything sophisticated
or elegant about the comedy of the McKenzie brothers- it’s all wholesome
honest stupidity that strives for nothing more than making folks laugh.
The
plot of STRANGE BREW follows Bob (Moranis) and Doug (Thomas) from
the depths of independent filmmaking to the even deeper depths of trying
to scam some free beer from Ellsinore Brewery. Unfortunately our heroes
find themselves running afoul of the mad Brewmeister Smith (Max von
Sydow), who is plotting to take over the world (or at least Canada) by
putting a mind-controlling drug into the latest batch of Ellsinore beer.
Finding themselves framed for kidnapping and proved legally insane (which
wasn’t particularly difficult), the McKenzie brothers end up confined to
the mental asylum whose property adjoins Ellsinore Brewery. Will our
heroes ever escape from the clutches of the evil Brewmeister Smith and
save the day? What do you think? The cast of STRANGE BREW also
includes Paul Dooley, Lynne Griffin, Angus MacInnes, Tom Harvey and the
voice of Mel Blanc.
Warner
Home Video has made STRANGE BREW available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide
screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9
displays. This transfer provides STRANGE BREW with the best looking
home presentation that it has ever had. Unfortunately, STRANGE BREW
must have had a budget that hovered around ten bucks, because this is a
really cheap looking movie that no transfer could improve. Short of George
Lucas coming in and doing one hundred million dollars worth of CGI
improvements, this is probably the best that STRANGE BREW is ever
going to look. Of course, since STRANGE BREW was produced in 3-B (3
beers and it looks great), many of the film’s fans may not notice
certain deficiencies in the visuals. The image is a bit on the soft side,
plus film grain is rather noticeable throughout. There is some speckling
on the film element, but nothing too bothersome. Colors tend to be on the
muted side, plus flesh tones sometimes look a little pale. Blacks are
accurately rendered and contrast is decent. Digital compression artifacts
are a non-issue.
Although
the packaging indicates that a Dolby Surround soundtrack is on the DVD, STRANGE
BREW is presented in Dolby Digital monaural. Considering the budget of
this movie, the listing on the packaging must contain a typo. The
soundtrack is relatively clean, but is otherwise flat and undistinguished.
Sound effects are pretty unconvincing and the film’s music, while
amusing, lacks any kind of significant fidelity. Dialogue is always
understandable and is usually pretty darn funny. A French language track
is also encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French and Spanish
subtitles.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which provide access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few extras. I’m
sure that fans of the McKenzie brothers will be disappointed by the fact
that there is no commentary track on the DVD, either by Dave Thomas and
Rick Moranis as themselves or in character. However the DVD does include
an original SCTV sketch directly related to one of the movie’s key plot
points. Seeing this SCTV sketch makes me long for the show’s release on
DVD. Also included on the DVD is a trailer for The Animated Adventures Of
Bob And Doug McKenzie, which I would imagine is a show in the works- at
least I hope. A cast & crew listing, some filmographies and a
theatrical trailer close out the DVD’s extras.
STRANGE
BREW is goofy, stupid, hilarious good fun. Warner has done a nice job
with the DVD release, making this a disc that fans will definitely want to
own. So pick up your DVD, a case of Molson Canadian, and take off, eh!
