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| Special Features: |
Theatrical trailer
Widescreen anamorphic transfer
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| Video Format: |
Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
[SS-SL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
French (Dolby Digital 1.0)
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| Subtitles: |
English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Thai
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| Captions: |
Yes
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| Casing: |
1-Disc Snap Case
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Considered the last of Blake Edwards' great comedies, this 1981 classic is a wry mixture of slapstick,
cynicism and sentimentality. Richard Mulligan plays a Hollywood producer who realizes that his career
may be over when the public sees his latest film: a hugely expensive musical that lands on test audiences with a thud.
In a moment of madness after literally falling into the middle of an orgy, he hits upon the idea of reediting
it to include soft-porn reshoots--including a shot of his squeaky clean movie-star wife (Julie Andrews) baring her breasts.
And yes, believe it or not, the real Julie Andrews does just that. An entirely scathing and satirical slap in the face
of Hollywood antics, “S.O.B” features terrific performances by Mulligan, Robert Preston, and the great William Holden
(in his last film). The picture is actually acknowledged to be based on Edward’s own painful experiences with his
financial flop “Darling Lili.”
Though containing a somewhat disappointing audio transfer, the video quality is highly sufficient, as are
the seven subtitled languages included on the disc. Though light on the extra features (only a widescreen trailer
and cast bios are included), it's a serviceable disc from Warner Bros.
Picture Quality: 7/10
Just like Victor/Victoria, S.O.B. has been given a brand new anamorphic transfer. I feel that it looked better on Victor/Victoria, but the 2.35:1 anamorphic image is still fairly strong. A majority of the shots are outside and therefore the lack of grain gives the film a very muted look. The indoor shots have the harsh lighting that gives the film it's dated look, but for the most part it's a very good transfer. In some scenes, there seemed to be a bit of a problem with the focus as they seemed soft and a bit hard to make out. Still, this is by far the best the film has ever looked and buying the DVD is almost worth it just to see how the film looks. Not perfect by any means, but certainly better-looking than a lot out there.
Sound Quality: 6/10
The audio is something that needs a bit more work done. While there really wasn't a big problem with the way the film sounded, it did sound dated. A few instances of a hiss can be heard and even during the opening scene with Julie Andrews singing, it sounded like it needed to be kicked up a notch or two. Plenty of the action on screen is dialogue-driven and it's kind of sad that the film couldn't sound a bit better. For all the work that went into the video portion of the movie, you'd figure they would go the extra mile for the audio. I guess not. Still, it's not that bad, but it could most likely sound better.
Menu: 8/10
Nice, clean menu system.
No easter eggs found during review.
Extra Features: 2/10
A trailer shown in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and some cast bios with those of Blake Edwards being "selectable" are the only features included.
The Final Word:
Widely considered that last great comedy of Blake Edwards' storied filmmaking career.
Though containing a somewhat disappointing audio transfer, the video quality is highly sufficient, as are
the seven subtitled languages included on the disc. Though light on the extra features (only a widescreen trailer
and cast bios are included), it's a serviceable disc of one of the great anti-Hollywood satires.
Stephen Wong
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