New Line // 1998 // 100 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Judge David Johnson // April 25th, 2006
He's gonna party like it's 1985. (Or 1998, when this disc was first released.)
New Line continues its trend of double-dipping its discs with minimal add-ons on the subsequent releases.
If you've watched any TBS or TNT within the last five years, you can probably quote this film verbatim. But, I'll run through it anyway, for tradition's sake. Adam Sandler (Big Daddy) is Robbie Hart, a soft-spoken, sensitive 20-something, just trying to make his way through the '80s. Once a high school rocker extraordinaire, Robbie now makes his living as a wedding singer. But he doesn't mind; he just wants one thing -- to get married.
Unfortunately his loser fiancée has other plans and leaves him at the altar. Robbie takes this hard and not even the consolation of his best friend Sammy (Allen Covert) can drag him out of the doldrums. Drew Barrymore on the other hand, yeah she can do it.
Barrymore enters the scene as lovable Julia Sullivan, a new waitress at the dining hall where Robbie sings. The two immediately hit it off and become friends, and Robbie agrees to help her plan her upcoming wedding with lecher and overall douchebag Glenn (Matthew Glave). As the two spend more time together, their mutual feelings grow, and it becomes increasingly painful for Robbie to have to watch Julia throw her life away with Glenn.
Skip over some misunderstandings, hurtful words, and a drunken brawl, and Robbie decides to make a final dash to land the girl of his dreams. With the help of Billy Idol, of course.
With these double-dip reviews, I know the question you're asking: is it worth me spending more mooolah on a flick that I already own? The answer for this one: nope.
Aside from another example of the perpetually annoying trend of studios slapping lame monikers on double dips (i.e., "Totally Awesome Edition"), there is very, very little to differentiate this release from its predecessor's. Here's what's trumpeted on the back of the discs, and why you should ignore the hype:
* "More primo footage than before"
Man, that's totally
awesome! They said "primo!" I've seen this flick more than once, and I
couldn't delineate the new stuff. That shouldn't be a huge shocker because the
"primo" new footage weighs in at about five minutes. That's right, the
new extended edition of The Wedding Singer is a whopping 100 minutes. I'm
surprised they were able to cram it all on to one disc.
* "'80s Mix Tapes"
The only noteworthy thing about this
feature is the decent menu art accompanying it. Basically, a bunch of songs from
the film are arranged as separate "tracks," scrawled on old-school
cassette cases. All style, no substance, though. Clicking on one of the tracks
brings up some text-only info on the song, and the ability to jump to the
specific scene in the film where the song's playing. Radical! Not!
* "A Backstage Look at The Wedding Singer on Broadway"
They made an Adam Sandler movie into a Broadway show? Apparently. This is
probably the bulkiest of the bonus features, but it's essentially a 10-minute
commercial for the play. Me, I'll wait for Bulletproof! The Musical.
* "And more!"
Previews!
There you go, another dopey double-dip, spruced up with some '80s jargon. If you own the movie already, don't give this another thought. If you don't, and want to add it to your collection -- I don't know, go with whatever's cheaper. There's nothing terrific on this disc to command attention.
This being New Line, bank on a totally dope! technical treatment. A bright (and I mean bright! Yikes, pastels!) and sharp 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is supported by two solid 5.1 mixes, DTS and Dolby Digital.
Oh yeah, the movie. Funny, romantic, a subdued performance by Sandler (which was appreciated), some good '80s in-jokes that got a little too cutesy and self-indulging after a while, and Christine Taylor looking hot as a 1985 tramp. Three out of four Muscle Men.
The movie's gnarly, but the content-starved double-dip is bogus.
Seriously, enough with the "Totally Awesome Edition" and "Explosive Extended Edition" and "Special Delivery Edition" and "Totally Explosive Super-Terrific Give Me Some Ritalin! Edition." Next studio to put out a disc with a moronic label like this will be held in contempt.
Review content copyright © 2006 David Johnson; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2008 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Video: 90
Audio: 95
Extras: 70
Acting: 90
Story: 90
Judgment: 80
Perp Profile
Studio: New Line
Video Formats:
* 1.85:1 Anamorphic
Audio Formats:
* DTS 5.1 Surround (English)
* Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English)
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (English)
Subtitles:
* English
* Spanish
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Release Year: 1998
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* Extra Footage
* "'80s Mix Tapes" Jump to a Song
* "A Backstage Look at The Wedding Singer on Broadway"
* Previews
Accomplices
* IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0120888/combined