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For those that don't know, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged
Me is at least as funny as the first film, and in some sequences,
even funnier. There are some bits in this movie that hit very
high on the gut-laugh meter, and made me laugh as hard as I've
ever laughed at a movie. Myers and company do a nice job of balancing
references to the classic sequences from the first Austin Powers
with new gags and characters. This is an hysterically funny movie
that deftly takes advantage of a known quantity, but doesn't dwell
on it to the point that it plays like a remake of the first film
as so many sequels often do.
Robert Wagner continues his solid comedic turn as Number Two,
as does Seth Green as Scott Evil, and Mindy Sterling as the stern
(but sexy?) Frau Farbissina. Added to the cast are Heather Graham,
of Boogie Nights fame, and Rob Lowe, who is underrated with respect
to his comedy skills. I won't spill the beans on Lowe's part here
for those that might not know, but he's fantastic. Mike Myers
also shows up in a new character that I won't divulge, as his
voice is the only thing that gives him away (although I will say
you will never look at baby back ribs the same way!) One addition
to the cast everyone knows by now is a small but important one,
Mini Me. Indeed he and Dr. Evil steal the show.
I loved this movie and I recommend it enthusiastically. A free
piece of advice here is to watch some old James Bond movies this
week before you check out Austin Powers. I guarantee you it will
seem even funnier.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The Spy Who Shagged Me is presented in it's theatrical 2.35:1
aspect ratio and is anamorphic widescreen as well. Color fidelity
is outstanding with respect to the kaleidoscopic color palette
of this film, and is outright eye-popping at times. Colors are
deep and saturated but never break up into bleeding. Fleshtones
are very natural as is the picture overall. Detail is fair for
a recent vintage anamorphic transfer, however, and is slightly
wanting in that regard. The picture is also short of the kind
of depth and dimensionality of the better anamorphic presentations.
While there is certainly no artifacts of any kind or traces of
grain relating to the transfer process, nor is there any film
grain that would reinforce the idea that you're watching a film.
It really has more of a video look to it than a film look, which
I found to be less involving. Overall a fine presentation but
definitely not in the elite category.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
The big deal here, of course, is that The Spy Who Shagged Me
is the first THX Surround EX encoded DVD with a Surround back
channel complementing the left and right surround channels. I
wish I could say that this DD 5.1 soundtrack is a knockout, but
the filmmakers pretty much ignored the capability of the surround
channels in general, let alone the additional surround back channel.
And I do mean ignored. With the exception of a precious few sequences,
the rocket launch in particular, The Spy Who Shagged Me's soundtrack
is restricted to the front soundstage. Many opportunities to envelop
the listener were simply not taken advantage of, making for a
rather plain vanilla soundtrack experience. For the sake of those
out there wondering what THX Surround EX is going to bringing
to the dance, this movie is really not a good indicator unfortunately.
I will tell you what I did hear in those few moments when the
soundfield was engaged.
The first thing you'll notice with the THX-EX setup is that the
soundfield in the surrounds is much more expansive. It really
goes that much farther at recreating the cinema experience in
which an array of speakers reproduce the surrounds. Sounds don't
just move into your left or right surround speakers, they move
into that whole side of the room. It's really impressive. When
Austin kicks Frau Farbissina, and the "laser" misfires, the sound
effect of the laser firing from the right surround is greatly
enhanced, recreating the illusion all the more convincingly.
Other positive aspects of this soundtrack include a finely recorded
music score that images deep and wide across the front soundstage,
as does the additional pop music selections that play throughout
the movie. The LFE presence is deep, tight, and powerful when
called upon. Dialog is natural and well integrated. One note,
there was no THX Surround EX logo anywhere on the packaging for
The Spy Who Shagged Me, nor on the disc itself. There also was
no digital flag present as my processor did not auto-switch to
THX-EX mode, I had to manually select it.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Among the special features are a screen-specific audio commentary
with Mike Myers, director Jay Roach, and co-writer Michael McCullers,
which is informative both about the artistic and casting choices,
and some nuts and bolts about the process of making the film.
It's funny, and highly interesting. There are also 21 (yes, you
read that right, 21!) deleted scenes that total 19 minutes of
running time. Some of these are hilarious, especially the additional
footage of Dr Evil on Jerry Springer, and #20, with Rob Lowe,
which is just too wrong and too funny to describe! Next is a 26
minute long Behind the Scenes documentary, which actually played
a little flat for me. Austin Powers is one of those brands of
comedy that really can't be explained, you either "get it" or
you don't. Three music videos are also included: Beautiful Stranger
by Madonna, with Mike Myers co-starring (the best of the three,
actually a decent song and a fun video.)
Next comes Lenny Kravitz' lousy music video for his lousy
cover of American Woman, starring Felicity Shagwell herself, Heather
Graham. Nuff said. Last is the abomination that is Mel B (aka
Scary Spice) doing Cameo's "Word Up." Mini-Me's presence helps,
but cannot save this turkey of a video. Scary is right! Also included
are four trailers, including the two Star Wars trailers
("If you only see one movie this summer...") and the full
length trailer for both Austin Powers' films. Of note is that
all trailers are anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
soundtracks. Nice! Also included is a cameo list by which
you can get filmographies for the cameo actors and jump to their
scenes in the film. Cameo actors include Tim Robbins, Jerry Springer,
Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, and the great Clint Howard. Cast
and crew bios are thrown in for good measure.
Remember those cool menus I told you about? As you're in the
Special Features menu, Dr. Evils phallic rocket ship fires up
through the screen, and deposits a little "E" graphic, as in E-vil
baby (sorry I couldn't resist!) Click on this symbol and you are
taken to "Dr Evil's Special Features Menu." First, and most hilarious
is Comedy Central's Canned Ham Presents: Dr Evil's Story,a
"Spyography" hosted by Robert Culp. This featurette runs for 20
minutes and I thought it was funny as hell. Comedy Central managed
to sneak in a commercial at the end of this for the Daily Show.
Other selections available here include the film's two musical
sequences, "What If God Was One Of Us" and "Just The Two Of
Us" performed by Dr Evil and Mini-Me. These two kill me, I could
watch these two a hundred times, and probably will. Also included
are Classic Evil Schemes Gone Awry, a series of text frames
that show the various super-villains and their schemes vs the
like of James Bond, Derek Flint, Matt Helm, and Harry Palmer (which
I thought was a masturbation joke) in their filmed adventures.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc
in your PC?
As if all of this weren't enough, there are DVD-ROM features
including trivia games, Dr Evil and Austin Powers web
browsers and screensavers, and three "interactive Austin
episodes" that "take over your desktop" (a task I generally leave
to Microsoft, but what the hell). You'll also find various weblinks
to the New Line and Austin Powers websites.
Parting Thoughts
See the size of that supplements section? That tells you all
you need to know. New Line has come up huge again, proving that
they really care about their movies and the fans of their movies.
I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: I wish every studio
out there would take a page put of New Line's book. They continue
to set the industry standard for DVD product and continue to do
so at the wallet-friendly $24.95 price point. I cannot recommend
this DVD highly enough!
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