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In Short: What should have been a special edition instead is just a very basic offering.
The Movie:
One of the biggest imports in recent film history, maybe ever, this little film about out of work steel workers who are forced to strip to make money was a surprise worldwide hit, not only overseas, but in the US. The head of the group is Gaz(Robert Carlyle of "Trainspotting"), who plays the role wonderfully, capturing not only the humor of the situation, but the drama of being out-of-work. The film captures this balance as well, keeping things light and funny, but also adding a touch of reality here and there about what these people have to go through to find work.
Gaz and his best friend Dave(Mark Addy), along with their former Boss, Gerald(Tom Wilkinson), hold auditions to get a group together, and many of the situations that happen with the group are quite hilarious. The desperation of the characters to make money gives the film some weight, making the characters more sympathetic, and more hilarious as they try any way possible to find work.
A very funny film with some great performances, "The Full Monty" is light entertainment that I found very funny.
The DVD
VIDEO: Certainly nothing impressive from Fox on this release, which is unfortunate considering how big of a hit this film was. I'm not saying this is an unwatchable transfer; far from it. I certainly don't mind the sort of dark look to the picture, either. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just the soft nature of the image on this transfer that I found slightly annoying. What I couldn't help but notice, as I watched the image, although some scenes do fare better than others, is just how solidly average it is. Colors are fine and natural, although this isn't a movie that's full of vibrant colors, anyway.
Other than the picture being not terribly sharp, I really didn't find any other major problems to this transfer; there are a few tiny instances of shimmering, but that's about it. The print is also in clear condition, with no faults. Overall, some scenes looked very good, but the disc as a whole just strikes me as being a little on the inconsistent side.
SOUND: This is really quite a nice, although somewhat basic audio track. The music really has a nice, warm, crystal-clear nature to it, and dialogue sounds fine as well, not compressed or thin. I was actually slightly suprised at just how strong the music sounded on this mix, and how well it came through. The U.K. track(non-dubbed) is also included on this disc. I'm not sure if Fox considers this an extra, but I would have really have liked to have heard a commentary track on this disc instead of one of the additional tracks.
MENUS: Pretty basic- slight animation when you make a selection to go to a sub-menu.
EXTRAS:: The trailer. For a film that made this much money, I think there could have been an interest in a commentary track, and since star Robert Carlyle has recently recorded a commentary for Fox's Ravenous, I don't see why they couldn't have asked him or director Peter Cattaneo to record their thoughts on this huge hit film. Fox, on the other hand, needs to make more consistent (and slightly more logical) choices on content. Although I appreciate special editions like "Ravenous", if you're going to do a special edition for a film like that, why not a film like this? Or better yet, why not be like Tristar and do a special edition for every film they're releasing to DVD?
Final Thoughts: This isn't a bad disc and certainly not unwatchable in terms of quality, but I think a movie that was this much of a success deserves better.
The Film: 87/B = (435/500 possible points)
Video 84/B = (336/400 possible points)
Audio: 86/B = (344/400 possible points)
Extras: 70/C- = (210/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 81/B = (258/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1674/2100
Average:80%/B-
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