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The Movie:
One of the top-grossing touring acts in the country (the giant North Carolina stadium shown in this film looks absolutely packed), the Original Kings Of Comedy stars D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer and Bernie Mac as comedians who do their act with Steve Harvey as the host who comes on in-between the other comedians.
The film has great moments in between segements that are relatively flat. Most of the comedy is based around observations about race, and those who are offended by curse words would likely not be into the acts. Hughley is the most consistently successful, with some very funny moments as he goes through the audience and starts picking on people early on. Some backstage clips in-between the performers are included, obviously to break things up a bit, but they really aren't needed.
Spike Lee does an excellent job filming the concert, keeping the focus on the stage show and doing a solid job capturing the audience when the attention turns to a member of the crowd. A strange thing is that, although there were some good laughs during the actual movie itself, the DVD offers deleted footage of the stand-up performers, some of which is funnier than the material included in the movie.
I laughed loudly a few times, chuckled some more and sat through a few flat moments. Although these are certainly talented stand-ups, Dave Chappelle still leads the pack in my opinion, as his brillliant HBO special packed in more laughs-per-minute than anything I've seen lately.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Original Kings Of Comedy" was filmed on digital video, but Paramount's anamorphic transfer still looks very good. Sharpness and detail are a little bit lacking at times, although the picture at least remains crisp and clear looking throughout.
Aside from the slight softness, there's generally no other complaints about the image quality. There's nothing in the way of print flaws with no marks, scratches or speckles, which is to be expected (but isn't always apparent) with a movie that was only in the theaters a couple months ago. No pixelation, shimmering or other flaws pop up, either.
It's not a terribly colorful movie, but colors look accurate and generally natural, with no problems. Overall, this is a very nice presentation of the film, which is well-filmed on digital video.
SOUND: "Original Kings" gets a Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation that's a bit more than I'd expected from the material. Although obviously as with any stand-up comedy presentation, the focus is mainly on the dialogue, but there's a nice sense of space and dimension to the audio. Surrounds offer crowd noise quite well, and the viewer almost feels as if they're front row at the show. The occasional music that comes on before the performers come out sounds great, as well. Dialogue sounds clear and easily understood.
MENUS:: Menus that are pretty basic, using the cover art as the background for the main menu.
EXTRAS: About 30 minutes worth of deleted footage, which includes some stand-up bits that are funnier than some of the bits in the final movie as well as some interesting interview segements that didn't end up in the final film. Also included is the music video for the Big Tymer's "#1 Stunna" and the R-rated trailer.
Final Thoughts:
Positive: Overall, I felt "Original Kings Of Comedy" was successful, but had some flat moments. Paramount's DVD is not outstanding, but it is certainly very good.
Negative: No significant complaints.
Film Grade
The Film ***
DVD Grades
Video 89/B+ = (356/400 possible points)
Audio: 89/B+ = (356/400 possible points)
Extras: 77/C = (231/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 83/B = (249/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1332/1600
DVD GRADE:B/83%
FILM GRADE: *** 1/2
DVD GRADE: B
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