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The Movie:
(movie review done in 1999)
In 1994, Jim Carrey stumbled into a role that seemed perfectly suited for the actor: a mild-mannered bank teller who finds a mask that turns him into a cartoon-ish super hero. Although Carrey played the role wonderfully, the movie also has a impressive first performance from Cameron Diaz.
Carrey plays Stanley Ipkiss, a bank worker who finds everything going wrong during his day. He's a little too mild mannered - he frequently finds himself stepped on or ignored by others. Until one night, when his car dies out on a bridge, he looks down to find a mask floating by. Taking it home, he finds out that when he puts the mask on, he turns into a cartoon hero who can move like lightning. He goes after the local nightclub singer, Tina Carlyle(Cameron Diaz), but finds himself in trouble with the local gangster(played by the effectively menacing Peter Greene).
Diaz and Carrey work wonderful together, and the special effects by Industrial Light and Magic are quite excellent. It's a little too dark and some younger children might not like it, but I think that most will find Carrey's performance enjoyable.
The DVD
VIDEO: The film is preented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Given the fact that no pan & scan version is included this time around, the widescreen edition has a bit more room on the dual-layer disc. The first release was also non-anamorphic. As a result here, the image quality is not massively improved, but it is a noticable jump over the prior release.
The picture does show some slight softness at times, but sharpness and detail are mostly first-rate. The picture did show some minor edge enhancement, but no pixelation was noted, and the print seemed largely free of specks, marks and other faults. Colors were rich, bright and well-saturated, with no smearing. Black level appeared strong, while flesh tones looked accurate. This was definitely an improvement over the first DVD of the film.
SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1-EX and DTS 6.1-ES. While it's not among the best I've ever heard, "The Mask" does provide some excellent moments of audio, especially during the moments when Carrey becomes "The Mask". There's a number of great moments where the film uses music, and all of the film's tunes come through loud and clear, especially the numbers that starts off chapter 13 and 20("Cuban Pete"). Surrounds are used effectively, but not quite as much as expected. The DTS track is somewhat improved over the Dolby Digitial option, as it presents a fuller, richer-sounding track and uses the surrounds in a more seamless, involving manner.
EXTRAS: The original commentary is included. This is a commentary track from director Charles Russell - after listening to this track, I wish that Russell would have been able to contribute a commentary for his 1996 thriller "Eraser", as well. As an "effects" film, a lot of the commentary is directed towards how many of the film's illusions were created.
The other major aspect of the commentary is Jim Carrey, who wasn't really that well-known when the production started, and then with this picture and "Ace Ventura" he became a major star. Cameron Diaz was discovered with this picture as well, and Russell discusses her first major performance as well.
The commentary offers tons of great information - right off the top, Russell says that the film cost 18 million dollars, which suprised me since I'd guessed the picture's budget more at the 35-40 million range. He also gives great details into the history of the production, where he talks about New Line's original thoughts about where they wanted to take the picture, more as a horror film than a comedy.
It's really one of the most entertaining commentaries I've listened to - Russell is very funny and fascinating to listen to. Like any great commentary, by the time it ended, I'd learned everything I'd ever wanted to know about the movie. Another note is that this is a commentary taken from the laserdisc edition.
A new commentary is also included, and it features quite a crowd: we get a discussion of the film from: New Line Chairman Bob Shaye, producer Bob Engleman, exec producer Mike Richardson, cinematographer John Leonetti, director Charles Russell, writer Mike Werb, animation supervisor Tom Bertino and ILM VFX supervisor Scott Squires. The commentary provides not an ounce of fat - everyone involved (recorded separately) provides a completely detailed and compelling discussion of what it took to bring this film to the screen. We get information on the history of the screenplay, director Chuck Russell's earlier work at New Line, effects work (there's a lot of talk about how this film was part of the "dawn" of today's CGI effects), production issues, casting (including some early choices for Carrey's part) and much more. This is a fantastic, well-edited and informative commentary. A must for fans of the film.
Four featurettes are included: "Return to Edge City" (a general overview of the production, with interviws with the filmmakers and cast), "Introducing Cameron Diaz" (talking about how Cameron Diaz was discovered for her role in the film), "Cartoon Logic" (the inspiration of Tex Avery's cartoons for the film) and finally, "What Makes Fido Run?" (working with dogs on a film set.)
Finally, we get two deleted scenes w/commentary, the film's theatrical trailer and promos for other New Line titles.
Final Thoughts: "The Mask" is an entertaining Carrey effort that also boasted the debut of Cameron Diaz. I still think the movie could have taken its tone a bit further, but it's a fun and entertaining flick. The new DVD edition provides improved audio/video quality, along with a nice helping of supplements. Recommended - even fans with the prior release should consider upgrading to this edition.
Film Grade
The Film B
DVD Grades
Video 92/A
Audio: 91/A
Extras: 88/B
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