UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ National Lampoon's Animal House -- in 4k (1 Viewer)

[titch]

Animal House is an interesting beast for a foreigner, not having been raised on this movie as part of his formative years. I watched Animal House again last night and although the picture quality on this disc was far better than I've seen it before, I'll wager that I'm probably the only member on this forum who doesn't find it flat-out hilarious. I'm well aware that it is much beloved by everyone else and is one of the highest-grossing comedies of all time, as well as launching the teen-sex comedy genre for the 1980's. But John Belushi's mugging and gurning just doesn't do it for me. I saw the newly remastered Trading Places last month, and it really showed how much John Landis and his crew had progressed in movie-making and comedy in five years. There is nothing in Animal House that can remotely compare to Denholm Elliot's facial expressions in Trading Places! That said, it's really great that Universal are releasing 4K UHD legacy titles. Tonight I'm screening The Sting!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Animal House is an interesting beast for a foreigner, not having been raised on this movie as part of his formative years. I watched Animal House again last night and although the picture quality on this disc was far better than I've seen it before, I'll wager that I'm probably the only member on this forum who doesn't find it flat-out hilarious. I'm well aware that it is much beloved by everyone else and is one of the highest-grossing comedies of all time, as well as launching the teen-sex comedy genre for the 1980's. But John Belushi's mugging and gurning just doesn't do it for me. I saw the newly remastered Trading Places last month, and it really showed how much John Landis and his crew had progressed in movie-making and comedy in five years. There is nothing in Animal House that can remotely compare to Denholm Elliot's facial expressions in Trading Places! That said, it's really great that Universal are releasing 4K UHD legacy titles. Tonight I'm screening The Sting!

So why did you buy it on 4K disc? I think it's a funny movie, but I don't laugh out loud continuously throughout the runtime. However, there are moments when I do so.

 

[jayembee]

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

"You f...d up. You trusted us."

 

[jayembee]

Blu-ray.com states that the blu-ray included is the old 2011 version.

It definitely is.

 

[Jeffrey D]

It definitely is.

Does the old BluRay have the original mono mix? Disappointing to hear that a new and “improved” soundtrack is missing things.

 

[jayembee]

Does the old BluRay have the original mono mix? Disappointing to hear that a new and “improved” soundtrack is missing things.

No, it doesn't.

 

[Jeffrey D]

No, it doesn't.

Thanks.

 

[titch]

So why did you buy it on 4K disc? I think it's a funny movie, but I don't laugh out loud continuously throughout the runtime. However, there are moments when I do so.

Well, I often discover that films I didn't care for all that much twenty years ago, I now experience differently. Hardly surprising, considering that we all accumulate life experience as we age. However, when I now watch the teen comedies which I myself enjoyed as a teenager, they quite often don't seem to have aged very well, and the stereotypical characters and storylines jar more now. I simply didn't find that many funny moments in Animal House - "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son" and “Was it over, when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” were the highlights for me! Bluto crushing beer cans into his head repeatedly and all the scenes with sadistic ROTC officer Douglas C. Neidermeyer - not so much.

Comedy is, of course, very subjective, and I do know that Animal House is rated highly by critics, as well as the public. In comparison, I did a double-bill with Fast Times At Ridgemount High straight after Animal House and I enjoyed it far more.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I would have bought a copy but they were all looted at the food king.

 

[sbjork]

So, yes, there are changes in the audio and things like Bluto's belch are missing, and yes, it is unfortunate that people are not given the option on the disc (or on the previous Blu-ray for that matter.) Duly noted. However, let's not lose sight of the extraordinary video transfer on the disc. It is a stunning improvement over that Blu-ray. The sense of film texture is palpable, even in digital projection. Animal House is hardly eye candy, but in a sense this disc still qualifies as such in the sense that the candy is a proper representation of celluloid.

 

[AlexNH]

It must be a lot of work to put mono on discs since the studios never seem to do it anymore. Maybe it's expensive?

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Making new object based mixes costs more.

 

[AlexNH]

Does the old BluRay have the original mono mix? Disappointing to hear that a new and “improved” soundtrack is missing things.

The 1998 DVD does have the original mono.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The 1998 DVD does have the original mono.

Luckily I kept the 1998 DVD and will compare them when I watch this 4K disc.

 

[Malcolm R]

I'll wager that I'm probably the only member on this forum who doesn't find it flat-out hilarious.

It's not just you. I don't understand the appeal of many of these films either, like Animal House or Fast Times.... or almost any John Hughes teen comedy. Never have. And I grew up in the 80's when all these films were released.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's not just you. I don't understand the appeal of many of these films either, like Animal House or Fast Times.... or almost any John Hughes teen comedy. Never have. And I grew up in the 80's when all these films were released.

The subjectivity of humor strikes again! It's the main reason why I would never recommend a comedy to anyone including my own family.

 

[WinstonCely]

True. I tell this to my students all the time because they always want to write funny short films. “Be careful. It’s way easier to make a bunch of different people cry than it is to make those same people laugh. Sadness is universal, humor is not.”

 

[sbjork]

There is definitely no accounting for taste when it comes to humor. I am not a fan of this kind of comedy in general, but I love Animal House. Though I freely admit that after this last viewing, I spent some time writing about the issues with the humor that has not dated well. But you can enjoy the movie while still questioning parts of it.

 

[RCRochester]

I don't find Animal House particularly funny either in a laugh out loud sort of way, but it is a fun movie and I enjoy watching it for the experience, it's very much a comfort food movie for me.

 

[B-ROLL]

There is definitely no accounting for taste when it comes to humor. I am not a fan of this kind of comedy in general, but I love Animal House. Though I freely admit that after this last viewing, I spent some time writing about the issues with the humor that has not dated well. But you can enjoy the movie while still questioning parts of it.