The Bonfire of the Vanities was a critical and financial flop when it was released back in 1990 and considering its cast with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis, it should have been better. For me, I don’t think it was that bad though I’ve never read the novel it was based upon so taking at face value, it’s at least an average, and biting, satirical drama-comedy.
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama, Comedy
Warner Bros. | R – 125 min. – $19.98 | November 6, 2012
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Writer(s): Tom Wolfe (novel); Michael Cristofer (screenplay)
Cast: Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Morgan Freeman, Kim Cattrall, Saul Rubinek, John Hancock, Kevin Dunn
Theatrical Release Date: December 21, 1990
DISC INFO:
Features: Theatrical Trailer
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 2.0), French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Disc Size: 21.1 GB
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A, B, C
THE MOVIE
Plot Outline: Sherman McCoy (TOM HANKS) was Wall Street’s Master of the Universe – and everything in his life was right. Then one night he took a wrong turn at the wrong place with the wrong woman (MELANIE GRIFFITH). And nothing has gone right since.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0.5/5
Only feature on the disc is the theatrical trailer (2:17; SD).
VIDEO – 3.0/5
Warner Brothers releases The Bonfire of the Vanities with an average looking 1080p high-definition transfer. Presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio, the movie has a decent amount of noise but it looks a bit, for the lack of a better word, dirty. The detail level on this picture is OK though hardly noteworthy. It’s also, albeit perhaps intended, on the dark side so it’s not something that pops off the screen.
AUDIO – 3.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio stereo track actually isn’t too bad and given there’s mostly dialogue in the film, it’s perfectly functional though the action elements do tend to top out but it’s few and far between. Given the film’s age, and minimal work done by the studio, it’s not surprising that we get a 2 channel lossless track.
OVERALL – 2.25/5
Overall, The Bonfire of the Vanities was a critical and financial flop when it was released back in 1990 and considering its cast with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis, it should have been better. For me, I don’t think it was that bad though I’ve never read the novel it was based upon so taking at face value, it’s at least an average, and biting, satirical drama-comedy. The Blu-ray isn’t the best with average video and audio transfers and basically no features.
Published: 11/04/2012