This 25th Anniversary edition of Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a great set and includes all the features from the Vista Series edition but gets a boost from great audio/video transfers to go along with an all around fantastic movie that is just as good when I last saw it (probably a good 15 years ago).
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Genre(s): Comedy, Crime
Touchstone | PG – 104 min. – $26.50 | March 12, 2013
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Writer(s): Gary K. Wolf (book “Who Censored Roger Rabbit?”); Jeffrey Price & Peter Seanman (screenplay)
Cast: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Charles Fleischer, Joanna Cassidy
Theatrical Release Date: June 22, 1988
DISC INFO:
Features: Audio Commentary, Featurettes, Deleted Scene, DVD Copy
Number of Discs: 2
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.85
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Disc Size: 40.9 GB
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A, B, C
THE MOVIE – 4.5/5
Plot Outline: It’s 1947 Hollywood and Eddie Valiant (BOB HOSKINS), a down-on-his-luck detective, is hired to find proof that femme fatale Jessica Rabbit, wife to famed cartoon actor Roger Rabbit, is playing hanky-panky behind his back. When he photographs her doing so with gag factory mogul and owner of Toontown Marvin Acme, and subsequently Acme is found murdered, all fingers point to Roger, who begs the Toon-hating Valiant to find the real evildoer.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.25/5
The initial run of this two-disc set comes with a standard slip cover. Inside is the retail DVD Copy of the movie.
Audio Commentary – This track features a packed house including Director Robert Zemeckis, Producer Frank Marshall, Associate Producer Steve Starkey, Screenwriters Jeffrey Price & Peter Seaman and Visual Effects Supervisor Ken Ralston. Although there are many participants, who I think were recorded separately in groups, provide a plethora of information for any fans of the movie.
The Roger Rabbit Shorts include Tommy Trouble (8:08; HD), Roller Coaster Rabbit (8:11; HD) and Trail Mix-Up (9:09; HD) all of which have been digitally restored with a new 5.1 soundtrack.
Who Made Roger Rabbit (10:55; SD) is a sneak peek, hosted by Charles Fleischer (voice of Roger Rabbit), at how the film was made with some basic behind-the-scenes footage.
Deleted Scene (5:30; SD) is the “Pig Head Sequence” with an intro by the filmmakers. It’s the scene that explains why Hoskins walks out of the bathroom with no shirt on…
Before and After (3:07; SD) compares raw footage with the final cut.
Toon Stand-Ins (3:14; SD) shows how rubber models were used for the live actors to act against.
Behind the Ears (36:37; SD) is a more extensive behind-the-scenes featurette showing how scenes were shot and includes some interesting cast and crew sound bites as they talk about the challenges and rewards of making a groundbreaking film.
On Set! (4:50; SD) is just another simple behind-the-scenes, fly-on-the-wall style.
VIDEO – 4.0/5
Touchstone Home Entertainment finally releases Who Framed Roger Rabbit onto Blu-ray presented in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-def transfer. While the picture does look very good in HD, the one problem that arises is the fact the live action elements look so good but the animated bits tend to be off and thus when meddling the two, something seemed a bit off. That being said, the achievement done by the filmmakers is quite impressive.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track offered up shows off some great and expansive audio which shows off whenever there’s action, and there is quite a bit of it, allowing the front and rear channels to come to life. The center speaker primarily gets used for the dialogue and all the elements nicely come together providing for a well defined lossless track.
OVERALL – 4.0/5
Overall, this 25th Anniversary edition of Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a great set and includes all the features from the Vista Series edition but gets a boost from great audio/video transfers to go along with an all around fantastic movie that is just as good when I last saw it (probably a good 15 years ago). Although the price is a bit steep ($24 at the time of this writing), it’s well worth the cost.
Published: 04/06/2013