The Specials has some aspects of a young James Gunn personality though the humor is a bit raw as is the plot, which was done better in 1999’s Mystery Men.
The Specials
— 20th Anniversary Edition —
(2000)
Genre(s): Comedy, Fantasy
La-La Land Entertainment | R – 82 min. – $24.98 | July 14, 2020
Date Published: 08/11/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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La-La Land Entertainnent provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
PLOT SYNOPSIS |
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They’re the sixth (okay, maybe the seventh) greatest superhero team in the entire world. At their modest suburban headquarters, The Strobe (THOMAS HADEN CHURCH), The Weevil (ROB LOWE), foul-mouthed Amok (JAMIE KENNEDY), Ms. Indestructible (PAGET BREWSTER), Deadly Girl (JUDY GREER), new member Nightbird (JORDAN LADD) and the rest all spend their time bickering, having extramarital affairs, and preparing for the grand unveiling of their own action figure line. But when a furious Strobe suddenly disbands the group, who will be there for the oddballs, rebels, outcasts and geeks? Before they save the world, can they save themselves? Meet THE SPECIALS! |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
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This 20th Anniversary Blu-ray release ports over the features from the original DVD plus a couple new extras. Audio Commentaries:
Mojo’s Magic: The “Specials” Effects (2:58) is a breakdown of the visual effects with commentary by Mojo. Deleted Scenes (4:32) — There are 10 scenes that were, probably rightfully, left on the cutting room floor. Also included is a fake Toy Commercial (1:04), Wedding Video (0:58) for Ted and Emily, the Red Band Theatrical Trailer (2:31) and Behind the Scenes Photos. |
VIDEO – 4.0/5 |
| The Specials comes to Blu-ray courtesy of La-La Land Entertainment and is presented in its original 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and given a new 1080p high-definition transfer, which was taken from a new 2K scan of the interpositive. Considering this wasn’t a big budget film, as evidenced by the less-than-stellar visual effects (even for 2000), the picture here looks okay, detail for the most part is sharp and I didn’t really notice any significant instances of artifacting, aliasing or other flaws. On the downside, colors are a bit tamped down, though that could be due to the camera and equipment rather than the transfer itself. |
AUDIO – 3.5/5 |
| The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track sounds adequate enough but the majority of the movie is dialogue with some modest depth for a couple minor action sequences. There is also a PCM 2.0 track also available. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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The Specials has some aspects of a young James Gunn personality though the humor is a bit raw as is the plot, which was done better in 1999’s Mystery Men. This new 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray comes with fine video/audio transfers and a good selection of bonus material from the 2001 and 2005 DVD releases, plus a couple minor features. |