{"id":19979,"date":"2018-11-25T21:03:56","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T05:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=19979"},"modified":"2018-11-25T21:04:20","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T05:04:20","slug":"review-critters4-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2018\/11\/review-critters4-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Critters 4 Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I suppose there are worse ways to spend 90-minutes than sitting through Critters 4<\/em><\/strong>, even if the titular creatures don\u2019t seem to have as much screen time with only two on-screen kills. Of note, though, the inclusions of Angela Bassett and Brad Dourif did make it more interesting.<\/p>\n

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Critters 4<\/span>
\n(1992)<\/span>
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Genre(s): <\/strong>Horror, Comedy
\nShout Factory | PG13 \u2013 94 min. \u2013 $0.00 | November 27, 2018<\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 11\/25\/2018 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Directed by: <\/strong>Rupert Harvey
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Rupert Harvey & Barry Opper (story), Joseph Lyle and David J. Schow (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Don Opper, Paul Whitthorne, Angela Bassett, Brad Dourif, Terrence Mann, Anders Hove<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DISC INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Features: <\/strong>Audio Commentary, Featurette, Trailer, Still Gallery
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>Blu-ray
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.85
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>33.2 GB
\nCodecs: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Shout Factory provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
\nThe opinions I share are my own.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Note: <\/strong>This release is part of the Critters Collection<\/em> and currently is not individually available for purchase.<\/span><\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 2.0\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>The Critters are back in this sci-fi space adventure. But these are no ordinary Critters \u2013 they\u2019re super strain of genetically engineered mutants designed to take over the universe. This time, they\u2019re hungry to conquer the galaxy, with an appetite for mankind that\u2019s out of this world. Taking them on are a wreckage crew comprised of Captain Rick (ANDERS HOVE), pilot Fran (ANGELA BASSETT), engineer Al Bert (BRAD DOURIF), his prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Ethan (PAUL WHITTHORNE) and mechanic Bernie (ERIC DARAE). Also arriving, from the past after being trapped inside a pod with two Critter eggs, is good old Charlie (DON OPP).<\/p>\n

Quick Hit Review: Critters 4<\/em><\/strong> is the final installment, at least until New Line decides to do some sort of soft reboot, in the series and where the first movie reminded me a lot of Gremlins<\/em>, this one oddly was like Alien Resurrection<\/em>. The space element was a good twist on the story, as was the apartment complex in Critters 3<\/em>, it\u2019s unfortunately this nice cast, which includes Angela Basset and Brad Dourif, didn\u2019t get much to work with. Critter<\/em> veterans Don Opper (now top billed) and Terrence Mann reprise their roles as Charlie and Ug respectably, with an almost soap opera turn for the latter.<\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s not very good but did take on a different, and darker, look under the direction of British filmmaker Rupert Harvey, who also served as a story writer. This fourth movie was filmed back-to-back with Critters 3<\/em> as a way to save money, but at the same time, done on a shoe-string budget (according to the featurette, something like a $2.5M budget for both). Because of this, the Critters themselves aren\u2019t seen as much and it seems most of the kills were done by the humans than those fur balls, but they did get their two pounds of flesh, including one pretty gnarly death early on.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 2.75\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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This has a reversible cover revealing the original poster artwork.<\/p>\n

Audio Commentary<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Story Writer\/Producer\/Director Rupert Harvey. This track, like the others in the franchise, is pretty decent who does provide some information on the production and with moderator Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures, does keep it flowing.<\/p>\n

Space Madness: The Making of Critters 4<\/em> (22:39)<\/u><\/strong> is a pretty good featurette containing interviews with Producer Barry Opper, Actors Don Opper and Terrence Mann, Critter Designers the Chiodo Brothers, Screenwriter David J. Schow and Director of Photography Thomas J. Calloway. Some of it was pretty honest about the tight production.<\/p>\n

Last up is the Trailer (2:10)<\/u><\/strong> and a Still Gallery (3:05)<\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 3.75\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The film comes to Blu-ray presented, for the first time I believe, in the originally intended 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio as home video releases were 1.33. The 1080p high-definition transfer, albeit did not get the 2K scan, still was pleasant looking even with the literal darker tone. Colors are more on the muted side yet still shine through and detail on close-ups were decently sharp while some of the distant shots were on the fuzzier side. As with Critters 3<\/em>, this too had some specs and dirt show up however nothing I considered overly distracting.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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AUDIO \u2013 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo track is serviceable with good dialogue levels with only some minor noise present, I\u2019m assuming due to the original sound design. Otherwise, ambient noises, like the Critter\u2019s scrambling around the space station, come through the dual channels well enough. It\u2019s nothing terribly remarkable but adequate for a movie like this.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 2.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Overall, I suppose there are worse ways to spend 90-minutes than sitting through Critters 4<\/em><\/strong>, even if the titular creatures don\u2019t seem to have as much screen time with only two on-screen kills. Of note, though, the inclusions of Angela Bassett and Brad Dourif did make it more interesting. This Blu-ray release has good video\/audio transfers and an okay selection of bonus material.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers<\/strong>.
\nThese are only here to give an idea of the movie\u2019s video quality and may not be truly representative of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Critters 4<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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I suppose there are worse ways to spend 90-minutes than sitting through Critters 4, even if the titular creatures don\u2019t seem to have as much screen time with only two on-screen kills. Of note, though, the inclusions of Angela Bassett and Brad Dourif did make it more interesting.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[3426,786,6231,6233,3083,2462,6234],"class_list":["post-19979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-angela-bassett","tag-brad-dourif","tag-critters","tag-don-opper","tag-scream-factory","tag-shout-factory","tag-terrence-mann"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19979"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19981,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19979\/revisions\/19981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}