Synopsis
Adam Sandler plays Robbie Hart, wedding singer in 1985, making a living covering other people’s songs, but happy with his life, until he is dumped at the altar. Total professional meltdown then ensues (in the big money scene that everyone saw in the trailers). Hope for romance still exists, however, in the person of Drew Barrymore, a waitress about to be married to a total jerk.
This is the film that demonstrated that Sandler was more than a one-trick pony, that the man could act i… more than one register, and paved the way for the even more substantial work in Punch-Drunk Love. Fans of eighties hits ate this up, and will no doubt continue to do so. Buyer beware, however. If you already own this movie, be warned that the additional footage accounts for no more than two minutes. This is also not a director’s cut. It’s just a version with deleted stuff put back in so you’ll buy it again.
Audio
The audio comes in three flavours: 5.1, DTS and 2.0. In the battle of the full surround modes, the DTS is very much the loser here, sounding distinctly anaemic compared to the 5.1. The latter is very high energy, and all those songs come blasting out like they really mean it. The environmental effects are very good, too. In the wedding scenes, for instance, guests are calling out comments from all sides. In other words, You Are There.
Video
The picture is excellent, too. There is no grain, whatsoever, and ditto for edge enhancement. The colours are very strong (often in that deliberately overdone 80’s way), and the image is extremely sharp. The aspect ratio is 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, and this could well be an improvement over the previous edition. Though I cannot confirm this one way or the other, the fact that the original DVD came out in 1998 leads me to suspect the format would not have been anamorphic.
Special Features
For a “totally awesome edition,” this is totally feh. You have a featurette (i.e. promo) about the Broadway version of the movie, the theatrical trailer (plus ads for other DVD releases), and a useless something called “80’s Mix Tapes.” Here you may read about one single sentence about the each of the 35 songs in the film, and then jump to that scene where the song plays. Ooooh, informative! The menu’s main screen and transitions are animated and scored, and the second-level screens are scored.
Closing Thoughts
Really, this is pretty weak as far as a new package goes, and hardly justifies a second purchase.
Special Features List
- Wedding Singer Broadway Musical Featurette
- 80’s Mix Tapes Jump to a Scene Feature
- Theatrical Trailer
