A CHRISTMAS STORY
(20th Anniversary Special Edition)
There
are some movies featuring kids that annoyingly saccharine that I am forced
to tune them out in thirty seconds. Then, there are other movies featuring
kids that are totally charming and oftentimes hilarious. A CHRISTMAS
STORY ($27) is a truly delightful movie that falls into the later
category. In the twenty years since the film has been released, it has
gone from a very funny movie, to an annual yuletide favorite, and finally,
a recognized holiday classic. For those unfamiliar with the origins of A
CHRISTMAS STORY, this holiday charmer has been adapted from the works
of Jean Shepherd, which ably strings together a series of his vignettes
into a cohesive storyline.
Set
in the 1940’s the plot of A CHRISTMAS STORY focuses on a young
boy named Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), who has become obsessed with
getting the perfect Christmas gift- a Red Ryder Carbine Action, 200 Shot,
Range Model Air Rifle. Of course, the second Ralphie mentions his gift of
choice to his Mother (Melinda Dillon)- she responds in typical motherly
fashion by stating "you’ll shoot your eye out!"
Undeterred, Ralphie continues his quest throughout the rest of the movie,
but not before a series of hilarious occurrences, including a tire
changing incident that leaves a bad taste in Ralphie’s mouth and the
repercussions of his Father (Darren McGavin) winning a rather unusual
lighting fixture. The cast of A CHRISTMAS STORY also features Ian
Petrella, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Tedde Moore, Yano Anaya, Zack Ward
and the voice of Jean Shepherd himself serving as the film’s narrator.
Warner
Home Video has made A CHRISTMAS STORY available on DVD in a 1.78:1
wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9
displays, a full screen version is provided on a separate layer of the
disc, but is not reviewed. The wide screen version of A CHRISTMAS STORY
features a pretty nice transfer of a modestly budgeted film from 1983.
Sure, the image lacks the snap and detail of a brand new movie, or even a
big budget film from the same period, but the DVD produces a reasonably
sharp and fairly well defined picture. There are some shots that appear a
bit soft, and some of the dark scenes are slightly nondescript, but for
the most part, the presentation is more than satisfactory. Colors are
occasionally vibrant and occasionally muted by design, but the flesh tones
come across in a natural wintry fashion. Blacks are respectable, whites
appear solid and contrast is smooth. Digital compression artifacts are
pretty much a non-issue.
A
CHRISTMAS STORY comes with a perfectly fine Dolby Digital monaural
soundtrack. This is pretty much a dialogue driven movie, so remixing the
soundtrack really wouldn’t have benefited the material very much.
Dialogue itself is clean and always completely understandable- that is,
all of it that is intended to be understandable. The track itself doesn’t
demonstrate any noticeable signs of background hiss or other audible
anomalies. Fidelity is more than adequate for the material and even the
vintage radio programs integrated into the track sound fine. A French
language track is also provided on the DVD, along with English, Spanish
and French subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serves to enhance the interactive menus,
which allow one access to the standard scene selection and set up
features, as well as the supplements that have been spread across both
discs of this set. Up first, on disc one is a fun running audio commentary
with director Bob Clark and actor Peter Billingsley. This is an enjoyable
talk, as both men share their remembrances of making this movie, although
their comments do get a bit sparse in places. A theatrical trailer is also
on disc one.
On
disc two one will find the supplemental programs starting with Another
Christmas Story. Another Christmas Story is an
eighteen-minute program with Bob Clark, Peter Billingsley, R.D. Robb,
Scott Schwartz, and Zack Ward, all of whom share their memories of the
movie, as well as the effect that it has had on their lives and careers.
Interactive features include the Triple Dog Dare trivia game
and Decoder. The Radio section is a real treat
featuring Jean Shepherd reading two of his classic stories. Lastly, are a
couple of cool featurettes, Daisy Red Rider: A History and Get
A Leg Up. Daisy Red Rider: A History is a five
minute look at the company that manufactured the coveted gun depicted in
the film, while Get A Leg Up is a humorous four minute take
on that all American icon- the leg lamp.
A
CHRISTMAS STORY is a true holiday delight made even more delightful by
the fact that its Twentieth Anniversary edition finally offers fans
something that’s been on the Xmas lists for quite some time- namely, a
wide screen version of the film. So, you are a fan of A CHRISTMAS STORY
then you’ll want to stuff this DVD in your holiday stocking and those of
everyone you know. Recommended.
There
are some movies featuring kids that annoyingly saccharine that I am forced
to tune them out in thirty seconds. Then, there are other movies featuring
kids that are totally charming and oftentimes hilarious. A CHRISTMAS
STORY ($27) is a truly delightful movie that falls into the later
category. In the twenty years since the film has been released, it has
gone from a very funny movie, to an annual yuletide favorite, and finally,
a recognized holiday classic. For those unfamiliar with the origins of A
CHRISTMAS STORY, this holiday charmer has been adapted from the works
of Jean Shepherd, which ably strings together a series of his vignettes
into a cohesive storyline.
Set
in the 1940’s the plot of A CHRISTMAS STORY focuses on a young
boy named Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), who has become obsessed with
getting the perfect Christmas gift- a Red Ryder Carbine Action, 200 Shot,
Range Model Air Rifle. Of course, the second Ralphie mentions his gift of
choice to his Mother (Melinda Dillon)- she responds in typical motherly
fashion by stating "you’ll shoot your eye out!"
Undeterred, Ralphie continues his quest throughout the rest of the movie,
but not before a series of hilarious occurrences, including a tire
changing incident that leaves a bad taste in Ralphie’s mouth and the
repercussions of his Father (Darren McGavin) winning a rather unusual
lighting fixture. The cast of A CHRISTMAS STORY also features Ian
Petrella, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Tedde Moore, Yano Anaya, Zack Ward
and the voice of Jean Shepherd himself serving as the film’s narrator.
Warner
Home Video has made A CHRISTMAS STORY available on DVD in a 1.78:1
wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9
displays, a full screen version is provided on a separate layer of the
disc, but is not reviewed. The wide screen version of A CHRISTMAS STORY
features a pretty nice transfer of a modestly budgeted film from 1983.
Sure, the image lacks the snap and detail of a brand new movie, or even a
big budget film from the same period, but the DVD produces a reasonably
sharp and fairly well defined picture. There are some shots that appear a
bit soft, and some of the dark scenes are slightly nondescript, but for
the most part, the presentation is more than satisfactory. Colors are
occasionally vibrant and occasionally muted by design, but the flesh tones
come across in a natural wintry fashion. Blacks are respectable, whites
appear solid and contrast is smooth. Digital compression artifacts are
pretty much a non-issue.
A
CHRISTMAS STORY comes with a perfectly fine Dolby Digital monaural
soundtrack. This is pretty much a dialogue driven movie, so remixing the
soundtrack really wouldn’t have benefited the material very much.
Dialogue itself is clean and always completely understandable- that is,
all of it that is intended to be understandable. The track itself doesn’t
demonstrate any noticeable signs of background hiss or other audible
anomalies. Fidelity is more than adequate for the material and even the
vintage radio programs integrated into the track sound fine. A French
language track is also provided on the DVD, along with English, Spanish
and French subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serves to enhance the interactive menus,
which allow one access to the standard scene selection and set up
features, as well as the supplements that have been spread across both
discs of this set. Up first, on disc one is a fun running audio commentary
with director Bob Clark and actor Peter Billingsley. This is an enjoyable
talk, as both men share their remembrances of making this movie, although
their comments do get a bit sparse in places. A theatrical trailer is also
on disc one.
On
disc two one will find the supplemental programs starting with Another
Christmas Story. Another Christmas Story is an
eighteen-minute program with Bob Clark, Peter Billingsley, R.D. Robb,
Scott Schwartz, and Zack Ward, all of whom share their memories of the
movie, as well as the effect that it has had on their lives and careers.
Interactive features include the Triple Dog Dare trivia game
and Decoder. The Radio section is a real treat
featuring Jean Shepherd reading two of his classic stories. Lastly, are a
couple of cool featurettes, Daisy Red Rider: A History and Get
A Leg Up. Daisy Red Rider: A History is a five
minute look at the company that manufactured the coveted gun depicted in
the film, while Get A Leg Up is a humorous four minute take
on that all American icon- the leg lamp.
A
CHRISTMAS STORY is a true holiday delight made even more delightful by
the fact that its Twentieth Anniversary edition finally offers fans
something that’s been on the Xmas lists for quite some time- namely, a
wide screen version of the film. So, you are a fan of A CHRISTMAS STORY
then you’ll want to stuff this DVD in your holiday stocking and those of
everyone you know. Recommended.
