Well I can honestly say that I’ve seen this
movie before now and I don’t really wish to see it again. That’s not to say that
it isn’t a cute kids blockbuster. I’m sure this would be a hit with the kiddies
of all ages. Anyway on with the story:
Paulie is a parrot, but he’s no ordinary parrot. He talks and talks with feeling,
which makes him different from any other mimicking parrot.
He’s the pet bird of Marie Allweather a little girl with a speed impediment and
some learning difficulties. Paulie, being the great bird he is teaches Marie to speak
properly, and unbeknownst to her parents is doing a great job of it. As Marie becomes more
and more attached to the bird her parents decide it would be healthier for her not to have
him and they take him away.
Paulie then surfaces in a pawn shop where he gives all the customers stick until one
day he is bought by Ivy (Gena Rowlands) who s intrigued with his talent and sets about
teaching him to be polite. Paulie tells Ivy the Story of Marie and the two set off on a
trip to Los Angeles to find her. Sadly Ivy doesn’t make it but Paulie does and he
becomes part of an all singing al dancing bird troop run by Ignacio (Cheech Marin).
Unfortunately after a few mishaps he winds up at an experimental research laboratory
where he refuses to talk and so becomes an outcast, and left in the basement. Paulie the
makes a new friend who helps him find his long lost original owner.
It’s a nice story but a little too sugary and predictable for me
So how does this transfer hold up?
.... |
VIDEO
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is quite good really. Given
that this is a children’s film I don’t usually expect a lot of attention to
detail. The images are reasonably sharp throughout, but there didn’t seem to be
anything that really grabbed me as being excellent in the sharpness category.
There was no grain and shadow detail was also very good with just a hint of dullness
but no loss in of detail in shadowed areas. The colour Palette was nice but didn’t
seem to have any vibrancy to it. They were just a little muted which really seemed to tone
down the film. With a little more saturation this would have been quite spectacular.
There were no mpeg artefacts and only some scattered dust marks as far as film
artefacts go.
Overall this is technically a good transfer but it didn’t seem to really have a
lot of impact.
.
AUDIO
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio transfer was also a little
lacklustre. The film is generally dialogue driven so the focus of the film is from the
front centre. This was always clear and easy to understand. Surround channel use was
limited given that there was not a lot of call for it. There is sufficient surround
support though to give the film a little more ambience supporting the soundtrack and some
small directional effects.
Similarly there was not a lot of use of the LFE channel but
again this was not really called for it did however have a slight presence in the room.
Again the audio transfer was technically good but didn’t have a great impact.
EXTRAS
OVERALL
This is a nice film and I use that as a really generic word "nice" being the
only really descriptive that fits it well. The kids will love it though.
| PICTURE
QUALITY |
8/10
nothing spectacular |
SOUND
- Quality
- 5.1 WOW Factor |
8/10 not too bad
5/10 not really needed anyway |
| EXTRAS |
1/10 a lame trailer |
| OVERALL |
7/10 not a bad movie |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Pioneer 737
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V595a
Speakers:-
Fronts: B&W 602 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Wharfedale Diamond R6
Sub: M&K v75
- Reviewed 1st July 2001
* jpeg files for internet promotion use
only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by Universal Pictures Video
...