Plot: What’s it about?
In Home Alone, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is left behind by his family, which forgot him on their way to Paris. At the same time, The Wet Bandits (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) are robbing houses in Kevin’s neighborhood. Kevin’s family realizes they forgot him, but too late, and they can’t get back before the Bandits attempt their robbery of the McCallister home. So, Kevin defends his house, and learns a little about people in the process. In Home Alone 2, Kevin once again finds himself alonethis time in New York, but better off this time. He stays in a fancy hotel, buys toys, orders room service, the works. But…those nasty Wet Bandits are in The Big Apple, looking to rob a toy store. They spot Kevin, and he has to take them on again, more booby-traps, and more hi-jinks! Home Alone 3 introduces a new kid, Alex Pruitt (Alex Linz), who has a reputation for calling wolf and causing trouble. By sheer accident, a neighbor grabs the wrong bag at baggage claim, and it contains a remote control car belonging to some hapless terrorists/spies. The car contains a chip that the Air Force needs to recover, and the car ends up in Alex’s hands. After the usual spying, they figure out who has the car, and try to get Alex to fork it over. He defends his house, and the chip, in the same fashion as Kevin, and to much the same result-PAIN for the bad guys.
These movies are very entertaining, and have the same writer/producer throughout the series, John Hughs, so the sequels are not just box office fodder. Chris Columbus directs the first two installments, and Raja Godnall helmed the third movie. The first two have a different feel, more of a serious tone, whereas the third one is all out, four on the four fun and excitement. It may seem like a contrived topic for sequels, but they are very good, even on their own, but they are at their best if watched together. The Wet Bandits are highly comedic, and have great on-screen chemistry. Plus, the idea of a small child setting Joe Pesci’s head on fire is worth it’s weight in comedy gold. It’s an unusual role, but it fits him well. The no-goodniks in Home Alone 3 are four spies who seem more like amatuers than anything. They work together well, and are much more hateable than the humorous Wet Bandits. The Bandits seem as though they could have success, but these 4 are unbelievably inept.
If you like physical comedy, give this set a try. It has almost infinite ways to cause suffering to hapless criminals. Irons, book-cases, paint-cans, even Micro Machines are implemented by these two whippersnappers. While they aren’t movies that make you ponder life’s deeper issues, they do remind me of what movies are about, entertainment. All 3 are full of laughs, and keep the action going quite well. If you don’t want to buy the whole set, I recommend Home Alone 3, as it is more fast paced and fun than the others. But if is within your means, I say go for it and grab the Triple Pack. You won’t be sorry. And at least you’ll have plenty to watch if you ever find yourself Home Alone.
Video: How does it look?
Not bad at all. Not superb by any means, but very clean prints. I re-viewed the first two movies on VHS, and the grain and coloring is fixed up considerably for the DVD versions. The video is not perfect however, with a slight bit of grain, but only on parts 1&2, 3 is flawless.
Audio: How does it sound?
A good mix, with the quiet criminals sneaking around, and then being bombarded by some trap, the audio takes a big role in the feel of the movie. The dialogue levels are very high, as are the music/effects. The music never interferes with the speaking, and every word is clear and audible.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Each movie contains it’s theatrical trailer. That’s all.
