Plot: What’s it about?
“My advice to you is to start drinking heavily…”
Ah yes…â€National Lampoon’s Animal Houseâ€! This was, of course, back in the day that the preface “National Lampoon’s…†actually meant you could expect some sort of a quality movie. Unlike today. For every “Annie Hallâ€, “Star Wars†or “The Deer Hunter†that they had back in the late 70’s, there was a movie that was drastically their opposite. This sounds a bit odd, though, as Animal House was actually a critical and financial success. But it wasn’t meant to be that way, it just worked out. You might say it was the “My Big Fat Greek Wedding†of its day. The unquestioned star of the movie was John Belushi, who tragically died of a drug overdose just a few years after the film. Belushi was a success on the then early days of Saturday Night Live and he was one of the first members of the cast who made the successful leap from television cast member to bona fide movie star. Still, though, to say that “Animal House†worked just because of John Belushi is just silly, as the supporting cast played just as much of a role in its success as the title charter of “Blutoâ€. So what did John Landis (who helmed a variety of movies including “An American Werewolf in Londonâ€, “Trading Places†and “Kentucky Fried Movieâ€) do that was so right?
There isn’t really much of a plot when it comes to “Animal Houseâ€. Fraternities have been stereotyped with this label ever since it came out (and countless others have been claiming that they were the original Animal House before it came out). The tagline for “Caddyshack†says it all “The Snobs versus the Slobsâ€! But the story does follow two Freshmen, Larry Kroger (Tom Hulce, who would gain more notoriety in “Amadeus†years later) and Kent Dorfman (Stephen Flounder) as they decide on which fraternity is right for them. Having looked at the best and the rest, they finally end up at the Delta House (Delta Tau Chi) where they see that life is different and this is something that they like. The men of the Delta house may not have money, looks or a good name on campus, but they know how to party. And isn’t that what college is all about, my friends? The movie follows them (now named ‘Pinto’ and ‘Flounder’ along with the rest of their pledge brothers) through their term as maggots as they play pranks on the other fraternities and try to avoid being expelled after their house is placed on “Double Secret Probation†(ironically enough, the name of this DVD set). Together with Bluto (John Belushi), Otter (Tim Matheson), Boon (Peter Riegert); they battle the men of the Omega house (with a young Kevin Bacon as a pledge) for the right to stay on campus.
“Animal House†is simply a movie that will never be duplicated. Though many have tried (to varying degrees of success), most all of them have failed. For all the success that “Revenge of the Nerds†had, it’s still off by a long shot compared to this movie. The characters are unforgettable, even the ones with little or no speaking parts; and every fraternity man in the country (including me) has either been forced to or has tried to imitate a character from the film in one way or another. It has all of the politically incorrect scenes that we wouldn’t expect to see today, teenage drunkenness, date rape (though in a very funny light), drug use, and cheating in college to name but a few (oh, and they kill a horse in the dean’s office…you know, the usual). We root for the men of Delta Tau Chi because they represent us, whether we know it or not, even the “Omegas†of the world will find something to relate to in “Animal Houseâ€. The movie also coined the phrase “Food Fight†and probably inspired so many toga parties that the producers wish they had a copyright on the term. I take a quote from my original review of the movie when I say “ … no collection is complete without it.†(And I’d like to think I’ve improved on my DVD reviews since then)! Highly recommended.
Video: How does it look?
It’s a bit funny, odd and ironic that “Animal House†is one of the first titles out in the new HD-DVD format. The previous special edition contained a transfer that Director John Landis called “too good†and they actually toned down the transfer so that it would retain a grittier look to it. Well, the main draw to HD-DVD is that we want to see films look their best and that’s what we have here. The 1.85:1 HD image is a noticeable improvement over the previous standard DVD release (which is also included as well), but it does pale in comparison to some of the other HD-DVD’s out there. There’s some grain to the image in most of the scenes, but the detail is bumped up considerably. Little things, like being able to read the names on their name tags at the parties, etc. is what really stood out. Does “Animal House†look as good as it ever has? Yes it does.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital Plus track sounds exactly the same as the previous Dolby Digital 5.1 track and I went back and compared several scenes. Granted, there’s only so much you can do with a mix that was originally mono, but it does sound good nonetheless. Now granted, this movie would probably still be funny even if there were no audio, but it’s just not important to the film. Yes, we get to hear versions of “Louie, Louieâ€, “Hey, Hey Paula†and “Shout†among. Dialogue still has somewhat of a “whispy†quality to it, and thereby dates the movie a bit. Still, this movie doesn’t depend on the audio that much and though this new track is included, there really is no need (yes, I basically just said that in the earlier sentence). No matter which route you go, you’ll be getting a better mix here as opposed to one of the earlier versions out there.
Supplements: What are the extras?
As mentioned before, this is essentially the exact same DVD as the “Double Secret Probation†edition (also included) but with a HD transfer. You get one of the best movies ever made in both HD and standard DVD with all of the supplements intact. Though some of the features are the same, this one has a rather interesting feature in that it has an all-new interview with the cast in character! This is surely something that will be ripped off on other discs, but the crew seemed to have some fun with it and I though it was hilarious! There’s not a commentary track, but there is a “Pop Up†trivia track that offers some information (though if you’re a hard-core fan like me, you know most of it already). The documentary is intact from the previous disc as is the original theatrical trailer and some music videos. All in all, as far as Special Editions go, this leaves a little t be desired; but the disc is a must own even if you already own the original. I said it before and I’ll say it again…this disc belongs in any collection.
