Plot: What’s it about?
Adam Sandler’s been in enough movies by now that I feel it fair to classify his works as “the old stuff” and “the new stuff”. Naturally, his older films are among my favorite: “Airheads”, “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore” are all classics (in terms of Adam Sandler movies, not “classics” in terms of truly great movies). I remember seeing a poster for “Bulletproof” sometime ago and decided to check it out. It wasn’t as highly touted as “Happy Gilmore” or “Billy Madison” but had a decent cast, so I thought I’d check it out. As it turns out, the movie wasn’t half bad and it’s a film I’ve watched several times over the last decade. Imagine my surprise when I found out the movie was coming to HD DVD! “Bulletproof” fits very nicely in Adam Sandler’s “old stuff” movies and with good reason: it’s just a kind of movie he wouldn’t make anymore. His newer movies are arguably more commercially successful, but are a bit sappy. Films like “Click” and “Mr. Deeds” are funny and have some good lines, but they’re just not the same as his more irreverent early roles.
Sandler plays Archie Moses, a generally decent guy who happens to work for notorious drug lord Frank Colton (James Caan). Archie’s best friend, Rock Keats (Damon Wayans) is actually an undercover police officer trying to infiltrate Colton’s operation and put him behind bars. Naturally Archie knows nothing of this. The time comes for Keats to do his thing, but he’s mistakenly shot in the head by Archie. Archie escapes the law and Keats spends the next year of his life learning how to walk again. With a grudge against Archie, Keats must now seek out Archie who’s willing to testify against Colton. However, the drug lord isn’t too happy about Archie testifying against him so Archie and Rock must travel together and try to learn to trust each other all over again, lest they’ll meet their fate.
“Bulletproof” has some truly funny moments in it and after not seeing the movie for a few years; I think maybe it was funnier to me ten years ago. Still, Sandler is great and Damon Wayans holds his own too. There are some classic characters in this movie, notably Charlie (Mark Roberts), the owner of a hotel in the middle of nowhere that has the world’s largest selection of porno. It’s a short movie and yes, a tab predictable as well. However, Adam Sandler movies aren’t really meant to change the world, just to be watched and laugh at. “Bulletproof” is one of his more obscure films and if you’ve never seen it and are a fan of Sandler (which would seem to offset one another) then this is certainly worth a rental.
Video: How does it look?
I’ve seen this movie on just about every format available; it’s one of the Laserdiscs I owned if that says anything. Naturally, this HD DVD is the best the movie has ever looked and an odd choice for this burgeoning format. Then again, Universal is the only major studio that’s solely supporting HD DVD so they’re releasing just about every catalog title they can think of to keep up with Blu-ray. All that aside, this HD VC-1 2.35:1 transfer looks fairly good, though some errors are present. Black levels are good, though I thought I actually saw some edge enhancement during a few scenes. They’re few and far between but some of the outdoor shots looked a bit fuzzy. On the flip side, the majority of the movie has a detail level that blows the previous standard DVD out of the water but when your product is called “The Look and Sound of Perfect” it kind of sets the bar high, doesn’t it? “Bulletproof” has never looked better, but there are other titles out there that look far better than this. You’ll be getting an upgrade, for sure, but don’t expect it to be the jewel of your collection.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack wasn’t really that impressive to begin with, it mainly consists of some background noise and the same, repetitive soundtrack that goes on scene after scene after scene. There are a few moments when the surrounds kick in, but that’s not too often. Dialogue is very nice and natural, but this might have well been a surround mix. I really can’t think of much more to say about this mix, it’s not bad and like the video, is the best the movie has sounded – but it never sounded that great to begin with.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Nothing. Nada. Not even a trailer.
