Addams Family Values - 4K Blu-ray Review

Movie
I KNEW back in 2021 when we got The Addam's Family in 4K that the sequel would be on the way, but I was a bit surprised that it took 3 years for that happen. Not complaining as it’s better late than never, but usually Paramount releases sequels in short order when they do the 4K upgrade (well, unless of course you’re the Friday the 13th series...grumble, whine, moan), so I was anxiously waiting for a 2022 release that never came. Well, 3rd year’s the charm! (or something like that), so now we can finally complete the duo on our shelves and hopefully get a re-release of Wednesday the series on 4K some day.

There’s a lot of contention among fans about which Addams Family movie is actually better. The original, or the sequel. Myself personally, I’m still in the old camp of the original did it better, but Addams Family Values is right behind it on my personal Mike-O-Meter scale of fun. It’s been a few years since Uncle Fester made his way back into the Addams family’s life, and he’s integrated well. Now Gomez and Morticia have decided to have another child, which is seen as a blessing by his parents, but an annoying little obstacle for murder for Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman).

Well, poor Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) is now the target of the some mischief this time, instead of BEING the mischief like last film. Morticia and Gomez end up hiring a nanny (Joan Cusack), who’s more than meets the eye. While the Addams family may drolly talk about killing and death, the nanny is actually a serial killer who’s intent on marrying Uncle Fester, and then naturally killing him off and taking his inheritance for herself. The kids pick up on her nastiness quick enough, but she has them shipped off to summer camp so that they can’t interfere, leaving the Addams kids in a serious pickle. Having to fit in with normal kids, and also get back home to foil Nanny Debbie’s plans.

In some ways the sequel is a little bit better than the original. The script is a little bit tighter (which could be attributed to less rewrites and less turmoil during the production), but it’s also a bit tamer in other ways. The shock value of the kooky family is gone, and they’re having to resort to more insane antics during summer camp to get the laughs up there. However, the main story line with Joan Cusack (who plays a fantastic addition to the crew, as she does zany and crazy so VERY well) is much more polished and well done than the skullduggery with Uncle Fester in the original. So it’s a case of give and take here.

Everyone is back for the sequel and just as quirky as ever, although Gomez had to sort of take things easy as his health was suffering pretty drastically in 1993 (although not as drastically as he was reported to be in when he made Street Fighter the next year), and as such his over the top character was not nearly AS over the top. Honestly, I like both films nearly the same, but I still have to give the edge to the original simply due to how fresh it was and how fantastically Gomez and Morticia worked together. All in all, the sequel is a great followup hit and fans have argued the merits of each film over the other for years without much confirmation of which is the better film.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Supposedly sourced from a new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative (according to t he press release), Addams Family Values shows a very large improvement over the mediocre (at best) Blu-ray. Much like the first film, the Blu-ray sported a very old master that definitely suffered print damage and interlacing issues galore. Luckily this new 4K UHD disc is light years better than the old Blu-ray, getting rid of all the nasty artifacts from the ancient master, and replacing with a lovingly restored image that really is jaw dropping to see. Fine details are superb, with no signs of any artifacting except for some mildly out of focus shots that are more than likely one of Barry’s trademark effects rather than an encoding Flaw. Grain is rich and vibrant, with very natural look to it, although I DID notice a couple of indoor shots (usually in the Addams family mansion) that show a few minor spikes. The Dolby Vision upgrade adds so much depth to the black levels as well, although that richly saturated “pop” that most people conflate with HDR applications isn’t really there. The colors are definitely very rich and luscious, but the filming style doesn’t lend itself towards bright and shiny. All in all, this is a fantastic upgrade to the aging Blu-ray, putting it right alongside the original in terms of upgradability between the two formats.









Audio:

Much like most of Paramount's 4K UHD discs, they have chosen to keep the origianl 5.1 DTS-HD MA track from the original Blu-ray release. While the nerd in me would have loved to have seen an Atmos mix "just cuz", or at least some audio remastering, the 5.1 mix is solid enough for the comedic stylings of the film. The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track for Addams Family Values is more than adequate for the job, being a rather front heavy mix that relies on mild ambiance to fill out the back several channels. The LFE gets to come out and play with a few comedic set pieces, but otherwise this is really a 3.0 mix with some mild bumps and surround usage. Dialog is crisp and clean, the mains get to play with the spookiness of the manor as well as the yelling kids during summer camp, and I could detect no signs of any major distortion to be dissatisfied with.












Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Director Barry Sonnenfeld and Screenwriter Paul Rudnick
• Crafting Family Values















Addams Family Values is a very solid upgrade over the aging Blu-ray, with at least a FEW special features this time and a very much upgraded video encode. The 5.1 audio mix has remained the same (which is mildly disappointing) but overall this is in line with what they did with the first Addams Family film a year or so ago. Outside of remixing the audio completely with Atmos, this is about as good as its gonna get, and it fits perfectly in line with 4K UHD of the original film in terms of quality. Solid watch, good 4K UHD package.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack,, Christina Ricci,
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by: Paul Rudnick, Charles Addams (original comic)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish DD 2.0, English DVS
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 94 Minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: October 29th, 2024