Dragnet: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Dragnet: Collector's Edition

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie

I always like to say that Shout/Scream Factory is one of my favorite studios releasing catalog (and some day and date) titles for the general public. Usually they’re hilarious classics, or schlocky horror movies that are so bad that you can’t help but love them (pretty much most of the 80s horror films), and I have become a huge fanatic of their acquisitions. However, there are some films that are just best buried in the sands of time and this is the case with Dragnet. Who would have thought that Dragnet would have been an utter failure with a young Tom Hanks, a veteran Dan Aykroyd, and a remake of an insanely popular Television/Radio show? I for one wouldn’t have expected it, but somehow 1987’s remake of the 1967 TV show bombed like a German Luftwaffe pilot over France.

There’s really not much Dragnet about Dragnet. In reality the name, Dan Aydroyd’s Joe Friday, and the phrase “the facts ma’am, just the facts” are about the only thing that even resemble the classic Dragnet adventures. Much like Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet, the audience is left wondering what could possibly go so horribly wrong as this train wreck crashes in every manner possible. Instead of trying to make a serious detective movie with Hanks and Aydroyd, the studio heads decided to go all 80s slapstick with it, and make the movie into a parody style joke that just fizzles. Mostly because the writing is so painfully bad that the jokes fall flatter than a pancake. I got a couple of chuckles out of Hanks and his wise guy comments, but other than one or two chuckles, the rest of the movie plays out almost painfully boring and bland.

Detective Joe Friday is a no-nonsense man with a penchant for sticking to the rules. His no-nonsense life is turned upside down when his partner is replaced with upstart officer Pep Streebeck (a baby faced Tom Hanks) who is the exact opposite of Joe. Smart mouthed, able to bend the rules at well, and a complete cut up, Streebeck is the yin to Joe’s yang. Sent out to investigate a series of ritual murders by a gang known as the P.A.G.A.N.’s (People Against Good And Normalcy), only to run into playboy like super models, a moral authoritarian priest (Christopher Plummer), and damsels in distress that turn the fighting cops into your typical good buddies by the end of the hour and forty five minute flick.

Yadda yadda yadda, I could go on, but that’s really all there is to the story. Joe and Pep bouncing from clue to clue making wise cracks and using their fish out of water personalities against each other. While I’d like to say that the IDEA of remaking a classic like Dragnet was the problem, I really can’t. It seems that Hanks and Aykroyd had the skills to pull it off, but the script frustrated them to no end, and I can see why. The dialog is inane, and while it’s SUPPOSED to be a comedy, I really couldn’t find much to laugh at. The movie stumbles along at a snails pace for for over an hour, then wraps it up in a matter of 20 minutes, with less action than the first 2/3 of the film!

Dragnet tried to be a mixture of classic and Naked Gun infusing a bunch of winks and nods to the original source material, but parodying it with such unabashed gusto that there’s not really much to compare TO at the end of the day. I laughed a few times, I winced more than once, but sadly Dragnet just isn’t as funny as Naked Gun, and isn’t as fresh as 21 Jump Street (the remake) was either. It just falls through the cracks as one of those lost 80s failures that reeks of generic 80s tropes and situations. One without much besides the nostalgia factor for the 80s fans like me.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 By the MPAA




Video:

Dragnet was never a “rescue” of an already released catalog title, and this is the first time we’re seeing it on Blu-ray so there’s not going to be any A/Bing of any old discs here today. However, the Shout Factory produced Blu-ray looks really good (It’s another one of their 4K remasters) and I’ve never seen the film look better. There’s a slightly red/yellow look to the color grading, but for the most part it’s a fairly neutral looking film. The colors on Dan Aykroyd’s “punk” costume pops from the rest of the dimly lit background, and the detail levels are usually above reproach. There’s some mild softness to the longer shots, and certain edges do look a bit smooth, but visual clarity and detail levels show off plenty. The wavy hair of Tom Hanks is excellently rendered, and even the details on the cop cars and stone benches look good. Blacks are deep and inky with only some minor grain spikes to act as a minor distractent in the darker shots. All in all, this is a nice looking catalog title.







Audio:

The original 2.0 DTS-HD MA stereo track is a solid mix for the action/comedy, but not one that really stretches the imagination or listening environment that much. The track is a bit loose and bouncy, and gets rambunctious every once in a while. Dialog is clean and clear in the two mains, with some ambient panning effects during a car chase (or the infamous snake fight scene) giving a sense of mild spaciousness. However, the track is never more than a simple 2.0 stereo track and sometimes feels a bit thin and constrained. The mix is competent, and will please most people, but exiting and powerful it is not.







Extras:

• BRAND NEW 4K REMASTER OF THE FILM
• NEW "A Quiet Evening in the Company of Connie Swail": An Interview With Co-Star Alexandra Paul
• NEW Audio Commentary with Pop Culture Historian Russell Dyball
• "Just the Facts!": A Promotional Look at Dragnet with Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks
• Original Theatrical Trailers & Promos
• Photo Gallery

Final Score: ​

Dragnet is an interesting film, but one that squanders most of the goodwill that the original TV show/Radio show mustered 20+ years prior. The movie is Dragnet in name only, with Joe Friday and the phrase “The facts ma’am, just the facts” being the only connection to the old gumshoe police show. Tom Hanks was fresh off hits like Bachelor Party and Money Pit, while Dan was still king of the roost. It was supposed to be a sure fire hit, but somehow the movie ended up being a total dud (both critically and financially). Sure, there’s a few yucks here and there, and I cracked a smile once or twice, but the overly goofy comedic take on a beloved classic didn’t set well with viewers, and it’s mostly due to an abysmal script that leaves all the major jokes with no support structure. Shout Factory’s collector’s edition is about as good as fans will ever get, with a moderate array of extras and a good set of video/audio specs to round it out. But honestly, watching this film is mainly for the nostalgia, not because it’s any good.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Hanks, Dan Aykroyd, Christopher Plummer, Harry Morgan, Alexandra Paul, Elizabeth Ashley, Dabney Coleman
Directed by: Tom Mankiewicz
Written by: Alan Zweibel, Tom Mankiewicz, Dan Aykroyd
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 106 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 30th 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Nostalgic Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will check it out once available on Amazon Prime/Netflix.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

It's about TIME! I've always loved this movie. It's low-key one of my most quoted movies of all time.

"before your go thart polithing yo pennieth..."

"Kids...it'll grow back."

Tom Hanks was brilliant in this role. Loved it. Can't believe I'm just now discovering it's been released on blu-ray. Gotta run!

 

[Michael Scott]

It's about TIME! I've always loved this movie. It's low-key one of my most quoted movies of all time.

"before your go thart polithing yo pennieth..."

"Kids...it'll grow back."

Tom Hanks was brilliant in this role. Loved it. Can't believe I'm just now discovering it's been released on blu-ray. Gotta run!

lol, if your'e a fan of the film it's a solid collector's edition packaging. You should be pleased