Scrooged - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Scrooged



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
There is probably no other Christmas story that has been adapted and re-adapted as has Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol been in modern society. Dickens himself has been lauded as a master of literature, but his little short story has become an icon of modern history. We’ve had everyone from Patrick Steward lending his dulcet tones to narrating the story, the Muppets making light of it, down to a thousand other different variations dotting the landscape of written and spoken mediums. It’s a warm tale of kindness for some, and warning for others, but at the end of the day it is a sweet bit of Christmas candy that has impacted the lives of countless people around the globe. I grew up having my mother read the story to us a few weeks before Christmas, with a different chapter being read each evening, while myself and my brothers huddled on the nasty green colored couch we had with hot cocoa and a knitted Afghan to keep us warm. However, for those of us film addicts, one of the more quicky bits of A Christmas Carol fun was getting to watch Bill Murray ad-lib his way through the classic tale with typical over the top glee as my brothers and I burned out our VHS copy of Scrooged.

Most people don’t think of Richard Donner as the comedic type director when they look at his body of works. Lethal Weapon, Superman, Ladyhawke, Conspiracy Theory, 16 Blocks, all reek of his typical love of action and thrillers, but sandwiched in between Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2 (a single year apart from each of those action extravaganzas) is a little Christmas tale involving Bill Murray and some Charles Dickens influences.

Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a TV executive at IBC who is shares a bit too much similarities between himself and Ebeneezer Scrooge. He doesn’t care about his employees (no bonuses for Christmastime, just “towels”), all he cares about is ratings for the TV station, and he’s willing to do anything to get those ratings. Including put out scary commercials for his new Scrooge Christmas Eve special that puts an old lady in the morgue (yes, things are a bit over the top and tongue in cheek here). He even goes so far as to fire a young advertising manager named Eliot (Bobcat Goldthwait) who DARES to disagree with a decision he’s made for advertising their Christmas extravaganza special. His poor secretary is living paycheck to paycheck with a son who can’t/won’t speak, and the only thing that Frank can see is the ratings that will propel him to bigger and better things.

Frank’s world is about to be turned upside down though, as he is approached by the rotting corpse of his old mentor and boss, a dead TV executive named Lew Hayword (John Forsythe), who warns him that his Scrooge like qualities have gotten out of control and that he will be visited by the three infamous ghosts of Christmas. In typical Scrooge fashion, our sour faced TV mogul shrugs his experience off as nothing but a bit too much stress on getting this new special out, but low and behold, he’s gets visited by the three spirits, and your typical A Christmas Story revelations begins.

Scrooged is nothing new in it’s over arching tale. A big wig who has it all and is soured to the whole Christmas experience has to learn his lessons the hard way. It’s simple, predictable to the core, and entirely sweet to the core. What makes Scrooge stand out is Karen Allen and Billy Murray. Allen plays the sweet love of Frank’s life who he through away for his success, and is still madly in love with him (although not what he’s become). It gives Frank’s character an anchoring point. A hope for something better and a glimpse into his life when he was something more than just a sour rich guy. At the same time, Billy Murray IS Billy Murray in the 80s here. He ad-libs soooooooooo much during the whole movie (according to Donner it was difficult to get him to stay on script as he would just go off randomly ad-libbing) and is sooooooooo over the top that you can’t take your eyes off of him. Back in the 80s and 90s Billy Murray was one of the slapstick comedy kings, and he just hams it up to level 10 with his gleeful antics, giving the film a hilarious bent that really works with the classic Christmas tales.




Rated PG-13 by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Now for the fun part. Part of reviewing a Paramount classics titles come to 4K UHD is one of nervousness and hopeful anticipation. Sometimes you get Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and other times It’s Forest Gump. Usually most titles look good, but recent Paramount comedies (usually John Hughes films) that have a mediocre Blu-ray release have been...well...problematic. Luckily for us Scrooged is not one of those problematic releases. In fact, this is actually a REALLY great looking 4K remaster (according to the Paramount press release this was a brand new 4K master struck for this release). Film grain is natural looking and not all scrubbed away (though I’m pretty sure some very judicious grain management was used, as it’s a BIT cleaner that I expected), and contrast levels are spot on perfect. The film has a very organic and lovely look to the colors, with blacks, reds and other primaries really popping off the screen. Texturally this one has a lot going for it, as you can see everything from Bill Murray’s 5 O’clock shadow, to the stitching and loose threads on his custom suit. Whites are brilliant and crisp as can be, while skin tones remain natural looking. All in all, this is a pretty spectacular looking encode that blows the doors off the “meh” looking Blu-ray we’ve had to deal with for all these years.








Audio:

The same 5.1 DTS-HD MA track found on the various Blu-ray releases is found here as well, and the results are very impressive. The mix is stable and balanced from the get go, using long periods of dialog heavy sound that stays in the front of the room, punctuated by loud bursts of activity (such as the opening scene with the attack on the North Pole). LFE is punchy and powerful, adding weight to those gunshots, or the rumbling of an elevator falling several stories. Surrounds are active and vibrant with the score as well as the hubbub of New York City (and the occasional screech as the ghost of Christmas past runs a stop sign). This is a comedy track first and foremost, but it is evenly balanced, full of spice, and excellent for the genre.







Extras:

• NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
• Audio Commentary by director Richard Donner
• A Christmas to Remember
• Updating Ebenezer
• Bringing the Ghosts to Life
• The Look of Scrooged
• On the Set with Bill Murray
• ShoWest Clips with Bill Murray

Final Score:
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Scrooged is a fun, comedic, take on the classic A Christmas Carol story that we all love and know. It adds a uniquely Bill Murray flair that is unmistakably 1980s sourced, and it’s a great way to get into the holiday spirit while infusing us with the values and joy that Christmas brings. Fans of Scrooged have sort of been in that Planes, Trains and Automobiles stage in their fandom. Basically worried that we were stuck with the same re-hashed and re-released Blu-ray for pretty much ever. And if we DID get a 4K UHD release, it would look painful as some Paramount comedy titles have been the last few years. Luckily for us, this is a HUGE leap forward from the decade and a half (ish) old Blu-ray, and actually really good by 4K UHD standards. Sadly we don't have the old Blu-ray in the set to make a combo pack, but like me, I'm sure we all have the 2011 or 2017 disc stashed away somewhere to make our own combo pack. Extras on board are better than the previous Blu-ray releases, and contain several brand new features never seen before. All in all, this is a VERY nice upgrade over the mediocre Blu-ray, and fans will definitely want to pick it up.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Bill Murray, John Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum
Directed by: Richard Donner
Written by: Mitch Glazer, Michael O'Donoghue
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DD 2.0, Spanish DD Mono
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 101 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 7th, 2023

Recommendation: Good Buy

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I remember this one.. Good movie for the holidays. Will have to get this updated version.