Drop dead fred (1991) coming to UK August

[stigdu]

I just finished watching this on Netflix. Goes to show that sometimes we see things through rose-tinted glasses...

I first saw this 25 years ago at the cinema, and seem to remember liking it a lot more than I did tonight. It's certainly more of a sad losing-one's-childhood study than I remember it being, with themes of rejection and divorce thrown into the mix.

Unfortunately, it's not as funny as I remember it being, either. I grew up watching Rik on The Young Ones, then Filthy, Rich and Catflap and of course in later years the hilarious Bottom, so I can see why he was cast in the role, but the film only raised a few smiles from me.

Best bit was definitely Phoebe Cates (wasn't she a pretty little thing back then?!) meeting her prospective boyfriend (the ever reliable Ron Eldard) in the restaurant. The old invisible-man-making-her-do-things-beyond-her-control routine was really well done and quite funny. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's my 2nd favourite supernaturally-tinged comedic restaurant scene after the utterly fantastic Modern Problems with Chevy Chase.

So whilst I love Rik in all the TV stuff he did with Ade, I won't be getting this on blu.

[navydavey]

I enjoy the film but I will get the blu Ray sometime in the future just for the extras, I really want to see those deleted scenes

[Lover of films]

Just tried it in my region free player and it plays on all regions for anyone wishing to import.

[cotts902]

Whats the picture quality like

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by cotts902

Whats the picture quality like

As good as can be expected for a film from that era. There's no evident DNR or EE but it retains that softish look. Obvious improvement over the DVD though

[cotts902]

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

As good as can be expected for a film from that era. There's no evident DNR or EE but it retains that softish look. Obvious improvement over the DVD though

Thanks just ordered

[dimples80]

Gutted... It's got the wretched PAL Speed-up applied to it (my absolute pet hate). Should be 1hr 43mins but it plays to 1hr 39mins. Can't stand hearing films play at a higher pitch with the voices having a chipmunk effect on them (I exaggerate but that's the best way to describe it). Returning my copy to Amazon as the same version is now on Netflix. Thought we'd got over this PAL Speed-up with blu-rays...

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by dimples80

Gutted... It's got the wretched PAL Speed-up applied to it (my absolute pet hate). Should be 1hr 43mins but it plays to 1hr 39mins. Can't stand hearing films play at a higher pitch with the voices having a chipmunk effect on them (I exaggerate but that's the best way to describe it). Returning my copy to Amazon as the same version is now on Netflix. Thought we'd got over this PAL Speed-up with blu-rays...

Have you tried it?

This has never played to a 103m runtime in the UK, even upon its original cinema release, which wouldn't have been affected by any kind of PAL speed up issues;

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/drop-dead-fred

Subsequent home video versions have always been c95 minutes, suffering from the 4% speed up.

The BD, despite saying it has a runtime of 95 minutes on the back of the box, does, as you say, play to 99 minutes, which mirrors the original UK cinema release.

This looks to be a fundamental difference between the US and UK versions of the movie. No idea what the additional 4 minutes constitutes.

[stigdu]

Originally Posted by dimples80

Gutted... It's got the wretched PAL Speed-up applied to it (my absolute pet hate). Should be 1hr 43mins but it plays to 1hr 39mins. Can't stand hearing films play at a higher pitch with the voices having a chipmunk effect on them (I exaggerate but that's the best way to describe it). Returning my copy to Amazon as the same version is now on Netflix. Thought we'd got over this PAL Speed-up with blu-rays...

Do you mean the sped-up version is on Netflix? I watched it 2 weeks ago and it seemed fine.

Sent from my SM-T705 using Tapatalk

[nitin]

It can only have PAL speedup if it's 1080i, not 1080p.

[88keyz]

Originally Posted by dimples80

Gutted... It's got the wretched PAL Speed-up applied to it (my absolute pet hate). Should be 1hr 43mins but it plays to 1hr 39mins. Can't stand hearing films play at a higher pitch with the voices having a chipmunk effect on them (I exaggerate but that's the best way to describe it). Returning my copy to Amazon as the same version is now on Netflix. Thought we'd got over this PAL Speed-up with blu-rays...

This doesn't have 4% PAL speed-up unless all other current sources also do. Netflix, Google Play and Vudu all list the running time at 99 minutes. It seems that the error in runtime is on IMDb. Looks and sounds great, don't hesitate to purchase this if you are a fan.

[dissention]

This is a surprisingly great disc. Plentiful quality extras and good PQ.

The fact that Marsha Mason agreed to do the film after reading the "Cobwebs!" line warmed my heart.

I loved the deleted scenes; the alternate version of Lizzie and Mickey (man, Ron Eldard was cute in this movie) running into each other at the start of the film is much better & explains why he climbs a tree to her room later in the film.

There's also a scene with Lizzie flopping around in the water after the houseboat sinks that I found hilarious.

[wenrog4]

Is this region free by chance? I am in the US and have been looking for this movie for a very long time. Someone posted on Instagram that it's region free but I wanted to be sure before I bought it.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by wenrog4

Is this region free by chance? I am in the US and have been looking for this movie for a very long time. Someone posted on Instagram that it's region free but I wanted to be sure before I bought it.

Yes it is. Played it on my Region-A PS3. Extras play as well.

[wenrog4]

Thank you! I just ordered both her and I a copy.

[Ben_R]

Price currently £8 or £6.67 without VAT on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1