It's 1947
Hollywood and Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), a down-on-his-luck
detective, is hired to find proof that Marvin Acme, gag factory
mogul and owner of Toontown, is playing hanky-panky with femme
fatale Jessica Rabbit, wife of Maroon Cartoon superstar, Roger
Rabbit. When Acme is found murdered, all fingers point to Roger,
and the sinister, power-hungry Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) is
on a mission to bring Roger to justice. Roger begs the
Toon-hating Valiant to find the real evildoer and the plot
thickens as Eddie uncovers scandal after scandal and realizes
the very existence of Toontown is at stake!
Critique
Who Framed
Roger Rabbit
is perhaps one of the greatest achievements of the late 80’s.
The film is not only spectacular in its special effects, but it
also benefits from a very intriguing story and Bob Hoskins’
ingenious performance.
The film,
directed by Robert Zemeckis, began shooting in 1986 and took
nearly two years to release (including one year spent in post
production). What makes Roger Rabbit work is the
interaction between the human characters and the toons. It is a
very believable sight when Eddie Valiant and Roger Rabbit share
the screen, especially in the bar fight sequence and the cabbie
chase, among others. Another great attraction to this film is
the story. The story is essentially a (murder) mystery set in an
innocent time (in the late 40s) featuring a group of incredible
and funny characters. In addition, the story allows the viewer
to relate to what is happening in terms of self-investigating.
Running at
104 minutes, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is funny to the bone
and extraordinarily sweet. In one sentence, Roger is
excellent entertainment.
9 out of 10
The
Video
The 2-disc
set comes in two different formats. Disc 1 features the
fullscreen (1.33:1) version while Disc 2 holds the widescreen
(1.85:1) version. Both formats present good quality, albeit
varied in some spots. The widescreen version is far superior
simply because there’s more picture. This Vista Series release
offers an exciting new transfer over the previous DVD release.
Even though quite a lot of flickering occurs in some key scenes,
especially those that feature Valiant and Roger Rabbit, the
picture quality retains its essence and displays a colorful
presentation.
8 out of 10
The
Audio
The royal
treatment doesn’t stop here. Roger Rabbit is available in
DTS 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and
includes French and Spanish language tracks. In addition to
these options, you have the choice to optimize your sound fields
by selecting the THX Optimizer. The Dolby Digital track worked
best for my system and the viewing experience was greatly
enhanced by it. The DTS is a great addition, too, but I would
never use it. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is clearly
dependent on its special effects and sound effects. The audio
presents a lot of noise to go around the system, may it be the
front, back, or rear speakers.
8 out of 10
The
Extras
Commentary by director Robert Zemeckis and Frank Marshall,
Jeffrey Price, Peter Seaman, Steve Starkey & Ken Ralston -
This track is actually pretty entertaining (these guys still
remember it after 15 years) and not overly technical, which is
actually a relief.
Who Made Roger Rabbit featurette
Behind the Ears: The True Story of Roger Rabbit new
documentary - This in-depth documentary is well worth your
time and chronicles all areas of the film's production with
exciting set footage and interviews.
Set-top game, Trouble in Toontown
Deleted scene, "The Pig Head Sequence" - Robert Zemeckis
introduces this deleted scene and his explanation for leaving
this one out is pretty evident despite the scene being decent.
Toon Stand-Ins featurette - How did Bob Hoskins know where
Roger Rabbit would be standing? This featurette shows you how
rubber figures of the toons were used to guide the actors.
Toontown Confidential--pop-up style trivia viewing mode -
Familiar info subtitle track, but really only worth viewing
once.
The Valiant Files--interactive set-top gallery
Split screen comparison - Blue screen shots compared to the
final composite. Fun to watch and realize the ingenuity of the
effects.
Companion booklet and collectable glossy - The booklet is
quite informative and its design is pretty darn neat.
Roger Rabbit shorts: Tummy Trouble, Rollercoaster
Rabbit, and Trail Mix-Up - Available on the family
friendly Disc 1 and worth checking out once or twice.
10 out of 10
Overall
The Vista
Series continues its updates of classic titles and Who Framed
Roger Rabbit is a perfect addition to the series. This is a
film so funny, revolutionary, and smart that with the major
video and audio improvements combined with the special features
makes for an excellent DVD. I highly recommend this DVD to
anyone with a sense of humor and appreciation of film history.
Roger Rabbit is a definite "buy" recommendation.
