MovieFreak.com - "Space Jam" 2-Disc Special Edition DVD Review by Dennis Landmann

Basketball legend Michael Jordan agrees to help the Looney Toons (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, Taz, Sylvester, Granny) play an important basketball game against a group of aliens to determine their freedom.

A collaboration between Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny might've been a risky prospect in the early stages, but the resulting film, suitably titled Space Jam, offers an enjoyable 90 minutes of entertainment. Following in the footsteps (and technology) of Who Framed Roger Rabbit somewhat, Space Jam genuinely places Michael Jordan into the world of the crazy Looney Tunes characters. At times this is done to hilarious effect. Jordan holds his ground very admirably during the first half hour of the film, which basically tells of his life after retiring from professional basketball, yet only up to a certain point. That point comes during a seemingly harmless game of golf with Jordan, Bill Murray and Larry Bird. Just as Wayne Knight, who plays Jordan's assistant, is about to take a picture of Jordan retrieving the golf ball, Jordan gets suddenly sucked into the hole and pulled into an alternate universe. That universe is the one where a certain rabbit goes, "what's up, doc?"

Meanwhile, some NBA superstars (now retired Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues) lose all their talents for some mysterious reason. But really it is the work of the five tiny aliens who steal the players' talents. Thus an amusing but ultimately neutral subplot develops. To fill time the film shows the players in rehab and therapy sessions, as well as playing up this curse to the point where the (former) Great Western Forum is closed down by Hazmat and some (former) LA Lakers players (Vlade Divac, Cedric Ceballos) refuse to play under (former) coach Del Harris (now with the Dallas Mavericks). This is not a bad subplot per se, and seeing some of these guys in uniform is a nice flashback to the mid 90s, but it takes away some of the momentum of the main story. On the other hand, it appears this is the only subplot there is. In that case the script lacks some materials.

The story of Space Jam is rather simple. It's just enough to fill 90 minutes (88 to be exact). Despite its straightforwardness, the film manages to be original. It also features some pretty funny scenes. I mean, the Looney Toons are almost always funny and enjoyable to watch. Most of their antics here are simply hilarious. Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan make for a pretty good team. They both have their moments, which creates a nice balance. Billy West, who recently voiced Fry in Futurama, lends his talents here to Bugs and Elmer Fudd. The other voice talents are also pretty good. Supporting players like Wayne Knight, Bill Murray and Theresa Randle as Jordan's wife are also pretty good. The animation part of the film is quite impressive as are the incredible special effects. Plus, James Newton Howard gives the film a nice tune. All things considered, Space Jam is fun.

Warner Bros. presents Space Jam in an all-new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen exclusive to this special edition. Previous editions only featured the film in fullscreen. This presentation is obviously superior to the other releases as picture quality looks brighter and more detailed. Colors are well-saturated and color detail is fine. Some print flaws exist, but they're not a distraction. Quality is pretty nice, but not great. One would expect more, but I think this presentation holds quite nicely.

Warner Bros. presents Space Jam in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The sound here is terrific. Sound effects and the film's songs really impact the soundfield from all sides. Front speakers emit all sounds with some nice bass and dynamic range. Rear speakers are also hard at work. All in all, it's a very nice presentation.

This 2-disc special edition marks the third release of Space Jam on DVD. Some of the extras are new to this edition while others are carried over from the previous enhanced edition (released in 2000). Also, the cover art is much better than the nasty previous one. Please note the inside flap of this digipak DVD features an incredibly fake and terrible-looking picture of Michael Jordan. Why!

Looking at the back of the DVD cover I noticed the commentary by director Joe Pytka, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, which is featured on the first disc. Little did I realize how weak it is. Pytka almost never says anything. However, Bugs and Daffy get into some really amusing things. FYI, this track is carried over from the Enhanced Edition.

The rest of the bonus features appear on disc 2. It starts off with the 22-minute Jammin' with Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan documentary. Viewers get some brief insight into the film's special effects, as well as interviews with Michael "His Airness" Jordan and producer Ivan Reitman. The basic idea here is your typical making-of and as such is fine with me. Yet it feels dated and too brief.

Clicking on The Adventures section uncovers five animated Looney Tunes shorts. They are: Another Froggy Evening, Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers, Night of the Living Duck, The Duxorcist and Bugs Vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video Stars. The titles should be a pretty good indication what most of these shorts are about; spoofs of famous horror films. They're all pretty fun and the quality is very good.

Next are 2 music videos. Both Seal's "Fly Like an Eagle" and the "Monstars Anthem" are carried over form the previous edition, but for some odd (or obvious?) reason R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" is not included. Rounding out the extras is the film's theatrical trailer, as well as a Looney Tunes game demo.

You can select to view the film with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The 88-minute feature is organized into thirty-eight chapters.

Space Jam incorporates incredible special effects into a fun story that teams Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan. The film includes some hilarious scenes, although the script lacks some material. Video is very nice while audio quality is great. Extras are decent. Recommended.

THE MOVIE	7
THE VIDEO	8
THE AUDIO	9
THE EXTRAS	6
OVERALL (not an average)	7