‘Beethoven’ Blu-ray Review (Kino Lorber)
Stars: Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Oliver Platt, Stanley Tucci, David Duchovny, Patricia Heaton | Written by John Hughes, Amy Holden Jones | Directed by Brian Levant
Director Brian Levant has long been associated with family-friendly entertainment, helming crowd-pleasing hits such as Problem Child 2, Beethoven, The Flintstones, Jingle All the Way, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Snow Dogs, Are We There Yet? and The Spy Next Door. Following recent Kino Lorber Blu-ray releases of beloved family favourites Babe and Babe: Pig in the City, the label’s KL Studio Classics line has now turned its attention to Levant’s Beethoven, giving the much-loved canine comedy a well-deserved high-definition upgrade for a whole new generation of viewers.
Barely escaping from nefarious dog-nappers, an adorable puppy named Beethoven adopts the unsuspecting Newton family—and promptly grows up into 185 pounds of romping, drooling, disaster-prone St. Bernard! Unfortunately, even after proving his canine credentials to mom and the kids, the heroic hound gets nowhere with uptight dad, George (Charles Grodin, The Heartbreak Kid). But when a beastly veterinarian (Dean Jones, The Love Bug) makes Beethoven the target of an unspeakable animal experiment, George becomes the only hope for saving the Newtons’ furriest family member.
Written by legends John Hughes (Uncle Buck) and Amy Holden Jones (Mystic Pizza), Beethoven sees Brian Levant (Jingle All the Way) bring his wonderful, whimsical direction to this film. The cast is spectacular, led by Charles Grodin and co-stars Bonnie Hunt (Jumanji), Oliver Platt (The Ice Harvest), Stanley Tucci (Spotlight), David Duchovny (The X-Files) and Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond). Beethoven is arguably one of the best family canine films ever made.
Kino Lorber has transferred Beethoven to Blu-ray in 1080p, presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The audio track is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. There is also the option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
I was extremely excited about this release, especially when I read that this transfer was supposedly from a new 2k scan of the 35mm Interpositive. What an upgrade from the Universal Blu-ray this was going to be. However, this is not the case, as his transfer is the same as that of the Universal Blu-ray. Even though this is not a new 2k scan, the picture is still crisp and clean, and there are no signs of damage. The audio is clear with no hiss or pops. Thankfully, this is not a bare bones Blu-ray; Kino Lorber added some nice bonus features, including:
Special Features:
- NEW Audio Commentary by Director Brian Levant, Moderated by Filmmaker Douglas Hosdale
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Joe Ramoni
- Theatrical Trailer
As you can see, Kino Lorber added two new audio commentaries. With these, we get so much cool information about the making of this film. So if you never got to pick up a copy of the Universal Pictures Blu-ray of Beethoven, this Blu-ray is still a nice upgrade from a DVD release.
***½ 3.5/5
Beethoven is out now on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
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