[The News Bot]

Reviewed by Gerard Magnier, 26th September 2009
‘Friday’ (1995) was directed by F. Gary Gray and was written by long time rap collaborators Ice Cube and DJ Pooh. At the time, Cube was a rap megastar and had enjoyed a long stint of success with seminal rap outfit NWA. He plays the lead role in the movie, the loser Craig. Fired from his job and with nothing to do, he spends the day getting wasted with his pal, Smokey. Things take a turn for the worst though, when Big Worm, the local drug dealer, comes looking for his money from the hapless duo. Chris Tucker plays the aforementioned, chronic smoking slacker (Smokey) and turns out a performance that would put Jim Carey to shame. He is completely over the top but also completely hilarious as the weed-toking, hyperactive maniac. Cube does an admirable job as Craig and the rest of the ensemble cast do a fine job portraying the inhabitants of the drug-infested South Central ‘hood. It’s a combination of the almost leisurely and casual manner in which Gray presents the material, in conjunction with the engaging performance from the key cast members, which makes this movie work. There are plenty of stoner/black comedies out there but ‘Friday’ remains the original and best.

The uncompressed 7.1 surround track, while an unusual inclusion by Warner, is a welcome one. The track has clearly been well mixed and is both enveloping and engaging. The weighty bass of the enjoyable score makes up for the poor bass presence in the rest of the presentation. Video quality is somewhat of a mixed bag, largely due to the budgetary nature of the shoot. Some of the scenes can suffer from softness but for the majority it’s crisp and clear with some stunning facial close-ups on display. The extras package contains some interesting features, with bonus points for including a new documentary. Overall this is a very impressive package and the decision to include the extended version of this classic movie, means there is no better time to purchase than right now on BD.


Read the full review...

[24 P]

I was only thinking the other day when they would release this, a Tour de force release.
500 k budget and they have done it justice, excellent.
Look forward to adding this to my collection.
Now if only 2 and 3 come out..

[darkcloud2011]

By far the best of the Friday series. Mine was delivered a few days ago. I am yet to watch. I am hopeful that this film has a great transfer.

This review is a great read.

[reingam]

I think that you will be pleasantly surprised with the transfer. For such a low budget movie it looks pretty good to my eye