Dumb and Dumber To Blu-ray Review

It's worrying when the funniest thing about a movie is its poster campaign.

by Casimir Harlow
Movies & TV Shows Review

4

Dumb and Dumber To Blu-ray Review
MSRP: £13.00

Dumb and Dumber To Film Review

Nostalgia notwithstanding, this 20-years-in-the-making sequel starts as a genuine endurance test, but does eventually pick up, although was it really worth digging up these graves?

Through a series of contrived, but modestly funny, events – which anybody who has seen the trailer for Dumb and Dumber To will already know all about – childhood best buddies Harry and Lloyd end up back on the road together in search of Harry’s long-lost daughter, causing their usual mayhem along the way. It seems like business as usual for Harry and Lloyd and, to be fair, their real-life counterparts Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey don’t take too long to slip right back into these decades-old roles. Indeed, they are probably the biggest reason why you watch the movie – despite how bad the story, script or gags get, Carrey and Daniels never give up trying, and actually, somewhere near the halfway point, come close to winning you back. It’s just a shame that most people – quite understandably – will have switched off by that point.
Returning to their debut hit Dumb and Dumber, writer/directors the Farrelly brothers bring along their distinct, edgy brand of humour. It hasn’t always worked that well for them – but, correspondingly, has had some high points, and this is no exception, only the pauses between the bigger chuckles are far too long. Really, those who have fond (perhaps rose tinted) memories of Dumb and Dumber shouldn’t taint them with what is largely a waste of time, whereas those who have grown up on modern day Adam Sandler trash (think Jack and Jill, not Happy Gilmore) might consider it a suitable way to waste time. Perhaps if you set your standards that low, you'll likely find some nostalgic amusement in returning to the lives of these classic characters but there's every chance it might only taint your memories.

Blu-ray Picture Quality

Dumb and Dumber To
Universal’s UK Region Free release of Dumb and Dumber To comes with the same thoroughly excellent 1080p/AVC-encoded High Definition video presentation that adorned the big brother US release.

The digitally-shot, often sun-blissed cinematography shines with eye-popping colours and superior detail.

Textures are impressive, with the ageing craggy faces suffering as a result, but clothing weaves, and background nuances look largely fantastic. As stated the colour scheme is rich and vibrant, with healthy skin tones and vivid primaries abounding. Black levels are rich and overall there are no signs of any digital defects to trouble you. In fact, the presentation is hard to fault and easily demo quality.

Blu-ray Sound Quality

Dumb and Dumber To
The accompanying audio track is a similarly strong effort, delivered in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 format which allows the music to dominate the feature, whilst dialogue remains clear and coherent and effects get to give the surrounds a workout.

Although a comedy, there are a fair few more engaging setpieces to give your speakers a workout.

Dialogue dominates the frontal array where necessary, whilst all the road-trip flourishes give the surrounds plenty to do, and a few more explosive touches, from the impact of a freight train to the ignition of a bevy of fireworks, ignite the soundstage. It’s not exactly a bombastic offering but it is a precise, impressive one that, like the audio, is similarly hard to fault.

Blu-ray Extras

Dumb and Dumber To
There’s a selection of over 8 Deleted and Extended Scenes as well as an Alternate Ending, with some moments that were actually reasonably funny, making you wonder whether they could have juggled some of the material around. The Gag Reel is also pretty good, and it looks like they had a blast on-set, even if the material did not always deliver the goods to the audience.

Dumb and Dumber To sports a whole host of extras, dominated by new material as well as a selection of short but engaging little pieces delving into the background of the production.

That’s Awesome – The Story of Dumb and Dumber To is a multi-segment Documentary split into six chapters, covering everything from the original movie’s legacy to the returning cast and cameos, to the script, stunts and filming, and further supplemented by a short extra Featurette looking at the hilarity of dumb humour. The disc is rounded off by a number of trailers.

Conclusion

Dumb and Dumber To Blu-ray Review

Dumb and Dumber To
Ironically, for all the fond memories I had about the original - again perhaps rose-tinted - it was actually the clever movie poster campaign which secured my interest, with Dumb and Dumber To's version of the Lucy poster hilariously mocking Besson's brand of science. Unfortunately, it doesn't get much better than that. Perhaps I just wasn't the target audience.

Yielding a somewhat unbelievable $160 Million at the Box Office, almost half the ticket sales were tellingly under 25s, i.e. people who couldn’t have seen the original.

Universal's UK Region Free Blu-ray release boasts excellent video and audio for this long-gestating sequel, as well as a host of extra material and behind the scenes featurettes. Fans certainly shouldn't hesitate in adding this to their collection. Fans of the original should choose perhaps more wisely.


You can buy Dumb and Dumber To on Blu-ray here

Scores

Movie

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5

Picture Quality

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9

Sound Quality

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8

Extras

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8

Overall

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7

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