Elf

Review by Richard Lee

New Line Cinema / 2003 / 95 Minutes / Rated PG
Street Date: November 16, 2004

Specifications
-DVD-Video
-DVD-14, 2 Discs
-Region 1

Aspect Ratio:
-1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, Disc One
-1.33:1 Fullscreen, Disc Two

Audio:
-English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound
-Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound

Subtitle Options:
-English
-Espanol
-None

Main Menu, Disc One:
-Play Movie
-infinifilm
-Set Up Screen And Sound Options
-Select a Scene
-DVD-ROM/Online Features
-Need Help?

Infinifilm Features: Disc One:
-Fact Track
-Commentary with Director Jon Favreau
-Commentary with Will Ferrell
-Deleted/Alternate Scenes(anamorphic picture and 5.1 surround sound with optional commentary)
-Behind the Scenes

Main Menu, Disc Two:
-Play Movie
-infinifilm
-Set Up Screen and Sound Options
-Select a Scene
-Fun 'N' Games!(includes Elf Karaoke, Read Along, and Buddy's Adventures)
-DVD-ROM/Online Features
-Need Help?

Infinifilm Features: Disc Two:
-Kids on Christmas
-Deck the Halls
-Santa Mania
-Christmas in Tinseltown,
-Theatrical Trailer
-Music from Elf
-Special Announcements(included is a trailer for "Polar Express" in anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 surround sound.)

Take the 1988 motion picture "Big", substitute Will Ferrel for Tom Hanks, put in a Christmas theme complete with Santa and the North Pole and ,voila!, you've got "Elf". Not that there's anything wrong with that. This is an entirely enjoyable comedy with Saturday Night Live alum Will Ferrell in the title role of the ginormous man-child. What made him one of the most popular SNL cast members in recent years works to his advantage here. Will plays a human, who as a baby given up for adoption, finds his way into Santa's toy bag one Christmas and winds up a stray at the North Pole. Here he is taken under the wing of an adoptive papa elf, played by Bob Newhart, and proceeds to learn the ways of toy making and elf culture. Will the elf, named Buddy, eventually realizes how out of place he is among the elves, especially since he towers over them at over six feet plus. Papa elf finally comes clean and tells Buddy of his true origins and he then sets out to find his real father, Walter Hobbs, played by James Caan.

Buddy's journey takes him to New York City, which always provides a great back drop for a motion picture, especially one set at Christmastime. Here, Buddy is even more a fish out of water as he encounters the diverse denizens of the city, all the while in his green elf suit. He meets his love interest, Jovie, played by Zooey Daschenal, in a department store Christmas display and of course his real father, Walter. Naturally, Walter first reacts as if Buddy is an escapee from an insane asylum and we also learn he is a man who has lost the meaning of Christmas, big surprise. How much do you wanna bet Buddy helps him find the meaning back again? Plenty of pratfalls and sight gags keeps this movie at a fun pace the entire family can enjoy.

Picture Quality:

New Line's infinifilm series has consistently provided great picture transfers and the same can be said here. Since there was no discernable layer change, I suspect the movie has taken up an entire layer of the dvd while the extras take up the other layer. In one scene where snow took up the entire picture, I did notice some dark specks which took away from the overall sharpness of the image. Otherwise, the picture was sharp and colorful.

Audio Quality:

This film might have benefited from a DTS track, which I am surprised to say is not included with this DVD. But given this is a comedy and not a sci-fi or action piece, the Dolby Digital track provided adequate surround during musical interludes, dream sequences, and snowball fights. The LFE track is seldom used.

Infinifilm Features:

Most notably, on Disc One, the deleted/alternate scenes includes a funny ice hockey sequence and more with James Caan's secretary, played by a very funny Amy Sedaris. There are numerous featurettes dealing with the making of the movie with Jon Favreau the Director and Will Ferrell hamming it up for the camera. On Disc Two, which seems to be the DVD for the kids, you get the full screen version of the movie, along with a couple of interactive games, a Karaoke feature, and featurettes focusing on the children of the movie.