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"This is one movie that doesn't rely on special fx only; the FX merely enhance excellent comic acting by Carrey, "Milo," and Diaz." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: -------------
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The Mask
Click picture to order this DVD A Techtite ReviewAs Always, a review of The Film and The DVD (extras)! The Film: There are many opinions of the film that made Jim Carrey a star. This is mine. Even if you disbelieve that it started Carrey's career to soar, it certainly did the right thing for Cameron Diaz, as her first big feature movie. Both stars made this film a must-see! The story involves Stanley Ipkiss, a mild-mannered bank clerk who stumbles across an ancient relic. When he first puts on this strange mask as a lark, it's magic powers become clear; it transforms whoever wears it into everything they ever wanted to be. Since he's normally a couch potato who watches cartoons and old romance movies, he becomes a Tex-Avery style Romeo/super-hero. Along for the ride is Milo; an unbelievably well trained pet dog who steals every scene he's in. If you love "Eddie" from Frasier, you have to see this mutt in action. He's a riot! The problem is, police are hot on The Mask's trail; they don't know what he is, though they're pretty sure it's something bad. A mobster is also out to get "the Mask," because he's hitting on his girlfriend (Diaz), and he's interfering with his master plan, for the heist of his career. His plans change, however, when he discovers the secret of the Mask's "super powers." What will happen if a villain wears the mask? Ipkiss must stop this from happening at all costs! The end result is a classic super hero comedy, based on an actual comic book (not unlike Men In Black). This is one movie that doesn't rely on special fx only; the FX merely enhance excellent comic acting by Carrey, "Milo," and Diaz. Several of Carrey's most popular movie quotes are from the film, including "Smmmokin!" Tex Avery cartoon fans will love the ballroom scene. Kids of all ages will love the climactic battle scene, where even the dog gets to put on the Mask for a while! That's one of the biggest laughs of the film. Don't miss it!
The DVD: This was one of the first DVDs ever released, at a time when most such DVDs were old film classics, Oscar-Winners, and blockbusters. New Line Home Video knew that, alongside other first-on-shelf DVDs, this DVD needed a small boost to help sell the title. The end result is a disc that helped pave the road for all DVDs to come; one of the first to include "bonus materials," used by dozens of additional DVDs in later years. For one thing, the disc is double sided; Widescreen is on side one, Full Screen (Pan and Scan) is on side two. Many hoped that this would become a standard feature of DVDs; it hasn't, darn it. It's a nice feature for The Mask DVD, because anyone can watch The Mask both ways! Assisting in the viewing process is a film excellently tracked; you can jump to any of 28 moments in this under-two-hour film. This is also one of the first discs to offer deleted scenes. While there are only two, they are worth checking out. The first is the originally intended prologue to the film, where the origin of the mask is explored. The second is an alternately filmed scene, where Amy Yasbeck's character is cartoonishly defeated by the evil villain, after he steals the mask. Sure, it's only two deleted scenes, and yet it's still better than other DVDs, which barrage you with every single (boring) clip left on the cutting room floor. The last feature is audio commentary by the director. While later commentary tracks for other films would include two or more voices, Charles Russel does a good job all by himself, with anecdotes galore. The opening scuba scene, for example, was filmed in a tank borrowed from Baywatch! As major cast members enter one by one, he mentions the reason for casting them. Sure, it's a no-brainer why they cast Cameron Diaz, though it's nice to hear anyway... The only problem is, while this DVD helped set the standard, newer DVD releases have surpassed the bonus materials that The Mask helped pioneer. DVDs like As Good As It Gets include commentary by the director, producer, editor, composer, and the three main actors for the film! The DVD for Aliens contains no less than 17 minutes of restored footage. If newer DVD owners didn't know better, they might wonder why The Mask's DVD is so "stingy" on bonus materials. That's because at the time this DVD was released, bonus-materials-on-disc were in their infancy, used only as a lark. This was the first effort (that I know of) with such excellent additions on disc, and it was one of the first to give others such a cool idea for additions to DVD packaging. Thanks, New Line Video!
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