Blu-Ray Review:
Groundhog Day
By Jason Gillard
*Screen shots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Let me start off by saying if you haven't seen groundhog day before than you are seriously missing out. Groundhog Day is a film starring Bill Murray. It's about a weatherman who hates his job and pretty much his life. When sent out to the town of Punxsutawney to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebrations with his new producer played by Andie McDowell, something strange happens. Phil (Bill Murray) goes to sleep in a local hotel and wakes up to go cover the festivities. Everything seems normal until he wakes up the next day and everything seems to be repeating itself. Each day Phil has to repeat the same day over and over. Now you can imagine how much fun someone can have if they know exactly what is going to happen. This movie is a blast and is a great family film. Bill Murray is quite funny and the movie is quite charming as well. There are a few movies that I remember and come back to from when I was a child and Groundhog day is one of them. If your family has not seen this film you should get it and watch it with them.
8 out of 10
Video
Groundhog day is 15 years old, so I wouldn't be expecting anything too fabulous here. But I was pleasantly surprised at how well the film looked. The film is delivered in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Your not going to find super sharp images here, but detail level is quite good. When Phil wakes up in his room you can clearly see the texture on his sheet covers and the lines in his face. The transfer is more film-like if I was going to describe it, which is perfect for a film such as this. There is little to no scratches or blemishes on the print. Black levels are surprisingly good as well. There is a slight bit of digital noise but nothing that is distracting. For a film that's 15 years old, I was very happy with the transfer and it's certainly far superior to the DVD.
8 out of 10
Audio
Like the video transfer the audio transfer was a welcome surprise as well. You get a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix, which doesn't use the rear surrounds or LFE channel that much, but it does do a good job of recreating the music in the film. Also sound effects seem to come across more real sounding than I remember them. Every morning when Phil wakes up and hears his clock radio, I remember from the DVD that it always sounded tinny. Here it sounds a lot more like a real radio. Also when he smashes it, it sounds pretty realistic as well. This disc is certainly not going to impress people with its surround sound transfer, but it shouldn't have too. It sounds really good, the dialogue comes across really clear and appears to be perfectly mixed. Overall I don't think you would get a better sounding version of Groundhog Day anywhere else.
8 out of 10
Extras
Here is what you get in the way of extras:
Audio commentary with Director Harold Ramis
A different day: an Interview with Harold Ramis
Groundhog Day: the Weight of Time
The story of Groundhogs: a Real Life Look at Marmots
Needle Nose Ned’s PiP Pop up Trivia Track
Deleted Scenes
If you're one of those people who don't like to listen to commentary tracks I suggest you check out the interview with Harold Ramis. He discusses some background information and it gives you some interesting material without having to invest the time in listening to the whole commentary track. Groundhog Day: the Weight of Time is the more substantial making of piece that has been ported over from the DVD. I didn't really like the Needle Nose Ned Pop up trivial track. I found it to be annoying actually. The Story of Groundhogs is a nature documentary on these creatures. It was interesting and probably worth a watch.
Overall I wasn't too impressed with the extras but there is some content that is worthwhile.
6 out of 10
Overall
Overall I thought Sony has done a really good job with this disc and if you're a fan of the movie it would be worth picking up.
8.5 out of 10
Groundhog Day Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.com