![]() Obviously, sound design could have been a lot stronger, but for what it is, this 5.1 mix does the job. Thankfully, this imbalance doesn't come into play too often with this release, as surrounds are mostly utilized to punch up the film's '80s soundtrack, or to complement the film's few action beats. Like many MGM DVDs, dialogue seems mixed at an incredibly low volume, whereas surround effects are almost too loud. This is certainly a more lively mix than most sex comedies out there, but it's still far away from reference material. ![]() Score: 6 out of 10 Languages and Audio Audio choices are English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 with Spanish subtitles and English captions for the hearing impaired. At least they didn't attempt to fix the film's brightness with artificial light (which usually yields heavy noise). ![]() While I'm sure these flaws were present in the theatrical release, it's a shame MGM wasn't able to rectify the mistakes for home video. Colors also feel oversaturated, particularly indoor settings. This issue even dampens the impact of a few sight gags (for example, you can never see the design on the Chernobly can). Black levels are way too dark, leading to heavy bleed throughout. The presentation isn't all that impressive, particularly on the screener disc IGN received, which was fogged by dense macroblocking. Score: 6 out of 10 Video and Presentation Hot Tub Time Machine is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. CLICK HERE to read the full Hot Tub Time Machine review by Jim Vejvoda. All of these were clever 25 years ago when BTTF came out, but we're too aware of such beats now. We even have a protagonist performing with a band to the astonishment of the crowd. Poking fun at the styles, slang, music and entertainment of the era? Check. Preventing someone from not being erased from existence? Check. Making sure people who need to fall in love still do? Check. Finding out a loved one was a drunk and/or slut? Check. Running into old friends and enemies? Check. For example: Not hoping to screw up the space-time continuum and change history? Check. Hot Tub recycles many of the same (now) time-travel movie tropes started by BTTF and later used in other films in the genre. In fact, every major beat from that film is mirrored here, and Hot Tub openly acknowledges its debt to BTTF by casting Crispin Glover in the role of an ornery, one-armed bellhop (he's the film's most effective running gag). It really shouldn't work as well as it does: Movies that poke fun at the '80s seemed to have gone out of vogue a few years back, and it's also a shameless rip-off, sorry, homage to Back to the Future, the king of time-travel comedies and one of the best genre films of the 1980s. Do they dare? Despite having so many strikes against it, Hot Tub Time Machine ended up being an entertaining albeit deeply flawed comedy. Along the way, though, they begin to realize how much better their lives would be in the present if they did alter the course of history. They must not do anything that could screw-up the space-time continuum and thus change the future, and so are forced to relive the same traumatic events they went through in 1986. There, trapped in the era of Miami Vice, Reagan, Jheri curl and Poison, the three friends are seen by everyone else as their teenage selves.
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