- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz/24-bit), French, Portuguese, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: PG
- Run Time: 86/87/96 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Paramount Home Media Distribution
- Blu-ray Release Date: August 7, 2012
- List Price: $19.99
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
The 1985 film Clue, directed by Jonathan Lynn (Wild Target) and co-written by Lynn and John Landis (¡Three Amigos!; Twilight Zone: The Movie), is based on the Parker Brothers board game of the same name, originally name Cluedo. A star-studded satire of McCarthy-era 1950s paranoia, Hitchcockian thrillers, and pulp murder mysteries, the film uses the game merely as a starting point for an over-the-top, riff-filled romp that only the best of the National Lampoon films could hope to top. Set on a dark, rainy 1954 night in a spooky New England mansion, a group of strangers are brought together for a dinner party by a mystery host. Each of them having ties to Washington, D.C., it doesn’t doesn’t take long for each to realize there is something strange going on. The butler, Wadsworth (Tim Curry), has given each guest an alias, Mr. Green (Michael McKean), Col. Mustard (Martin Mull), Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan), Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren), and Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn). Meanwhile the Cook (Kellye Nakahara) and Yvette, the maid (Colleen Camp), are also in attendance. When the final guest, Mr Boddy (Lee Ving) shows up, is when things take a wild turn. Wadsworth reveals the reason for all the guests being invited to the dinner party – they are all being blackmailed, and the blackmailer is Mr. Boddy. But a sudden power outage finds Mr. Boddy dead after he had just passed out deadly weapons to each guest to kill Wadsworth – a revolver, a noose, a lead pipe, a dagger, and a candlestick. Who killed Mr. Boddy? They all must figure it out before the police arrive, but the body count keeps mounting as more surprise visitors keep arriving.
The Blu-ray release improves upon the gimmick of making a film based on a board game by allowing you to select one of three random endings from the beginning, each one with a different outcome of who killed whom and where? Wadsworth in the kitchen with the candlestick? Colonel Mustard in the foyer with the revolver? Hmm, who knows?
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The 35mm source for Clue, encoded in AVC/MPEG-4 1080p, looks film-like and clean with little in the way of electronic noise or processing issues. Blacks crush slightly from time to time and there are a few scenes where there is some softness to be seen, but overall there are mostly crisp, textured, and detailed images with rich midrange colors and good contrast levels.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The original monaural soundtrack is offered in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz/24-bit). While a remix to 5.1 might have been effective at capturing the atmospheric sounds of Clue’s thunderstorm, screams and gunshots, purists will be pleased to know that this monaural soundtrack is more than good enough. Dialogue is intelligible and sound effects are relatively full.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
This Blu-ray release of Clue allows you to view the movie by selecting from the beginning to watch with either one of the three endings chosen for you at random, or you can watch with all three endings. You can also view all three endings on their own. The theatrical trailer in high definition is also available.
The supplements:
- View movie with one if its three theatrical endings (at random).
- View home entertainment version of the movie with all three endings.
- Endings (1.78:1; 1080p/24):
- Ending A
- Ending B
- Ending C
- Trilogy Ending
- Theatrical Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
A who’s-who cast of comedic players props up this mid-80s novelty and helps carry it to heights it probably would not have achieved otherwise. Madeline Kahn and Lesley Ann Warren are particular standouts in this solid Blu-ray edition of Clue.
Additional Screen Captures
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Purchase Clue on Blu-ray at CD Universe
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[amazon-product]B006YZOXLW[/amazon-product]
Purchase Clue on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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