Review of Fluke

Introduction

Fluke is based on James Herbert`s novel of the same name, and is one of the infamous author`s fantasy tales as opposed to his notorious gruesome horror novels like The Rats and Lair etc.

The film tells the story of a husband, killed on the way home from work in a car accident late one night, who returns to earth as a lovable dog, Fluke. As he becomes older, visions of his past life come flooding back and he sets out on an epic journey to return to his family, determined to get them back. However, being a dog, his work is cut out to convince them of who he really is. As time goes by, Fluke realises that perhaps he wasn`t the husband and father that he thought he was.

Video

The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and is of above average quality, with reasonable detail, but a hint of grain and surprisingly the occasional speck of dirt. The picture is colourful and stable, with good contrast and no compression problems.

As far as the visuals go, the movie features a lot of "cute dog" footage (although not in Beethoven`s league) and is well a made drama. The filmmakers make good use of locations and everything looks authentic.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and provides competent but generally unexciting reproduction of the audio.

Without the benefit of discrete real channels, the sound is focussed on the front stereo pair, which do a reasonable job of delivering the sound - dialogue is clear and understandable (including the kiddie-like talking dog sequences) and the film`s score helps to keep things moving along - although gives is a very Disney feel instead of the more serious dark tone alluded to in the novel.

Features

The only extra is the original theatrical trailer, accessed through colourful static menus.

Conclusion

I`ve not seen Fluke for many years, and whilst I quite enjoyed it the first time around, considering it to be a quite moving drama, it didn`t really stand up to repeat viewing - mainly because it is made in the style of a Disney family movie which doesn`t really suit the book.

The film has a strong story with reasonable performances from the cast and quite strong production values - and of course the cute dog factor. However, this is one of the problems - the film is too cutesy for my liking.

The video and sound are both of a reasonable standard and although the inclusion of just the trailer is disappointing, this is only to be expected on a catalogue release.