Review of Baby`s Day Out/Dunston Checks In

Introduction

I`m always suspicious of double-packs of unrelated movies - it raises doubts about whether either film included is actually worthy of release by itself.

This double pack features the John Hughes comedy "Baby`s Day Out", featuring a kidnapped baby who escapes and manages to outwit his dim-witted captors as they chase him around the city and "Dunston Checks In" which features a thieving ape causing havoc.

Video

Both movies come in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, which is above average quality, but is a little grainy and also displays some flecks of dirt at times. The image is stable and colourful though, with adequate contrast across the image.

Visually, "Baby`s Day Out" features a number of occasionally amusing gags as the baby continually escapes his captors, but there`s not much new on offer. Some scenes are obviously rear projection which of course makes the stunts less convincing.

Similarly, the amusing ape aside, "Dunstan Checks In" has some stupid gags, but again there`s not much on display that we haven`t seen before.

Audio

The soundtracks for each movie come in Dolby Digital 5.1. As with the video, there`s nothing exciting on offer, and for the most part, you`d struggle to tell the difference between a Dolby Pro-Logic soundtrack and this Dolby Digital one, with limited use made of the rear channels.

The dialogue in each film is however clear and understandable at all times.

Features

Each movie comes with just the trailer, which is accessible from the rather dull static menus.

Conclusion

Overall both films will provide good entertainment for children, but neither held my interest for more than about 15 minutes. Both contain a predictable combination of stupid gags and slapstick humour, but offer nothing new.

Video and sound are only average, and the extras are sparse to say the least.

So despite the prospect of two movies for £20, even at £10 each, neither represents particularly good value, which takes me back to my stated scepticism at the start of this review...