Groundhog Day (Collector`s Edition) (UK)
He`s having the worst day of his life... over, and over...
Certificate: PG
Running Time: 106 mins
Retail Price: £19.99
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie
Synopsis:
Bill Murray is at his wry wisecracking best in this riotous comedy about a weatherman caught in a personal time warp on the worst day of his life! Teamed with a relentlessly cheery producer and a smart aleck cameraman, TV weatherman Phil Connors is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities. On his way out of town, Phil is caught in a giant blizzard, which he actually failed to predict, and finds himself stuck in small town hell.
Just when things couldn`t get worse... they do! Phil wakes up the next morning to find it`s Groundhog Day all over again ... and again ... and again. During the recurring 24-hour nightmare, Phil starts to realise that he can use it to his advantage - to re-write the events of his day, and to generally have a whale of a time. But manipulating his day to capture the one woman he really wants is not quite so easy! Groundhog Day is a truly comic time-warp that everyone will enjoy being stuck in again... and again... and again.
Special Features:
Commentary from director Harold Ramis. Documentary `The Weight of Time`. Filmographies of Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliot. Trailer
Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1
Subtitle Tracks:
French
Hebrew
Icelandic
Polish
Czech
Italian
Hindi
Swedish
Finnish
Turkish
English
Spanish
German
Portuguese
Greek
Croatian
Hungarian
Dutch
Arabic
Danish
Norwegian
Bulgarian
Directed By:
Harold Ramis
Written By:
Danny Rubin
Harold Ramis
Starring:
Bill Murray
Andie MacDowell
Chris Elliott
Casting By:
Howard Feuer
Soundtrack By:
George Fenton
Music From:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sergei Rachmaninov
Frankie Yankovic
Director of Photography:
John Bailey
Editor:
Pembroke J. Herring
Costume Designer:
Jennifer Butler
Production Designer:
David Nichols
Producer:
Trevor Albert
Harold Ramis
Whitney White
Executive Producer:
C.O. Erickson
Distributor:
Columbia / Tristar
Your Opinions and Comments
I think this is a good movie. Perhaps not a great epic of a movie, but a good one none the less.
Its the sort of movie to put on when you`ve had a hard day at the office and want to kick back and relax for an hour or two. Its probably dangerously close to being a chick-flick, except its nearly all about Bill Murrays character, so thats how us macho, vindaloo-eating, terminator lovin` guys excuses ourselves!
Its certainly no Sleepless in Seattle, but is engaging comedy with a small love interest thrown in.
The Plot
Its a nice idea for a plot. A grumpy, cynical TV presenter goes to cover a groundhog day ceremony (eponimously) that happens every 2nd Feb in the U.S. Believe it or not, it really does happen every year too (www.groundhog.org/). Those crazy yanks! You wouldn`t catch us doing something this corny in the UK surely (obviously we`ll leave out references to morris dancing, guy fawkes and so on!).
He`s done it before, hes got to do it again, yadda yadda yadda. A few cliche`d comments, a quick bit of film, and he`s all done. Then he gets snowed in, has to spend the night in this small town, and wakes up to the same day, 2nd Feb. Every following day is the same, all 2nd Feb.
He is doomed to relive this day over and over.
At first, he can`t believe it, then he decides to exploit it, as no matter what he does he`s back where he started the next day. He goes through various phases then, as the realisation sinks in. What would you do it nothing you did today mattered tomorrow...??
Eventually, and the commentary suggest about 10 years of living the same day over, he finds an escape.
The Visuals/Audio
The video and sound come out pretty well, but its a dialog based film, so there its a great workout for the sound.
The Extras
There is a commentary which is pretty interesting in parts. Some of the background comes out here, and discussion on how the effects (same things happening in the background, but Bill Murray doing something different in the foreground).
The weight of time documentary covers some of the behind the scenes stuff and insights into making it. Its a good backdrop to the film for those that want to know more.
Also some trailers and previews. Nothing too exciting there though.
As a collectors edition, it isn`t as heavy a hitter as some of the multi-disk editions that are around, but it comes out ok I think.
Summary
The film is certainly worth watching, especially if you haven`t seen it. Plan it for after your next hard-days slog.