December 1998

Young Frankenstein: Special Edition
Reviewed by Karina Montgomery
DVD Format

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Starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars

Directed by Mel Brooks

Theatrical Release: 1974
DVD Release: 1998
Mono
Widescreen

For those who have never seen Young Frankenstein, the movie itself is reason enough to buy this DVD and watch it until the laser burns right through it. It is a loving, respectful tribute and satire of all the major Frankenstein movies, especially the Bride of Frankenstein, yet it loses none of the heart or classic nature of the original. It is Mel Brooks' finest film, and arguably the best comedy ever made. It is one of my personal perfect movies. It isn't dated, it doesn't spoon-feed the audience, it was tweaked in production but not test marketed to death. It lies in a unique spot -- a modern adaptation of a classic and a classic in its own right -- and it is a film made in the low-tech, human, hands-on era of the early ‘70s while still being incredibly sharp and cohesive and paced at a perfect tempo. I guess you can tell I think the movie is OK. So how's the DVD?

It's presented in the theatrical 1.85:1 ratio, a narrower widescreen than we see nowadays (exhibit A: Titanic). Even without the unobtrusive letterboxing it's still video-friendly -- the image is as big on your TV as it can be and keep everything in. The contrast is lush, and that is key to enjoying the extraordinary production lighting, design, and camerawork. In the making-of documentary, the cinematographer speaks of how he was asked to replicate the look of the original Boris Karloff movies, and so he did. But Brooks wanted more, wanted to satirize while still paying homage. Thankfully, Young Frankenstein is a far cry from the sad and execrable Dracula: Dead and Loving It that Brooks has more recently subjected us to. The main crime of that film is that it may potentially dissuade Brooks virgins from seeing this masterpiece of parody and homage.

I bought the laserdisc when it became available, and some of the same material is featured herein -- Brooks' addled and mostly sentimental audio commentary (one wishes the makers had had an additional track for Gene Wilder), and some of the deleted scenes. The glory of DVD, however, is the ability to pack so much more on the single layer. There are endless, ENDLESS production stills, seven deleted scenes, a section of outtakes (some from a deleted scene) that is sadly lacking considering how much fun Brooks and crew clearly had making this film, and two interviews from Mexican television, as well as several theatrical and TV trailers. The most information is in the making-of segment, which is not obsequiously cobbled together for Entertainment Tonight but rather a Wilder-centric supplement to Brooks’ faltering, rambling commentary. Brooks had a great time working on this film, he genuinely loves his actors and the movie, and it's a lovely thing to hear him soliloquize about it all. But it is not the filmmaker's lecture from the mount of genius that one would have hoped for. Wilder says, on the production team's approach to comedy in making this film, that it "was not how can we make fun, but how we can make it real which will make it more fun." Kernels like this make his segment a better lesson for the film buff.

Except for the section of production photos, the special features menus are set up very well -- you select one, it plays, then returns you to the submenu rather than some other world on the DVD from which you have to find your way back. It even highlights the choice after the one you just chose. In the stills section, you have to tab forward through endless photographs, and there is no skipping! I got stuck and had to stop and start over. But this is a minor quibble. The movie is the thing, and it is a gorgeous print of a truly great work.

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