Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Universal Home Video
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson
Extras: Commentaries, Featurette, Storyboards, Test Footage, Music Videos and more
Rating:
It seems very odd to be reviewing a DVD of ’Nutty Professor II: The Klumps’, as I just wrote a review for the film less than six months ago. The easiest way to review this new DVD entitled ’Nutty Professor II: The Klumps — Uncensored Director’s Cut’ is to compare it to the first DVD release. (To view my complete review for that first DVD, go here.)
When discussing the actual film itself and the transfer, the only major difference is that this new ’Director’s Cut’ includes two minutes worth of footage that was deemed too risqué and actually earned the film an ’R’ rating. The transfer looks basically the same as the first DVD release. The same can be said of the Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, which mirrors the quality of the soundtrack found on the prior disc. A new addition here is the DTS 5.1 soundtrack. This track adds a slightly better soundfield and some improved bass response when compared to the Dolby track, but there really isn’t that great a difference.
As for the extra features, there are several differences between the two DVD releases. But, I’ll start by discussing what has been kept from that first disc. Rehashed here are the two audio commentaries (one with director Peter Segal alone, and a truncated commentary with Segal and producer Brian Grazer). Also included from the first DVD are the storyboard to film comparisons (which profiles four different scenes), the production notes, the Janet Jackson music video, and the theatrical trailer.
This new DVD has been shorn of the 25-minute ’Spotlight on Location’ featurette, and replaced with a 4-minute behind-the-scenes feature. Also 3 new music videos, from Sisquo, Musiq, and Jay-Z, have been added. There is a brief ’Janet Jackson Wardrobe Test’ in which we see Janet wearing Mama Klump’s wedding dress. The last new extra feature is an Eddie Murphy make-up test from the original 1996 ’Nutty Professor’ film, which is absolutely hilarious.
That jaw-droppingly funny make-up test really drives home what a weird movie ’Nutty Professor II: The Klumps’ is. The character of Sherman Klump, with the genius of Eddie Murphy driving it, is funny in and of itself. This film loses sight of that fact and just goes way over the top. There is a title card at the beginning of this new cut of the film that states ’this film is not for children’. And neither was the original cut. I’m not surprised the ’Nutty Professor II’ was originally slapped with an ’R’ rating, and as I stated in my initial review, I can’t believe that the theatrical cut was given a ’PG-13’. Yes, ’Nutty Professor II: The Klumps’ is a fun and funny movie, but it’s nowhere near as funny as that make-up test. As for choosing between this new DVD and the original release, it’s a tough call. The ’Uncensord Director’s Cut’ does give you 2-minutes of extra footage and a DTS track, but it is also shorn of some of the extra features available on the original release. I would have to go with the ’Uncensored Director’s Cut’, simply because that brief make-up test reminds us of what a comic original Eddie Murphy truly is.
