The Film
Mel Brooks sure knows how to assemble a cast. After the success of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, the comedy genius surrounded himself with the best talent for High Anxiety.
Brooks plays Dr. Richard Thorndyke, who takes over the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous after the death of his predecessor. There, he finds a completely bizarre (and funny) cast of characters, including the weasely Dr. Charles Montague and the cigar-chomping, pointy-chested Nurse Diesel, both played to perfection by Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman, respectively.
High Anxiety doesn't feature as many laughs as the two aforementioned Brooks films. However, the film is very busy trying to slam and cram in the multiple works of Alfred Hitchcock.
How can a movie so good look so bad? We can't answer that question, but we do have High Anxiety as a living example. We haven't seen a movie look this bad since we first got cable. The 1.85:1 transfer is hazy at best. The colors are very dim and bland and the detail is barely there. It's surprising that you can still make out Nurse Diesel's thin mustache.
The Sound
As we mentioned in reviews for History of the World Part I and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Mel Brooks films are all about the dialogue, which is dominated by one-liners. While this movie does deliver that well, the musical score plays almost as big of a role. That's why it's so sad that this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track barely registers in more than one speaker. Everything sounds decent, but expect the center channel to be doing all of the work here.
The Extras
The recent releases mentioned above each had a sad collection of extras. While it may look good on paper, High Anxiety is really no different. "Hitchcock and Mel" has the most meat, with information about Brooks' relationship and admiration for the Master of Suspense, as well as his influence on the camera angles, themes and characters. Then, there are two trivia tracks to accompany the movie. One includes Hitchcock trivia, while the other really has nothing to do with the movie. The worst part about the latter, however, is that can't skip through chapters, fast-forward or rewind. Weird.
Final Thoughts
You'd have to be Mel Brooks' biggest fan or maybe a family member not to mind the bad image and sound included on High Anxiety. It's probably not worth the upgrade over standard-def DVD, but the film itself certainly holds up over 30 years later.
Product Details
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