The classic Tim Burton movie finally arrives on Blu-Ray that is
easily one of the most original comedy horror's of all time. The
story of Beetlejuice revolves around the Maitlands, a happily
married and recently deceased couple (Geena Davis and Alec
Baldwin) who come to the realization that they are ghosts.
They find their beloved country home, which the rules of the
afterlife forbid them to leave, sold to a city couple (Jeffrey Jones
and Catherine O'Hara) and their eccentric daughter (Winona Ryder).
The plot follows the ghost's comedic attempts to expel their new
tenants including calling upon the talents of "bio-exorcist"
Beetleguese.
Michael Keaton steals the movie with his portrayal as the title
character who is repulsive and nasty but excellently portrayed
through the actor's deeply humorous performance. Keaton has the
least screen time of any of the main actors but easily outshines
them all.
Beetlejuice is also the movie that made Tim Burton and led him to
create one of the most memorable Batman movies of all time. Although
the plot is quite clichéd at times and does suffer from some
inconsistencies, however it's still good old fashioned movie with a touch of
horror, comedy and drama.
Video wise, Warner presents the movie at a ratio of 1.85:1 with a
1080p VC-1 encode and although may not be the best transfer, the
quality is still quite outstanding for a movie that is over 20 years
old. Decent picture quality and great colours for a movie of this
age. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 TrueHD which sounds
good, although not as impressive as the Blu-ray discs of today,
however once again, for a movie that is over 20 years old... it does
the job quite well with clear and crisp audio and music.
Once you have watched the movie, the disc also contains some
interesting extras that include 3 episodes from the Animated
Beetlejuice Television Series, Skeletons in the Closet, Spooky Boo-Tique and the original theatrical trailer.
If
you are a fan of the movie, than the remastered version of
Beetlejuice 20th Anniversary is definitely a must have Blu-ray to
own. Best of all, the movie still holds up well for a horror comedy,
although the special effects are a tad "lame" but
hopefully new comers will also enjoy this classic Tim Burton film. Even though it comes with a M15+ rating, the movie could almost
border on a PG, however parental descretition is advised.