Office Space Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Unable to endure another mind-numbing day at Initech Corporation, cubicle slave Peter Gibbons
(Ron Livingston) gets fired up..and decides to get fired. Armed with a leisurely new attitude
and a sexy new girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston), he soon masters the art of neglecting his job,
which quickly propels him into the ranks of upper management!
Mike Judge is a maestro of comedy, and Office Space is his magnum opus. He is perhaps
the greatest comedic mind of his generation, each of his works capturing the subtleties of
everyday life like never before, seeing both the dark side and the funny side all at once, and
intertwining the two into some of the finest works of Comedy art this side of Mel Brooks, Woody
Allen, Wes Anderson, or Kevin Smith. It all began with "Beavis and Butt-Head," a farcical,
to-the-point, perhaps even disturbing look at America's youth, or at least the bottom rung
thereof.
Intercut with music videos when it originally aired on MTV, the content of the show may have
been lost to some
audiences, but its brilliant and side-splitting comedy never failed to capture the corruptions, vices,
and most importantly, ignorance of the pair, and through them, Judge's view of a particular slice
of modern-day Americana. "King of the Hill," in a way, is more of the same, though certainly
subtler in its approach. It's bigger, better scripted, populated by more characters, and
looks at everyday life trough the eyes of the Hill family, a middle class trio (plus one) that resides in fictional
Arlen, Texas, with dose after dose of social satire on most any subject imaginable. Judge's latest
is the completely misunderstood and grossly under-appreciated Idiocracy, a
feature-length film starring Luke Wilson (Henry Poole Is
Here) that projects the devolution of society far into the future. The film takes an
everyday figure, someone who is the epitome of "normal" (in other words, someone straight out
of Judge's previous works), and places him 500 years into the future where the average of today
is the Einstein of tomorrow. Nevertheless, the director's greatest achievement, and strongest
commercial success, is Office Space, a witty, side-splitting, and
perfectly-played-and-paced comedy that satirizes the modern American workday and the people
who slave away at a meaningless and futureless jobs for uncaring, haughty, and oftentimes
ignorant
bosses.
Cheer up Peter, 'Office Space' is on Blu-ray!
Yes, yes it's horrible, this idea.
Office automaton Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston, Band of Brothers)
can't stand his job, and every day is the worst day of his life. His boss, Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole,
Pineapple Express)
is constantly riding his back with his obnoxious, monotone, maybe even a little haughty (he
drives a Porsche, after all) ways; his girlfriend, Anne (Alexandra Wentworth), has been acting
strange lately; and his painfully dull job at Initech, which keeps him tucked away inside a dreary,
lifeless cubicle across the way from the spunky telephone greeter, has him transitioning
computer software for the Y2K switchover and on the edge of insanity. His only solace comes
from visits with his friends, Michael Bolton (no, not the "no-talent @$% clown", but rather actor
David Herman, Futurama: Bender's
Game) and Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu, Righteous Kill), and
their excursions to chain restaurant Chotchkie's to get a glimpse of cute waitress Joanna
(Jennifer Aniston, TV's "Friends"). Following a trip to the restaurant and a particularly bad case of
the "Mondays," the trio is greeted by co-worker Tom Smykowski (Richard Riehle) who informs
them that the company is bringing in a pair of "consultants" to parse the workforce and fire the
useless employees. Later, Peter visits an occupational hypnotherapist named Dr. Swanson
(Michael McShane) at the request of his girlfriend. Peter is hypnotized and before he can be
snapped back out of it, Dr. Swanson collapses and dies. Peter's attitude changes from stressful
anxiety to carefree freedom. He fails to show up for work, begins a relationship with Joanna, and
even manages to impress the two consultants, Bob Slydell and Bob Porter (John C. McGinley and
Paul Wilson, respectively) with his outlook on life at Initech, prompting them to offer him a
promotion and a raise. When Peter discovers that he's being promoted but his friends are being
fired, the trio set out to get all they can out of the company, but these amateur criminals are
bound to slip up somewhere. Meanwhile, office weirdo Milton Waddams (Stephen Root, Dodgeball) fights a
losing battle to keep his red Swingline stapler (it doesn't bind up as much as the Boston) and his
desk (so he may continue to watch the married squirrels outside), enjoy a piece of birthday cake
(he didn't get one last time), and find out what happened to his paycheck (there must be a
glitch).
Did you get that memo?
Office Space is one of those rare movies where everything that could go wrong...didn't.
Every single solitary little slice of the filmmaking process seems pitch-perfect in each shot.
Nothing
about the film fails to work at less than 100% efficiency. The script, the casting, the
performances,
the direction, the soundtrack, all of it is nothing less than ideal; it's as if the film is blessed in
every
shot, just meant to be from the get-go, and nothing short of brilliant. It is easily one of the most
memorable, quotable, and re-watchable films ever made. Most importantly, Office Space
is just flat-out funny, though "funny" might not even be a strong enough word to describe it.
What makes the humor work so well is that it's completely relatable. Everyone can put
themselves in these character's shoes; Peter Gibbons is the epitome of the "every man," a guy
who faces the same workplace dilemmas, shares many of the same thoughts, and struggles with
the same sort of life problems as most of the audience, acting as a sort of voice, if not a vicarious
outlet for all of the frustrations, anger, confusion, and headaches of the real world. Even if he
doesn't connect, there is bound to be someone in the film that does. Writer/Director Mike Judge
understands the world in which he, and his audience, lives, and manages to squeeze in just about every personal and work-related issue that he can in the film's lightning-quick 89 minute runtime, each explored and commented on with the foremost clarity, conciseness,
and humor.
It's not that I'm lazy, it that I just don't care!
Office Space is a rare cinematic experience that works in complete harmony. However, if
any
one segment of the film stands above the rest in making it work, no doubt it is in the varied and
fantastic performances of the entire cast. Each cast member, from Ron Livingston on
down to the very bottom of the credits list, understands completely the movie and their role in it.
Each character is superbly crafted in the script, with each actor lending a unique personality and
finishing touches to those they portray. No two are completely alike, save for, perhaps the consultants, the "two
Bobs," though there is a reason they share the same name. They are practically clones of one
another, mentally and emotionally anyway, signifying the dullness and the routine of office life
where
everything is virtually identical day in and day out, from the bland furniture to the slave-like
routine of digging through the code and ensuring it is all Y2K compliant. The rest of the
characters are designed and executed very well, and repeat viewings will open up every cubicle
and allow astute viewers to pick up on the minutia that puts those last few finishing touches on
the characters, their personalities, and their place in the film. For example, viewers may note a
dead plant adorning Milton's desk, representative of his off-kilter personality, showing he tries to
fit in, to be normal, but just can't keep it together. There is also Michael's calculator wristwatch,
fashionable in the 1980s but a low-tech joke even in 1999, but appropriately nerdy. The rest of
the characters are superbly written and well-developed, even those with little screen time and
playing secondary or tertiary parts in the film. Peter's co-worker Tom Smykowski, his next door
neighbor Lawrence, his hypnotherapist Dr. Swanson, the "crack addict" magazine salesman
Steve, and even background characters that only stand around the office appearing lifeless and
apathetic offer standout performances in whatever role they have, no matter how large or how
small. No doubt, the primary characters serve as the focal point and are absolutely fantastic in
their own right, but it is the rest of the cast that truly steals the show.
Work is anything but dreary on this Blu-ray edition of Office Space. 20th Century Fox
brings this catalogue favorite to the high definition format with impressive results. Presented in
1080p and framed inside a 1.85:1 window, the film has never looked better for home viewing. The
image is sharp and clean with no blemishes, minimal grain, clean lines, sharp foreground objects,
and acceptable background detail. Color reproduction is fantastic. The film sports a myriad of colors,
in spots, particularly in the varied shirts the Initech employees wear that contrast with the dull,
gray, lifeless office that is clean and efficient but nothing else in terms of visual pizzaz, save for that
red Swingline. Flesh tones are spot-on, black levels are solid, and detail is excellent. The disc brings
out every pimple and wart on Milton's face; his magnified eyes behind super thick glasses stand out
nicely, popping out of his head, or so it seems, and into living rooms everywhere. Exterior shots,
too, look fantastic. The movie presents a very natural, pleasing look; the green grass and leaves,
the gray concrete parking lot, and the automobiles sitting in it offer high quality visuals that look as
good as if the viewer were seeing the imagery outside a clean window. Office Space
features a very simple and basic appearance. There is nothing fancy going on here, but the
intended look of the film shines through with excellent results.
Office Space won't smash up any sound systems with its DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless
soundtrack, but it's an efficient worker bee that conveys every sonic nuance of the film wonderfully.
Office Space features a laid back sound design that leaves the surround speakers virtually
silent and the subwoofer sitting idle through much of the experience. In fact, bass only comes into
play two or three times, primarily during those scenes featuring a robust Hip-Hop accompaniment. The best moments for low frequency effects come during a montage in chapter 21 and the famous
printer destruction scene in chapter 23. Otherwise, the movie is primarily dialogue heavy, which is
reproduced crisply and evenly through the center channel. A few ambient effects are heard around
the office; a ringing telephone here or a radio reporting a Spanish shipwreck there play nicely across
the front speakers, with good placement and pinpoint accuracy, but otherwise, there's not much
going on to add environmental support to the experience. All in all, this track does all that is asked
of it, nothing more, nothing less. It's not that it's lazy, it's just that it has nothing else to do.
Office Space prints up several enjoyable bonus features. Out of the Office: An 'Office
Space' Retrospective With Mike Judge (480p, 27:03) is a feature broken up into several
segments -- The Cast, Mike Judge, The Printer, The Red
Stapler,
and The Reality Factor. This piece features the director reminiscing on the construction
of
the film, going back to his original animations and moving on to share his thoughts regarding the ensemble
cast. The piece also includes interview clips with many of the primary actors discussing
the
characters they play, in addition to commenting on some of the film's memorable scenes. Many
of
the comments are incredibly insightful and funny, and the piece is a definite must-watch.
Executive Games allows viewers to play several games during the movie: Grab the
Stapler, where the primary goal is to steal the red Swingline from Milton's desk, Printer
Beat-Down, challenging players to do as much damage as they can on a jammed printer
with
one of three weapons (bat, pipe, or shoe), and Whack-a-Drone, a game where players
must
get employees back on task by hitting them with a stack of TPS reports. Jump to Conclusions
2.0 is as worthless as Smykowski's idea, a feature that prompts users to ask a question and
press enter. The mat then randomly selects one of the squares with an answer on it. It's sort of
like a magic 8-ball, only worse. Post-it Pandemonium / The Apathy of Man: History Track
is another pop-up trivia track that appears at random intervals over the movie, on Post-it notes,
of course. They cover nearly the entire screen at times, and the only thing more random than when they
appear is the information they provide. This set of supplements is concluded with a series of
eight standard-definition deleted scenes and the film's theatrical trailer (480p, 2:27).
As far as Comedies go, they just don't come any better than Office Space. Satirical, clever,
memorable, quotable, long-lasting, and flat-out hilarious, Office Space has every base
covered, and then some. Between the superb casting and acting, efficient direction that allows the
satire and wit to shine through unobstructed, a soundtrack that plays uncannily well with the
movie, too-numerous-to-list classic scenes, and of course, a red Swingline stapler, it's no wonder
that Office Space is a fan favorite and burgeoning classic. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray
release doesn't disappoint. The disc sports a fantastic picture quality, a strong supporting
soundtrack, and a few good supplements. Every movie fan needs to see Office
Space at least
once, and there is absolutely no better way to experience it. Why not duck out of the office and go
pick up a copy? Very highly recommended.
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