Stars:
Aimee Brooks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Don Opper, John Calvin, Christopher Cousins,
Joseph Cousins, and Katherine Cortez
Writer:
David J. Schow
Based
On A Story By: Rupert Harvey and Barry Opper
Director:
Kristine Peterson
Feature
length: 86 minutes
Languages:
English Stereo
Subtitles:
N/A
Packaging:
Jewel Case
Sound:
Stereo Sound
#
Of Discs: 2
Year
of Original Home Video Release: 1991/VCD Release: 2002
Distributor:
New Line Cinema
Home
Video Distributor: Speedy Video Distributors (In Malaysia Only)
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Some
Critter stowaways terrorize and devour tenants in an LA apartment building
leaving alien blasting good guy/nerd bounty hunter Charlie (Don Opper) to save
the day. Released in America as a straight-to-video feature, “Critters: You
Are What They Eat” is an okay sequel that maintains continuity between the
first two films through references as well as flashbacks.
The
Chiodo Brothers do a fine job with the Critter effects, concocting various
visual gags and the puppets have a greater range of motion to them, allowing for
more comedic and inventive sequences involving the hungry critters. Leonardo
DiCaprio has an early screen role in the film though I doubt anyone will ever
approach and refer to him as the guy from “Critters 3.”
“Critters
3: You Are What They Eat” benefits from being a more recent film in the series
and from advances in MPEG-1 compression technology, which is still used abroad
in many countries and has gained a second wind in the states from the success of
DVD and backwardly compatible DVD players. The image is very good. In fact I
would say that it is superior to the original NTSC VHS version of the film with
barely any compression artifacts that are normally associated with the format.
In
addition to the (1.33:1) presentation, which is the same aspect ratio of the
original American home video release, the VCD features a clear and dynamic
English Stereo Soundtrack that benefits from the natural digital quality of
Compact Discs. There are no foreign subtitles or captions encoded on to either
VCD in any way. The film is spread across two discs with disc one holding
approximately 55-minutes of the film and disc two containing 26-minutes or so.
The discs are housed in a standard jewel case designed to hold two Video-CDs.
None of the “Critter” films have been released in the United States on DVD
and there has been no announcement of any release for any of these films though
they have been officially released and are legally distributed on VCD in
countries like Malaysia. So VCD is the only alternative for consumers who want a
digital copy to play back on their DVD-Video players or DVD-ROM drives. These
discs will also work on standard CD-ROM drives as well. Please note that these
Video-CDs are PAL formatted. Be sure your DVD-Player can decode a PAL VCD by
consulting with your player’s handbook or directly with the player’s
manufacturer. Most DVD-Video players have no problem playing PAL VCD films, but
some offer better playback than others and not all DVD Players play Video-CDs at
all.
“Critters
3: You Are What They Eat” is available now on VCD and can be purchased now
directly online from Eurekamovies.com.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.