credit: www.amazon.com
Warner Home Video presents Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Running Time: 86 minutes. Rated PG-13 for Off-color humor and some nudity. Originally released in 1994. Also, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Running Time 94 minutes. Rated PG-13 for crude humor. Originally released in 1995
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Director:
Tom Shadyac
Cast:
Jim Carrey..”¦”¦”¦Ace Ventura
Courteney Cox..”¦”¦..Melissa Robinson
Sean Young..”¦”¦..Lt. Lois Einhorn
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Director:
Steve Oedekerk
Cast:
Jim Carrey..”¦”¦”¦Ace Ventura
The Movies:
1994 was a different time. Jim Carrey was known only for Fire Marshall Bill and his other wacky characters from In Living Color. Courtney Cox hadn’t appeared on Friends yet, and a comedy reaching new levels of stupidity was about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting movie going audience. But was the world ready for a man speaking out of his butt? The answer was yes, yes it was.
In the first moments of this film the viewer knows they are in for one wacky ride. Jim Carrey plays Ace Venture, a down on his luck pet detective who loves animals. His luck is about to change, however, when the Miami Dolphins’ mascot goes missing and he is hired to find the missing animal.
But the plot really isn’t the important part of this film. What really stands out his Carrey’s cartoonish performance that launched him from TV funny man to silver screen stardom. It’s hard to think of any other movie that put more catch phrases into the American vernacular, such as “All righty then!” or “Re-he-he-eally.” This is a hilarious film that will continue to entertain the fourteen-year-old in all of us for decades to come.
That was the first movie. Also included in this set is the not so memorable Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. This time around Ace is sent to Africa to locate the sacred animal of a native tribe. This sacred animal is a bat, the one animal Ace seems not to like. This film repeats the same jokes from the first movie, coming off old and stale. You even have the not-so-twist ending where you learn the person who committed the crime was someone who Ace thought was on his side. Although in the sequel it is way more obvious right from the beginning that the guy is guilty. About the only thing the sequel gave its audience was guano, another word for dookie.
Jim Carrey shows the world what he’s made of.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
STORY: 7
ACTING: 7
LOOK/FEEL: 7
ORIGINALITY: 8
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 9
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
STORY: 5
ACTING: 6
LOOK/FEEL: 7
ORIGINALITY: 4
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 5
FINAL SCORE: 5.5
The DVD:
The Video:
Both films are presented in widescreen 1:85:1. According to the box this is the first time Ace Ventura: Pet Detective has been available on DVD in widescreen, which is surprising. So if you’re an Ace Ventura fan it’s worth picking up for that alone.
The Audio:
Both films are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound here is great. Jim Carrey really is a human sound machine and all those sounds are preserved here.
Extras:
Audio Commentary by director Tom Shadyac: This is a pretty decent commentary. Shadyac has a lot of insight into the film, from all of Carrey’s adlibbing to all of the scenes that got cut. You’d think with all these so-called cut scenes they would have put them on the disc. He says they originally wanted someone like Chevy Chase, this was supposed to be the Fletch for a new generation. But when Carrey came on the project it was completely rewritten with him in mind.
Theatrical Trailer & TV Spots: You get these for both films.
3 episodes of the animated series: Whatever semblance of humor synonymous with Ace Ventura that remained after When Nature Calls was completely destroyed with the animated feature that amazingly ran three seasons. Included here are three episodes of the show: “The Rein-Deer Hunter”, “Natural Born Koalas”, and “Dragon Guy.” Not only is this show the complete opposite of funny, they repeat nearly every Ace Ventura catch phrase in each episode. And Michael Hall, who does Ace’s voice, sounds nothing like Jim Carrey. Some things should remain hidden in the vaults; this show is one of them. Including them in this collection was a disservice to everyone.
The Inside Pulse:
The first Ace Ventura is worth owning and finally having it widescreen is nice. However sticking it with the not so funny sequel and three terrible episodes of the show brings the overall buyability of this collection down several notches.
