AAARRRRGHHHHH!!!!! (hands on face)
Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister has a tough life. His old brothers torture him. His mom and dad don’t listen to him and his uncle is just a complete jerk. When the family preps to go to France for Christmas, the tension is high. When Kevin finally has enough of his big brother’s constant pestering, he lashes out and causes a series of small catastrophes, which leads him to wish that his family would go away. Wish granted! When the electricity on the street goes out, the family wakes up late and rushes to get to the airport to catch their flight. the only problem? They have forgotten Kevin. Kevin wakes up to an empty house and panics, at first. Once he realizes his freedom, he enjoys it… until he gets lonely. While he’s enjoying it all, two thieves, which have been scoping out houses on the street, try to rob his home. Kevin’s only choice while he waits for his parents, who have realized what has happened, to get back? He must protect his homestead. Always remember this, kids can be evil.
Home Alone was a fantastic, if not slightly far-fetched, holiday film. It is a classic, many people would agree on that. For an incredibly violent film (when Daniel Stern steps on the nail, I still cringe) it does have some very good morals attached to it. The movie, through clever story, says that you should always love your family, even when the situation doesn’t beg for it. Every family has this type of environment where the older kids torture the younger kids, my oldest does this to my middle child. In the end, maybe way down the road, they’ll become good friends. This movie throws that out there where you may hate your family for the moment, but you couldn’t picture life without them. What’s great about this is that everyone is at fault for that in the film. From adults to kids, everyone is at fault for being a jerk and what’s even better is that everyone realizes this and wants to correct it. So, it’s not made for just kids, it’s not made for just adults, it’s made for everyone. Everyone can benefit form the subtle morals.
As for the violent part of the film, it’s hilarious. Macaulay Culkin, who portrays the clever Kevin McCallister is adorable in the film. He doesn’t spout his lines off too well, still doesn’t really, but his expressions are priceless. It’s like physical comedy in a silent film, it drives the character. His devious plans and comments when he’s going up against Joe Pesci (Harry) and Daniel Stern (Marv) are timeless. He was perfect in the role as the protagonist. The two thieves, who just get tortured to death are also quite perfect. You have the brains of Harry (Joe Pesci) who plans the robberies and the brute strength of Marv (Daniel Stern). Their interaction with culkin’s character is just beautiful, in a sick way. Combined, the three of them pull off some really witty comedy that ends up being something special by the end of the film. It’s the main reason why they made a sequel, the chemistry was too good to pass up. Again, it’s like a dark holiday classic that you can watch over and over again.
Nothing beats the Blu, unless your Kevin McCallister
Nothing says that a studio loves its films like putting a classic on Blu-ray and making it look and sound sharp. The transfer to HD has made this nearly 20 year-old film shine. It makes you think that Culkin has a chance to grow up again, it looks that new and good. You’ll see all the grueling traps in perfect 1080p, and feel slightly sorry for Harry and Marv. As for audio, one needs only hear the sound of a nail going into the foot of man to get the idea of how sharp DTS HD is. It’s painfully nice.
As for the features, it’s a nice trip down memory lane. here’s what you get:
– Commentary from Chris Columbus and MacCaulay Culkin
– 1990 Press Featurette
– The Making of Home Alone
– Mac Cam: Behind the Scenes with Macaulay Culkin
– How to Burglar-Proof Your Home: The Stunts of Home Alone
– Home Alone Around the World
– Where’s the Buzz Now?
– Angels with Filthy Souls
– Deleted Scenes / Alternate Takes
– Blooper Reel
This is the best version of Home Alone to date. You get a lot of insight on how the film was made, what went into it, what was cut out of it and more importantly you get some really good commentary. It’s nice to see that 20th Century Fox cares a lot about this film, and has treated it well with this Blu-ray. Many studios don’t give much love to their classics, which is regretful. You get a lot of entertainment in the features, which add to an already classic film.