Ah the holidays are very nearly upon us now. This time of year means a great many things, including annual traditions. One of those for me that I sometimes make the time to do is revisit some classic movies. The list is fairly short, but Planes, Trains And Automobiles is most assuredly on it, and not just because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and this movie centers around it. Clearly another reason is because it’s simply a great movie, a comedy classic, featuring two of the best that ever were, Steve Martin and John Candy.
This year marks the film’s thirtieth anniversary, and we recently received a review copy of the Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD release. As far as I can tell, this release is identical to a Blu-ray release from several years ago, except that it includes a DVD copy of the film as well as an Ultraviolent/VUDU digital HD code. The presentation quality, packaging, extra features, all of that remains the same to be the best of my knowledge, which is to say, it’s a mixed offering.
I won’t spend a great deal of time discussing the film, but suffice it to say if you enjoy a good laugh, this is a must-see comedy. Steve Martin stars as Neal Page, who works for an upscale, New York based magazine. The film begins with him desperately eager to leave a meeting with his boss so that he can catch a flight to get back home and put this business trip behind him. Thanksgiving is just a couple of days away, and getting to the airport late, even thirty years ago before all of the additional security measures, was not good. The meeting ultimately reaches no firm conclusion, and Neal rushes out the door, and so his journey of getting back home begins.
For the next two+ days, he will embark on travels via planes, trains, and automobiles, not to mention a lot of walking. He is embittered, but runs into, more of than he would like at first, John Candy’s character, Del Griffith. Del is a jolly person who seems to more or less have it together, but as Neal begins to discover, Del has a lot of heartache beneath his pleasant demeanor. A variety of mishaps in Neal’s travel plans that Del is always able to assist with gets the duo getting closer and closer to Chicago as Thanksgiving Day draws near. Sharing a hotel room, a car, sitting next to one another on the plane, much of this is by chance, but also by Del’s persistence to help his new friend. Soon enough, Neal’s hard softens and he sees a friend in Del. The final few minutes of the film, when Neal returns to find Del sitting alone at a train station with no where to go and his life’s belongings in a trunk next to him, is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It’s a story of tragedy and triumph, but with plenty of comedy to go with it. Indeed, it’s a ‘feel good movie,’ and that’s one very good reason I like to watch it. The only major thing about this movie I do not like is the ridiculous over-the-top foul language during the car rental scene, for that I prefer the edited broadcast version, but otherwise, this film is a treat.
As far as presentation quality, the Blu-ray release is just alright, but leaves room for improvement, especially in the video quality. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is more than watchable and it’s not like there are really any special effects or ‘demo’ grade material in the movie anyway, but the image has a lot more grain than I’d like. The audio in this movie is mostly spoken word, with some music overlays and not a great deal else. To that end, it’s not a particularly complicated audio track, and the technical quality on this Blu-ray release does not undermine that, so expect good, crisp audio here.
Several extra features round out this release totaling about an hour and a half. There is actually one deleted scene from the airplane scene that runs almost three and a half minutes, and this is in HD. Two shorter (both under five minute) features on John Hughes and John Candy are included, in SD. A nearly seventeen minute extra called “Getting There Is Half the Fun: The Story of Planes, Trains And Automobiles” is a vintage piece where Director John Huges, Steve Martin, and John Candy answer questions about making the movie and several key scenes. Finally, there are two other features on John Hughes totaling about fifty minutes discussing his life and work.
In conclusion, this re-release is pretty good, but not necessarily a must-have. Having the film on digital HD is plus, though. Certainly the film is a time-tested classic by this point, and it remains enjoyable, although a viewing annually is enough. The technical presentation offered here is just alright, while the extra features, all previously released, are still good.
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