Director: John Pasquin

Cast: Tim Allen (Michael Cromwell), Martin Short (Richard Kempster), JoBeth Williams (Patricia), Lolita Davidovich (Charlotte), Sam Huntington (Mimi-Siku), David Ogden Stiers (Jovanovic), Leelee Sobieski (Karen), Valerie Mahaffey (Jan), Bob Dishy (George Langston), Frankie Galasso (Andrew Kempster)

Songs: "It Starts in the Heart" - Maxi Priest, "Shaking the Tree ('97 Version)" - Peter Gabriel, Youssou N'Dour & Shaggy, "It's My Life" - Dana Hutson, "Awakening" - Jam Nation, Score by Michael Convertino

Tim Allen plays Michael Cromwell, a hard-working Wall Street broker who needs to voyage to South America to finalize his divorce from ex-wife Patricia (JoBeth Williams). Upon arriving in Lipo Lipo, Patricia (now going by the Pinari name "Palakoo") informs Michael that when they split thirteen years ago, she was carrying his son. The boy, named Mimi-Siku, has been living with Palakoo's tribe and knows little English.

What on the surface may sound like just another "fish out of water" comedy is actually much more, and one of the most enjoyable family films Disney has put out in years. Allen is at his comedic best, and the young Huntington does an excellent job of holding his own, in his first major film appearance.

Although with most family comedies the emphasis seems to be on "family," Jungle 2 Jungle delivers a lot of laughs. Martin Short and David Ogden Stiers are both particularly amusing in their supporting roles, and the fast pacing and wit make for a highly entertaining film.

Other highlights include a nice score from Michael Convertino, and some wonderful cinematography capturing both the beautiful Amazon scenery of Venezeula, and the colorful hustle-and-bustle of Manhattan.

Finally, among Disney's 2002 list of dozens and dozens of catalogue title DVD debuts, Jungle 2 Jungle was slated for an October 8 release. Unfortunately, it was soon learned through exclusive sources (since the studio so respectfully keeps their catalogue DVD specs an enigma) that it was slated to be a Fullscreen-only DVD release. How silly, when all the international DVDs of the film were anamorphic widescreen.

So, last summer, upon hearing the news, I went ahead and purchased my first non-Region 1 DVD, the R4 Australian DVD of Jungle. Sure, it would experience 5% speed-up for the PAL video format, and I'd only be able to play it on my DVD-ROM drive on my computer. But this was Jungle 2 Jungle, baby! Plus I got the Australian DVD cheap off eBay.

But, I later learned, the US Jungle 2 Jungle DVD is in fact NOT Fullscreen. It's really just mislabeled as such. (Unfortunately, the others were not mislabeled; at least I got my beloved Houseguest in 16x9.) So, cheap enough through Columbia House, I picked up Jungle and now I provide for you a review of both the Region 1 and Region 4 DVDs. (Though after this scintillating anecdote, I'd imagine the technical talk which follows is downhill from here.)

Region 1
As already stated, it's not Fullscreen. But it is a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer (Disney is the ONLY studio still doing these), and certainly a direct port from the laserdisc. As a result, it doesn't look as sharp or detailed as it should. Any imperfections from the laserdisc are still present here, years later. Overall, it looks just okay, which is less than you'd expect from such a recent film. Of course, it's certainly superior to a Pan & Scan transfer, at least you get the pleasing cinematography.

Region 4
Anamorphically-enhanced and with the greater resolution that PAL offers, it doesn't look as good as you'd expect. It suffers from an excess of red-tint, particularly to the Venezuela scenes. The colors seem to bleed a bit, and throughout, it's just not as sharp as it should be. In addition, the normal issues with PAL DVDs' 5% speed-up are present, in camera movements.

I don't think it offers improvement over the non-anamorphic Region 1 DVD, in spite of the 16:9 enhancement. The Region 4 DVD uses far more video compression, and has a slightly lower average bitrate. (See graphs below.)

Region 1
The non-anamorphic transfer isn't as big a botch-up as the audio screw-up. Although released in theaters with a Dolby Digital soundtrack, the US DVD only includes a 2.0 Dolby Surround track. What the hell were they thinking? Even the laserdisc had a 5.1 track on the Analog Right channel. Somehow, this mistake was made, and it's a shame that no one makes a fuss and it won't be corrected. The Surround track is serviceable, but a huge disappointment in light of the facts.

Region 4
The Australian DVD correctly presents a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, in both English and Italian. It's a solid, powerful track that makes good use of the surrounds from time-to-time. Convertino's score maintains a presence and is nicely distributed through all speakers. Listen to how the fly Mimi-Siku is trying to shoot with his blowdart roams from speaker to speaker. NOT happening with a 2.0 Surround track. Overall, the 5.1 track is very nice.

Region 1
Unfortunately, after all the years of delay, we wind up with less on the 2002 DVD than we would have had it come out in 1998. Plain static menus and a trailer for The Jungle Book 2. That's right, nothing. Not even the amusing theatrical trailer.

There's loads of great stuff on this film, extensive production notes, cast & crew interviews, B-Roll footage, etc. But why would Disney put effort into a DVD of a catalogue title, right?

Region 4
Nothing here, either, which was not out of the ordinary for Disney's Australian DVD releases at the time.

The European and Australian DVDs provide a reasonable alternative if you can play (and don't mind) PAL format discs. It definitely offers a better sound experience. Then again, if you can play laserdiscs, you might be better off getting that, which is essentially the same as the R1 DVD, minus a menu screen, plus a 5.1 track, which is almost...better.