GROUNDHOG DAY

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment

Special Edition DVD, $24.95

Groundhog Day is a smart comedy about a television weatherman named Phil Connors who is sent on assignment to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the town's annual Groundhog Day celebration.  After an unexpected blizzard forces him to stay in town, Phil wakes up the following morning to a bizarre discovery.  Phil is reliving the previous day, February 2^nd, all over again and he is the only person aware of the time warp.  He soon discovers that he relives February 2nd over again each and every day despite his best efforts to break the cycle.  In the face of this endless time loop, Phil must ultimately decide whether to use the situation for personal gain or to help others.         

Groundhog Day stars Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott.  The movie was written by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis, directed by Harold Ramis and features music by George Fenton.  It is rated PG with a feature running time of 101 minutes.           

The film is presented in an anamorphic widescreen version (1.85:1).  The overall quality of the transfer is very good.  Images are crisp and colors are accurate with saturated hues.  There is solid contrast and black levels are dark.  Picture defect mastering is perfect with no major flaws or digital compression artifacts.

Video Rating: 8 out of 10

The following spoken language options are available for this movie: English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese 2.0 channel surrounds.  (Despite an indication on the DVD packaging to the contrary, there is no English DTS 5.1 track available.)  The following subtitle tracks are available: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitles, and English closed captions.  The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is the basis for this review.  Dialogue is intelligible and natural sounding.  The surround channels are moderately active and are used for both sound effects and music.  Discrete channel activity is present in all five channels, the majority of which take place across the forward soundstage.  The LFE channel is mostly mellow and provides fullness to the music soundtrack.

Audio Rating: 7 out of 10

The tactile sound effects are average and present in about one quarter of the DVD's chapters.  Subtle impacts are the only type of tactile effect that can be experienced on this disc.  The best tactile moments take place in chapter 19 (the car chase and explosion that ensues after Phil kidnaps the groundhog) and in chapters 24 and 25 (Phil playing keyboards with the band at the dinner party.)

Tactile Sound Effects Rating: 5 out of 10

Bonus features include an audio commentary by director Harold Ramis; The Weight of Time featurette; filmographies; 3 theatrical trailers; production notes; interactive menus and scene access.

Bonus Features Rating: 6 out of 10