Caddyshack

Warner | minutes | | | Standard DVD reviewed by: Matt Brighton

What in the world can I say about Caddyshack that hasn't already been said? Huh? I can say this...it's my favorite movie of all time (The Fugutive, The Firm, Major League and GoodFellas are the other four). So how do I start??? Well, let's just say that Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) is a caddy for a posh country club (in Nebraska?). He dreams of going to Harvard, becoming a lawyer...but is not immune to the fact that he may be attending law school at St. Copius of Northeren Nebraska. He's good buddies with local millionaire, Ty Webb (Chevy Chase, in his best role--ever) who gives him advice. The advice is no good, but it's given nonetheless. And that's it. That's Caddyshack in a nutshell, Danny's search for a life. It's the supporting cast that makes this movie so fun to watch (over and over).

We have Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield, in his second best role) local zillionaire who is only playing golf at Bushwood (that's the posh country club) because he might buy it! Now that's rich! He has a counterpart, Want (no offense!) who does nothing but take pictures of the parking lot. There's the arrogant snob Judge Smails (the late Ted Knight, who was a comic genius) who is taking care of his niece during the Summer and trying to keep all the wrong hands off of her. And lastly...there's Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) in what has to be the best role of any movie...ever! Carl is a psychotic groundskeeper who is on the 'five year plan' to make it to the role of head groundskeeper. He has invented his own kind of grass that you can play 18 holes on and then go home and get stoned to the bejesus on! Carl is the man! He learns that his mission is to kill a gopher, not a golpher, because they're tearin' up the course. He goes a bit overboard and soon all hell breaks loose. In between are a lot of laughs, many scenes that are unforgettable and characters that will burrow out a place in history as some of the funniest you'll ever see! Spaulding!!!!!!!!!

Now let me get a bit personal on this movie...this movie is the first "R" rated movie that my parents ever took me to see. It was in a drive-in (remember those?) when I was six years old, yes six. Ever since then, I have watched this movie countless times. Hardly a day goes by that I don't quote one of the lines (actually, all my family quotes it) and I'm happy about it. 'Cinderella story---cinderella boy...', 'I want 'ya to kill all the gophers on the course...', '$50 bucks says the Smails kid eats it...', 'Hey everybody, we're all gonna get laid!' I could go on all night long. The only thing I can say negative about this DVD is that it isn't the one I was looking for. They (Warner Bros.) came out with a special edition LD about a year ago and have supposed to been working on a DVD of this classic. No dice so far. This is a poor looking full-frame transfer with minimal supplements. But it's the greatest movie ever!

Caddyshack is presented in a full-frame version of 1.33:1. There isn't much off of it's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, but it's still not a great transfer. There is artifacting like you wouldn't believe, though I didn't notice that much because I'll watch, and have, watched this movie so many times that it literally doesn't matter to me. I'm waiting for the SE (like the LD) to come out, someday it will...

5.1 sound could do nothing for Caddyshack. Caddyshack is a part of American culture and there's nothing that my front left and right speakers could do to change my opinion of that. Sure, I guess a remastered soundtrack would be nice, but the DVD is presented in it's original MONO sound state. You know what? It's fine with me. Play on!

This is one of the first DVD's out...ever. Warner was still testing the market when they issued this disc and was just trying to cash in on an already popular title. Still, there is a theatrical trailer, production notes and cast bios which is more than I can say for some studios that currently put out DVD's (Fox and Disney...you listening). A must for any die hard fan. A must for anyone!