THE MOVIE

During the late 1980s and the early 1990s the buddy-cop genre reached the peak of its popularity, during this time several subgenres developed, including the buddy-cop plot with a twist where the mismatched crime-fighting pair consisted of a tough-guy man and a dog. The "inspired" twist to the buddy-cop genre thankfully never really took off, with K-9 being one of only two such movies released that managed to do reasonably well, well enough in this case to produce two straight-to-video/DVD releases.

The plot of K-9 is extremely basic, unimaginative and very predictable (however this is arguably a fault within the genre of buddy-cop genre films themselves rather then the script for K-9 itself). Dooley (James Belushi) is a loner cop who has been trying to catch a businessman who is suspected of smuggling large amount of drugs into the US for the past two years. He is eventually assigned a drug-detecting police dog, Jerry Lee. The two instantly dislike each other but put there differences aside to try and catch the criminal. However the closer they get, the higher the stakes become and it isn't long before it becomes personal for Dooley.

Filled with every cliché that the genre can offer (tough cop who can't get along with other cops, partners are mismatched and can't stand each other but by the end of the movie they are inseparable, love interest ends up in danger and must be saved etc), it lacks any real tension or excitement during the action scenes and contains extremely predictable jokes. K-9 isn't exactly a movie that will surprise you or be really memorable. That said, K-9 achieves exactly what it is suppose to achieve. It isn't meant to be intellectual, it isn't meant to inspire Oscar nominations, and it isn't meant to be one of the best movies ever made. It is simply suppose to be fun and deliver a few laughs (although it does fail to some extent on the latter). It isn't a bad film, it simply isn't a very good film. K-9 does offer the occasional laugh and is a mostly harmless way to pass the time. If you are looking for an undemanding film or if you enjoy watching movies where you can literately switch your brain off for 90 minutes then K-9 might be perfect. However if you are looking for a film that is slightly meatier, is very funny, exciting, or involving then you might want to look elsewhere.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

Featuring a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the transfer is good (especially considering the age of the film) but certainly not outstanding. At times the image appears soft and the occasional film artefact is present, but never to levels that distract. Shadow detail is reasonably good overall and the image does not suffer from the presence of film grain. The colours are good, although not terribly vibrant. Overall the transfer is certainly not reference quality but it is more then adequate and any faults are due to flaws with the source material itself and not due to the transfer.

Audio:

Containing a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track the track is adequate for the movie but isn't very impressive. Surrounds are rarely utilised, but are used to good effect. The subwoofer is mainly used for atmosphere and for the 80s pop tunes soundtrack. Dialogue is clear and understandable at all times. Not a bad audio track considering the nature of the release.

THE EXTRAS

A bare bones release the only extra is a Trailer (1.54 minutes) with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and containing medium to high level grain and film artefacts. Although I wasn't expecting much in the extras department I was hoping that more extras then the obligatory trailer would be included.

SUMMARY

Passable cliché with few laughs that is proberly perfect if you're in an undemanding mood, but don't expect much. Overall though a very forgettable film on a bare-bones release and is proberly best considered a rental proposition.