This is one of my favorite recent romantic comedies, mainly because of the first 10 minutes. There's just something I find immensely funny about watching Hugh Grant fumble and curse. Besides being the role that made him a star in America, it's also one of his best, giving him ample opportunity to be clever, cute and sympathetic. Much like in NOTTING HILL, he plays a somewhat successful, but eternally single Englishman looking for love. He find it at one of the four weddings, but loses her (MacDowell) to a more prominent countryman. They continue to be thrown together at the other weddings with differing results. MacDowell is the only American in the cast and manages to be funny and attractive without being silly or slutty. They actual make a good pair, each bringing out the buried sexuality of the other. However, what makes this film truly wonderful is the supporting cast, especially John Hannah and Simon Callow, and the brilliant script. Callow is endearingly obnoxious and Hannah completely charming as his long term life partner. Their successful relationship is a humorous and touching counterpoint to Grant's continuous love woes. The story captures the joy and devastation of the title's life events with wit, grace and poignancy.
Excerpt from Crazy for Cinema's review located HERE
directed by Mike Newell
UK / USA 1994
Posters
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Theatrical Release: March 9th, 1994
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Kinowelt Germany Region 2- PAL vs. MGM Special Edition UK Region 2 - PAL vs. MGM UK Region 2 - PAL vs. MGM Widescreen US Region 1 - NTSC vs. MGM Fullscreen US Region 1 - NTSC
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Kinowelt (Germany) Region 2 - PAL |
MGM (UK) - SE Region 2 - PAL |
MGM (UK) Region 2 - PAL |
MGM (US) Region 1 - NTSC |
These captures are courtesy of DVD-Compare, now hosted by DVDBeaver, and very special thanks to Thomas Koeberl (version captures appreciation noted at bottom). They are captured using the "Forced Weave" method with a set resolution (1024 wide), no bi-cubic filtering and jpeg compression of 90%.
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Four
Weddings And A Funeral
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The two anamorphic transfers
are far superior to the old US and UK transfers. The
old UK transfer is worst with bad color-timing and
bad contrast level (oversaturated and too dark:
pic#4,
washed out colors and too bright:
pic#3;
the sign appears blank in
pic#1),
a hazy picture, severe haloing occasionally (pic#5)
and edge enhancement (pic#5).
The US transfer is not much better: The picture is
very grainy and blueish (pic#5)
with bad compression artifacts (sky and bridge in
pic#3)
and edge enhancement (pic#5).
Contrast level, coloring and picture definition are
better than in the old UK transfer. The new
transfers from Kinowelt and MGM boast natural colors
(pic#5)
and good contrast levels (pic#4).
The German transfer offers the best detail
resolution. The UK transfer is softer (digits on
clock in
pic#2;
roof and grass,
pic#4)
with stronger edge enhancement (silhouettes in
pic#5).
Both anamorphic transfers are somewhat cropped on
the sides (pic#3)
but show the correct theatrical aspect ratio of
1.85:1. NOTE: The English language track is out of sync on the German Kinowelt version, so we recommend the UK - Special Edition. |
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transfer ranking:
Kinowelt Germany Region 2 / MGM Special Edition UK Region 2 MGM Widescreen US Region 1 MGM UK Region 2 |
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Vier Hochzeiten und
ein Todesfall - Kinowelt Germany - Region 2 - PAL
Note: The English language track is out of sync in this
version
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Special Edition UK - Region 2 - PAL
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM UK - Region 2 - PAL 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Widescreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Fullscreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Vier Hochzeiten und ein Todesfall - Kinowelt Germany -
Region 2 - PAL
Note: The English language track is out of sync in this
version
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Special Edition UK - Region 2 - PAL
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM UK - Region 2 - PAL 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Widescreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Fullscreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Vier Hochzeiten und ein Todesfall - Kinowelt Germany -
Region 2 - PAL
Note: The English language track is out of sync in this
version
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Special Edition UK - Region 2 - PAL
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM UK - Region 2 - PAL 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Widescreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Fullscreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Vier Hochzeiten und ein Todesfall - Kinowelt Germany -
Region 2 - PAL
Note: The English language track is out of sync in this
version
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Special Edition UK - Region 2 - PAL
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM UK - Region 2 - PAL 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Widescreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Fullscreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Vier Hochzeiten und ein Todesfall - Kinowelt Germany -
Region 2 - PAL
Note: The English language track is out of sync in this
version
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Special Edition UK - Region 2 - PAL
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM UK - Region 2 - PAL 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Widescreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
Four Weddings And A Funeral - MGM Fullscreen Version USA - RC1 (NTSC) 4:3
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transfer ranking:
Kinowelt Germany Region 2 / MGM Special Edition UK Region 2 MGM Widescreen US Region 1 MGM UK Region 2 |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Kinowelt (Germany) Region 2 - PAL |
MGM (UK) - SE Region 2 - PAL |
MGM (UK) Region 2 - PAL |
MGM (US) Region 1 - NTSC |
