Import Corner: *batteries not included (Imprint Films) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots

A gem of the 80s, *batteries not included gives us a host of great characters and a lot of heart. Imprint Films brings the film to blu-ray with a nice selection of special features.

Studio: Imprint Films
Release Date: December 17th, 1987 (theatrical) / March 27th, 2024 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 46 minutes 23 seconds
Region Code: FREE

Disc Count: 1 (BD-50)
Picture: 1080p (1.85:1 aspect ratio)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Slipcover: Yes (slip box)
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Hume Cronyn, Frank Riley, Jessica Tandy, Faye Riley, Frank McRae, Harry Noble, Elizabeth Peña, Marisa Esteval

Written by Brad Bird, Matthew Robbins, Brent Maddock, S.S. Wilson

Directed by Matthew Robbins
Rating: PG (thematic elements and mild language)

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Poster

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What's It About?

A group of tenants in an apartment block are being forced to move out so that it can be demolished. The tenants are reluctant to move, so the developers hire a local gang to 'persuade' them to leave. Fortunately, visiting alien mechanical life-forms come to town. When they befriend the tenants, the aliens use their extraterrestrial abilities to defeat the developers.

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Video/Audio

*batteries not included sees a second blu-ray release in Australia and the results are good. This is an older transfer, probably made when all the studios were making HD transfers of most of their respective catalogs. Despite the transfer's age, it is actually pretty good. Colors are good as are skin tones. Detail can be high at times and film grain is light but present. Universal had a run where they were ruining their transfers with DNR and other "enhancements" but *batteries comes out unscathed. This is a good looking transfer.

There are 2 tracks here and they sound the same. Nothing too spectacular but not bad either.

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Extras/Packaging

"Bring Good Things to Life: Directing *batteries not included" (22m 33s, HD) Interview with director Matthew Robbins. Talks about the origin of the film, wanting to cast Burt Lancaster, working with High Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, remembering Michael Carmine, comparing the three robot babies to Huey, Dewey, and Luey, working with both practicals and compositing, James Horner,

An Amazing Story: Writing *batteries not included" (14m 48s, HD, 1.85:1) Interview with writer Mick Garris. Talks about: His start at Avco-Embassy, his move to Universal, writing for Amazing Stories, taking the story that would become *batteries from TV to movie, Steven Spielberg's reaction to Garris' 142-page first draft and then again to the 117-page rewrite, based the Frank McRae character off his sister who has down syndrome, the differences between writing a novel and writing a screenplay,

"Remembering James Horner: Score *batteries not included" (12m 40s, HD) Interview with Sara Honer. Talks about: being on the set of Humanoids from the Deep, being a perfectionist when it came to get the robots' sounds just right, connecting the characters to the audience,

Theatrical Trailer (1m 28s, SD, 1.33:1)

Imprint Films brings *batteries not included to blu-ray with some nice packaging. The outer slip box features the film's beautiful poster art as the main artwork. As is usual with Imprint Films blu-rays, they let the artwork take up the entire front of the slip box with them placing their logo in the upper right-hand corner of the slipbox. This means the logo doesn't take away from the poster art. The 14mm clear blu-ray case features the same artwork that adorned the previous blu-ray release. It's nice artwork but I prefer the slip box artwork. Inside the blu-ray case we get some inner artwork along with the blu-ray disc.

The blu-ray is REGION FREE

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Overall

*batteries not included is the exact type of film we got in the 80s and 90s and nowhere else. The film is a kind of timeless tale of people meeting a species and wacky hijinks ensue. Spielberg produced or directed (he produced *batteries) films like this all through the last two decades of the 1900s. Of course, E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL was the big one but he also had a hand in GREMLINS, HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS, WE'RE BACK! A DINOSAUR'S STORY and many others. Spielberg basically made comfort cinema before it was a thing. I loved all of the actors here and I wish they had made a whole series of films together. The effects are also very well done even if they look a bit hokey today. *batteries not included is a smart, wholesome film where nothing is really at stake because we know it will all be ok at the end but we are ok with this as the film is good enough to overcome it's cliches.

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Extras/Menus