Michael Jordan is recruited by Bugs Bunny to help his Warner Brothers cartoon brethren in a winner-take-all basketball game against "the Mean Team," a behemoth squad of outer space aliens. Purists may well protest that the Bugs Bunny of old needed no help against any foe, whether it was Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam or an Evil Scientist's Monster. Jordan acquits himself nicely, but Bill Murray effortlessly walks away with most valuable player honors. Wayne Knight is excruciating in yet another obnoxious and overbearing role. Not even remotely in the same league as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, you have to wonder why the filmakers didn't mount a feature with the studio's new generation of cartoon stars, the Tiny Toons and Animaniacs? It's the merchandising, stupid. Somewhere, animators Tex Avery, Bob Clampett and Fritz Freleng are spinning in their graves. Optional. (K. Lee Benson)[DVD Review--Jan. 26, 2004--Warner, 2 discs, 88 min., PG, $26.99--Making its third appearance on DVD, Space Jam (Two-Disc Special Edition) boasts one huge improvement over its predecessors; the film has finally been released with a relatively handsome-looking (though far short of reference quality) anamorphic widescreen transfer. As with the earlier “special edition,” there is less here than meets the eye in terms of extras--especially for a double-disc set. In addition to a commentary track featuring director Joe Pytka (who says little) and the voice talent for Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck (who pop in and out of character), we have a 23-minute original “making of,” five vintage Looney Tunes cartoons, and a pair of music videos. Bottom line: a better release than the last two efforts, but extras-wise, that's all folks?][Blu-ray Review—Nov. 15, 2016—Warner, 87 min., PG, Blu-ray: $14.99—Making its second appearance on Blu-ray, 1996's Space Jam sports a great transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. Extras are identical to the previous Blu-ray release, including audio commentary (by director Joe Pytka, Bugs Bunny, and Daffy Duck), the featurette “Jammin' with Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan” (23 min.), music videos for “Fly Like an Eagle” by Seal and “Monstars Anthem Hit ‘Em High,” trailers, and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: if you already own the previous Blu-release you don't need this one; if not, this steelbook edition is the one to pick up.
Space Jam
(Warner, 88 min., PG, avail. Mar. 11, $22.96) Vol. 12, Issue 2
Space Jam
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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