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119 of 131 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The funniest movie of the first half of 2007, June 10, 2007
This review is from: Hot Fuzz (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)
We are very nearly through the first half of 2007 and I'm happy to report that HOT FUZZ is easily the funniest movie that I have seen so far this year. I loved Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's previous film, SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and am delighted to report that this is every bit as funny at that one, if not funnier.
The film concerns a highly decorated London police officer who is so good at his job that he is shunted off to an assignment in the country because he is so good he makes the rest of the force look bad. Sanford would seem to be an impossibly idyllic place, winner several times of the top village in England award. But it is a town that houses mysteries, which our hero Nick Angel gradually uncovers. Most of the film should be predictable, but it is a credit to Wright and Pegg that it isn't. Even the big ending, the week point in most such movies, is a delight. Despite a lot of action and special effects and explosions it is never taken over by them. It remains fresh and surprising to the very end. Although the plot is surprisingly interesting for a comic romp, this would be a fun film without it. The gags are consistently brilliant throughout and every one is executed marvelously. This is a much slicker film than SHAUN OF THE DEAD was, though that wasn't in any way unpolished.
The cast is a large one and they manage to bring the village of Sandford to life in convincing fashion. Pegg is paired with Nick Frost, his costar in SHAUN OF THE DEAD. The cast is littered with well-known actors such as Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Edward Woodward, Billie Whitelaw, Bill Nighy, Stephen Merchant, and Martin Freeman as well as a rich and varied cast of lesser-known performers. The great thing about this is that the actors really enhance the film. What I mean is that the success of SHAUN OF THE DEAD meant that they could hire a cast of better-known performers. Sometimes this can lead to a decline in the quality of projects (watch Robert Rodriguez's EL MARIACHI and DESPERADO back to back and you'll see how a no name cast can free up a director while a big name cast can inhibit one), but that absolutely didn't happen here.
The film is littered with in jokes and cultural references. There are also a number of references to SHAUN OF THE DEAD, but it isn't important to get any of these to enjoy the movie. There are also, according to Edgar Wright, a couple of nice cameos, though we have to take his word for it since neither is recognizable. The crazed Santa that stabs Angel near the beginning of the film is, says Wright, Peter Jackson, while his ex-girlfriend Jeanine is Cate Blanchett. Again, we have to take his word for it because her entire scene is played with a surgical mask over her face so that all we see are a pair of eyes that do indeed look like they could belong to Cate Blanchett.
As anyone can tell, I loved this movie. I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone.
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63 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Its not Unrated or Director's Cut- Its what we should have gotten in the first place., September 21, 2007
This set gives us what was in the Brit package.
Disc One
Commentary with Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright
Commentary with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Kevin Eldon & Olivia Colman
Commentary with Kenneth Cranham, Timothy Dalton, Paul Freeman & Edward Woodward
Commentary with The Real Fuzz - Any Leafe & Nick Eckland
Commentary with Edgar Wright & Guest
Outtakes
Storyboards
Fuzz-O-Meter (Trivia Track)
Inadmissible: Deleted Scenes
Fuzz-O-Meter
Danny's Notebook
Hot Funk
Theatrical Trailer
UK TV Spot 1
UK TV Spot 2
Director's Cut Trailer
Disc Two
We Made Hot Fuzz
Art Department
Friends & Family
Cranks, Cranes & Controlled Chaos
Here Come the Fuzz
Return to Sandford
Edgar & Simon's Flip Chart
Simon Muggs
Sergeant Fisher's Perfect Sunday
Plot Holes
Special Effects: Before & After
Video Blogs
Poster Gallery
Photo Gallery
AM Blam: Making 'Dead Right'
Dead Right (1993)
Edgar Wright Director's Commentary on Dead Right
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost Commentary on Dead Right
Disc Three
The Extended Fuzzball Rally
Video Blogs
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44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'd give this a 6 if I could - off the scale hilarious! good extras on DVD, July 28, 2007
This review is from: Hot Fuzz (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)
This movie is hilarious - a real satire on the whole Bad Boys/ Point Break Comedy action movies. Lots of references to other movies which makes it a fun watch.
It is a tight script, but is enhanced by superb camera work and sound track which brings the whole thing to life. Enhanced sounds make every action dramatic - but the subject is so laughably small that is really stands out.
This is Constable Nicholas Angel, top cop at the Met (London) who is moved out because his arrest rate is 400% more than anyone elses and he is making them all look bad. So he ends up in a tiny village in Gloucester (Sandford) which ahs won best village of the year for many years running. But all is not well in the village, luckily the neighbourhood watch are there keeping an eye on things - meaning Nicholas angel has time to follow up on missing swans in the neighbourhood.
Unfortunately there are a series of murders which the police force there are calling 'accidents' - Angel sees different and tries to investigate only to come up against brick walls. His research reveals a stunningly complicated link between all of them which makes sense - but when he confronts them - the reason is much more banal and it sets up a shoot-it-out, chase-em-down final scene. References to Point Break, every western you have ever watched, and even Matrix movies.
It is hard to describe this movie except to say this is as unique as Guy Ritchies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is - but in different ways. This is a laugh from start to finish. I will never be able to drinnk decaffinated coffee again without laughing.
Truly brilliant, hilarious, comic-action fun!
The extras are pretty good - I liked the subtitled choice which meant you could watch the movie and get an idea of the references - including the police references in this (including the fact that Sandford is a fictional village used by the British police for all their role-playing and tests) There are outakes, but I didn't think much of them - they seemed banal by comparison. Story baords and much more
This is full of all the cream of British film - Great oily turn by ex-James Bond, Timothy Dalton as the Supermarket owner. Jim Broadbent is superb too.
A top watch.
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