One of the failings of sequels to popular films is that they will almost alway be preceived as inferior to their predecessor. There are, of course, exceptions, the names 'The Godfather' and 'Star Wars' come immediately to mind, but these are rare indeed. Taken on it's own, 'Crocodile Dundee II' could be considered a fairly entertaining romantic adventure with more than a dash of action. However, compared to the first 'Crocodile Dundee', the sequel comes off as contrived with a ludicrous plot dealing with bloodthirsty drug dealers. Only restraint on the part of the film's star, Paul Hogan, as well as the screenwriter and director, keep this film afloat.
One might guess that the transfers for both 'Crocodile Dundee' pictures were done at the same time by the same person. They share the same flaws. The transferred ratio is virtually the same on both discs, about 2.15:1. The recent trend toward accurate (or nearly so) ratios on letterboxed transfers seems to have been missed by the folks at Paramount. Also noted on the transfer of the first film was an unusually high level of graininess in a number of scenes. This transfer is, if anything, worse. The overall appearance is that of having the sharpness control turned up to high. The image is sharp but too sharp. Colors appear accurate, however many scenes suffer from oversaturation and a distractingly high level of chroma noise. Brightness and contrast are very good.
The Dolby Stereo soundtrack is very similar to the previous film. There is good use of the surround track and some nice directional effects. Audio quality on this disc is quite good. Excellent range and dynamics with clear, intelligible dialog.
'Crocodile Dundee II' runs 110 minutes and this disc contains 20 chapters. List price, like it's predecessor, is $39.95. For Paramount, $40 for a single disc with no extras (not even a stinkin' trailer) is premium pricing. One would expect a better job for these prices.
This review is copyright, and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the author.
