| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Seeing Double
Columbia/Tri-Star // PG-13 // October 7, 2003
List Price: $19.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
THE MOVIE
One of these days, I'm going to have to stop listening to talk radio and actually listen to some music, because not only had I never heard a song from S-Club before, but I had never even heard of them! Well, that all changed once I put Seeing Double into my DVD player.
I have to be honest here – when I saw Seeing Double in my pile of screeners, I was not looking forward to checking this out. Visions quickly came into my head of the Spice Girls movie…or worse yet, Josie & The Pussycats. Here it was, another "teeny bopper" movie, and I was going to have to sit through it.
Well, it took about five minutes of film for all that to change. As it turns out, the girls and guys from S-Club are extremely likeable (perhaps because they are intelligent British 20-somethings instead of spoiled American ones?!) and instead of those previous theatrical disasters I mentioned, Seeing Double started to remind me of movies like A Hard Day's Night and Help!, which featured those other Brits from across the pond.
The plot is light and silly, as an evil scientist clones the S-Club and kidnaps their manager so that the real S-Club appear to be the imposters. Heck, the movie even comes up with a great reason why an evil scientist would clone a pop group instead of some important world leader: music is far more influential than politics.
Stuck in Barcelona with no money and the clones having taken over their careers, the kids have to sneak out of their hotel room – only to get caught by the police. In a scene that totally won me over, S-Club performs "Don't Stop Movin'", a song that serves as both a musical number and their prison break…and proves to be the highlight of the entire movie.
Once in America, they track down their clones and wind up kidnapping a few of them so that some of the "real" S-Club is part of the cloned group, while the rest of the band has to deal with the clones they have removed from the fake group. It's my understanding that S-Club has their own TV show, which may explain why the kids are so comfortable in front of the cameras here. They don't come to this film without some on-screen experience and acting talent in addition to their musical skills, and I think that helps this movie immensely.
One mild nitpick though...and this one's toward the MPAA. Why in heaven's name is this movie rated PG-13? It's closer to a G than it is anything else, and only some mild (very mild, I might point out) sexual comments move it into PG territory. Don't worry parents, this is a title the whole family can enjoy without worrying about that pesky fast-forward button!
THE DVD
Video:
The movie is presented full-frame, which really takes away from some of the dance numbers, which I would have loved to have seen in their original widescreen format. (A quick search of the Net reveals that not only is this movie widescreen in Region 2, but it has a cooler box cover too! Darn!) The picture itself, though, is reasonable sharp, with lots of bright colors and little evidence of dirt or pixilation on the print.
Audio:
The audio is 5.1 Dolby, and it sounds pretty good, especially during those musical numbers (of which there are about five or six in the film). At times, I detected the audio being a little more "muddy" that you would like, but overall this is a pretty good audio track.
Extras:
For a movie that I'd never heard of before I got this DVD, Columbia has done a pretty decent job with the extras. There are Interactive Interviews, which allow you to actually pick the questions you'd like to ask the members of S-Club (or you can listen to the entire interview if you wish). Also on the DVD are All About S-Club Biographies, which contain a background and tidbits about each of the six band members. Additionally, there's a Photo Gallery, Interviews with the Director and Producers, a 7-minute Behind The Scenes featurette, Trailers for other available titles (including the trailer for this film), and a DVD-ROM Web Link that allows users to play three different web games.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but these guys won me over. Some of their music is still running through my head, and the members of S-Club are just so darn charming, how could you not fall in love with them? I'm going back to watch this feature again, but "shhhh!" don't tell anyone! I wouldn't want my friends to know that I've been won over by this hip, humorous and talented group!
One of these days, I'm going to have to stop listening to talk radio and actually listen to some music, because not only had I never heard a song from S-Club before, but I had never even heard of them! Well, that all changed once I put Seeing Double into my DVD player.
I have to be honest here – when I saw Seeing Double in my pile of screeners, I was not looking forward to checking this out. Visions quickly came into my head of the Spice Girls movie…or worse yet, Josie & The Pussycats. Here it was, another "teeny bopper" movie, and I was going to have to sit through it.
Well, it took about five minutes of film for all that to change. As it turns out, the girls and guys from S-Club are extremely likeable (perhaps because they are intelligent British 20-somethings instead of spoiled American ones?!) and instead of those previous theatrical disasters I mentioned, Seeing Double started to remind me of movies like A Hard Day's Night and Help!, which featured those other Brits from across the pond.
The plot is light and silly, as an evil scientist clones the S-Club and kidnaps their manager so that the real S-Club appear to be the imposters. Heck, the movie even comes up with a great reason why an evil scientist would clone a pop group instead of some important world leader: music is far more influential than politics.
Stuck in Barcelona with no money and the clones having taken over their careers, the kids have to sneak out of their hotel room – only to get caught by the police. In a scene that totally won me over, S-Club performs "Don't Stop Movin'", a song that serves as both a musical number and their prison break…and proves to be the highlight of the entire movie.
Once in America, they track down their clones and wind up kidnapping a few of them so that some of the "real" S-Club is part of the cloned group, while the rest of the band has to deal with the clones they have removed from the fake group. It's my understanding that S-Club has their own TV show, which may explain why the kids are so comfortable in front of the cameras here. They don't come to this film without some on-screen experience and acting talent in addition to their musical skills, and I think that helps this movie immensely.
One mild nitpick though...and this one's toward the MPAA. Why in heaven's name is this movie rated PG-13? It's closer to a G than it is anything else, and only some mild (very mild, I might point out) sexual comments move it into PG territory. Don't worry parents, this is a title the whole family can enjoy without worrying about that pesky fast-forward button!
THE DVD
Video:
The movie is presented full-frame, which really takes away from some of the dance numbers, which I would have loved to have seen in their original widescreen format. (A quick search of the Net reveals that not only is this movie widescreen in Region 2, but it has a cooler box cover too! Darn!) The picture itself, though, is reasonable sharp, with lots of bright colors and little evidence of dirt or pixilation on the print.
Audio:
The audio is 5.1 Dolby, and it sounds pretty good, especially during those musical numbers (of which there are about five or six in the film). At times, I detected the audio being a little more "muddy" that you would like, but overall this is a pretty good audio track.
Extras:
For a movie that I'd never heard of before I got this DVD, Columbia has done a pretty decent job with the extras. There are Interactive Interviews, which allow you to actually pick the questions you'd like to ask the members of S-Club (or you can listen to the entire interview if you wish). Also on the DVD are All About S-Club Biographies, which contain a background and tidbits about each of the six band members. Additionally, there's a Photo Gallery, Interviews with the Director and Producers, a 7-minute Behind The Scenes featurette, Trailers for other available titles (including the trailer for this film), and a DVD-ROM Web Link that allows users to play three different web games.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but these guys won me over. Some of their music is still running through my head, and the members of S-Club are just so darn charming, how could you not fall in love with them? I'm going back to watch this feature again, but "shhhh!" don't tell anyone! I wouldn't want my friends to know that I've been won over by this hip, humorous and talented group!
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||