Memoirs of an Invisible Man [Region B]

A bestselling novel back in the day, Memoirs of an Invisible Man - by HF Saint - was just over five hundred pages long. It told the story, in the first person, of Nick Halloway, a stock analyst who is turned invisible by getting into the wrong place at the wrong time, and his struggle to adapt and survive after.The rights were purchased for a film version, designed to be a star vehicle for Chevy Chase, and move him away from comedy first and foremost.The director was cult figure John Carpenter.Trouble is, when you turn a very long book into a ninety five min movie, something will give. So the unique narrative becomes a light hearted chase thriller.Chevy Chase isn't a bad lead, but seems not quite comfortable enough with the different kind of role. Darryl Hannah looks amazing but doesn't really get to do much than that as the love interest. Sam Neill plays threatening Sam Neill as the chief antagonist. And does that typically well without breaking sweat or doing anything new.The visual effects were amazing. At the time. They come from the dawn of digital effects. So they have dated somewhat.But as a product of it's time, which is to say a typical early nineties movie, this isn't bad. It's an easy watch, it has good visuals, and it has it's moments. It isn't perhaps all that it could have been, had it gone for a more serious tone especially, but it's ok for what it is. And given that this is a dvd re-release, the original version having been long since deleted and become very expensive second hand, it's nice to get it at long last.The disc has the following subtitle options:English.And thus the only language you will find on it is English as well.It goes straight into the main menu once loaded after a brief logo page.Extras:A gallery of stills from the film.The original trailer. Which could do with some restoration, as the picture quality isn't great.Outtakes. You would expect this to be a gag reel, but in fact it's four minutes worth of deleted scenes. One lacking sound at the end.Dawn of digital FX; A five min feature about the effects of the film. Which is brief but pretty interesting.

As a long-time fan of John Carpenter's output, the first thing I can tell is... this is both very Carpenter, and nothing like Carpenter. It's clear that Carpenter wanted to make a noir, and it's also absolutely clear that he wanted to make North By Northwest (right down to the train scene). It's actually an excellent pitch for an Invisible Man movie, and it could have worked perfectly. Certainly Chase is perfect casting *on paper*, and Daryl Hannah sells her role completely.However, while Chase is perfect on paper, he just doesn't quite turn up. The Chevy Chase of Foul Play, or Fletch, who would have absolutely *crushed* this, isn't quite present here. It's like a shade of him, a shadow of the man we knew. He carries the movie, but he doesn't *elevate* it, the way he did those two. The supporting cast are generally competent, with Hannah being a standout. In general, the effects are good for their time, with some being excellent. The script certainly could have used another pass for dialog, Empire Strikes Back style, and that might have helped with Chase's engagement with the picture.In summary, this is certainly B tier Carpenter, and arguably doesn't really feel like a Carpenter movie at all. There are many shots that are clearly from his oeuvre, but stylistically it's completely removed from his previous work. With that said, that doesn't mean there's nothing to appreciate - the Hitchcockian ambition is obvious, and you can see clearly that in the hands of a director like Spielberg, it really could have worked, and it could have lived up to the pitch. I genuinely love the ambition. But Carpenter, bless him, doesn't have the broad skillset that Spielberg does, and he couldn't stick the landing. With that said, there is plenty to appreciate here, particularly if you're either a fan of Carpenter, or Chase's 80s work.

A brilliantly underrated film. A bombastic score by Shirley Williams - equally unfairly underated, Sam Neil as a perfect psychopath, Daryl Hannah ably acquits herself by throwing punches unlike most "acerbic female" roles today and Chevy Chase giving a very good performance as the main title of the piece. The special effects are very good - much better than the glossy cgi of today in my humble opinion. Theres only 1 weird shot in the film that doesnt make sense - the CIA man Daryl Hannah punches near his van thats stood spread - eagled in front of his van as Sam Neil passes in the car he's commandeered. What the hell was that about? A great film, unfairly lambasted upon original release - critics are only good at slating films, they can't produce anything of real value. Highly recommended.

Well this is a turn up for the books! I watched Memoirs in the cinema when I was young and remember it fondly. I owned the VHS version, then on to the DVD. I resisted the Japanese LaserDisc because it was Pan & Scan and John Carpenter fills his entire 2.35:1 frame so a lot of picture information would be missing! But anyway.... I wasn't expecting much from the transfer after finding out it wasn't the new 2K scan that Shout! Factory used, but it still holds up well. The early CGI is not nearly as impressive though, you can see the cut out of the layered effects clearly now! But some of the cheesy practical effects are pretty good. I also wasn't expecting any special features at all! The box makes no mention of them! We get the Dawn of F/X featurette (mislabelled here as DOWN of F/X), outtakes (non-anamorphic 2.35:1), a trailer (in SD, non-anamorphic 1.85:1) and a short gallery. They may be short but I was still pleasantly surprised.For the price it's a must buy for any fan of the more cheesy Carpenter films!