Entertaining Movie but the 4K Isn't Worth the Upgrade
Summary
Kindergarten Cop is arguably Arnold’s funniest movie with quotable dialogue, funny moments and surprisingly heartfelt scenes. It also has a strong villain in Richard Tyson who brings the required menace to the role. The film looks and sounds fine on 4K, but nothing ever really pops off the screen, so if you already own the Blu-ray it’s hard to recommend forking out the extra cash just for some new audio commentaries.
Plot: In this action-comedy, unusual circumstances find big, brawny cop John Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenegger) posing as a kindergarten teacher in order to apprehend major drug lord Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson), as well as his ruthless accomplice and mother, Eleanor (Carroll Baker). While pretending to be a kid-friendly instructor, Kimble falls for pretty fellow teacher Joyce Palmieri (Penelope Ann Miller) as he battles both unruly children and dangerous bad guys.
Review: I just picked up Kino Lorber’s new 4K of Kindergarten Cop which I believe is Arnold’s best comedy film. This is where he showed us that there is more to him than shooting bad guys and beating people up however, despite this being a more family friendly movie he still manages to shoot bad guys and beat people up (phew!).
Kindergarten Cop is hardly packed with action, but the first 15 minutes has Kimble (Arnie) trying to arrest wanted criminal Cullen Crips (Richard Tyson), so we get some shoot-outs and Arnold saying iconic lines like “I’m the party poopah”.
The most satisfying scene of the film is Kimble confronting and beating up an abusive father which is true wish-fulfilment stuff.
It had been a few years since I last watched this and I hadn’t noticed before, but keep your eyes open for Leo Lee, Branscombe Richmond and a young Jason Reitman (he’s the boy making out with the girl during the fire) who all make brief appearances.
Arnold is surprisingly good at comedy and has no problem making fun of himself which I’ve always found an admirable quality. A few scenes feel improvised as children can be unpredictable to work with; there’s one scene where it looks like Arnie is genuinely laughing at something one of the kids says.
Richard Tyson was entertaining as the bad guy Crisp; he really portrayed him as a desperate man who will stop at nothing to have his son back, but you still don’t really sympathize with him as he is clearly unhinged and a killer.
Kindergarten Cop is mostly well paced and you’ll never be bored with it as there are several quotable moments like “It’s not a tumah”to keep you entertained.
The new 4K is decent if not mind-blowing quality and I’m surprised that on the main menu there isn’t Chapter Selection. That’s one of the most basic features of DVD’s, Blu-rays and 4Ks, so it’s disappointing that a respected company like Kino didn’t think to add it.
Special Features:
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
- Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Samm Deighan
- 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Stereo
- Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
- Optional English Subtitles
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
- Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Samm Deighan
- Theatrical Trailer (Newly Mastered in 2K)
- 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Stereo
- Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
- Optional English Subtitles
In terms of features, if you’re a fan of audio commentaries then you’ll love this as there are several on the 4K and Blu-ray (all new too), but there are no other behind the scenes videos or deleted scenes, so it doesn’t really feel worth the upgrade.
Overall, Kindergarten Cop is a fun family-oriented action comedy with Arnie on entertaining form while poking fun at his action hero persona. We still have a few action scenes and an exciting finale where we get to see Arnold be vulnerable and get injured. Richard Tyson makes for an interesting and unhinged villain and his mother is also evil incarnate. Kino have done a decent job here, but the lack of basic Chapter Selection is a letdown and personally, I’m not a huge audio commentary guy, so the lack of other interesting features is a shame.