Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
The British accents (and settings) became immediately apparent, as I popped the HD-DVD into my Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player. This was a surprise to me, as all I recalled reading about in the Amazon.com synopsis was a big-city cop being reassigned to a small town, where some familiar crime slowly reasserted itself, quickly altering the "pleasant" image of the town. Oh, and there was some mention of a "bumbling fool of a partner." What followed was completely off-beat, frightening, hilarious, and pleasantly unexpected.
Nicholas Angel is a London Cop, par excellence. In fact, he's so good at his job, that the important parts of his force decide to reassign him-FAR AWAY-to some obscure, apparently idyllic, village. But the mechanisms behind this facade of idyllicity become increasingly apparent, and then, resoundingly so, as this hyper-uber cop jumps into his new role, inadvertently arresting his soon-to-be partner, who nearly runs him over in a drunken fit, the night before they're attached "at the hip." He's also unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend, who has been seeing someone else, and generally painfully severered; but he takes it, generally, in stride--almost as if it were merely another obstacle on his upwardly-mobile road map. And his hyper-moral sense of dedication to all that is "law-and-order," destructively grate against the crass permissiveness of this "perfect" town, causing him to bump heads with nearly everyone in town, in one way or another. And watching all of this unfold provides some great comedic moments, and an abrupt departure from anything that could be considered "normal comedic fare."
A prototypical scene was when, upon entering the town pub, he goes into a moral "rage," realizing that all the other patrons but him were underage. He ejects them from the bar, after failing to secure adult id. They responded to his queries with some wisecracks concerning their birthdays, and the pub owners are then understandably dour, as he's the only remaining patron. And the DUI he hauled in, besides being his imminent partner, is the son of the chief of police, who summarily exonerates him.
The rest of the police force is quite a motley crew. The two "detectives" turn out to be some real keystone cops, who grate on his nerves, undermining and humiliating his every assertion of a "crime," and he ends up doing much of the detective work himself. The other members of the force are likewise "blind" to the various crimes that seem to constantly unfold in the village, and also minimize his role and effectiveness. It is also let on that his replacement "had a nervous breakdown"--it's exceedingly easy to see why.
A central motif in the story is a "goose" on the "loose." Apparently, it's been chewing on the wrong lawn, and has eluded escape and almost attained legendary status. This status can be thought of as "Most Wanted." This goose keeps reappearing at unexpected times, and it could really be said that it is the "coupe de grace" of this film.
Midway through the film, mysterious murders begin to occur. A tall, hooded "grim reaper" figure is frequently seen, but only by Seargent Nicholas. This leads him to suspect a tall, department store owner in town, who always seems to casually show up at the various murder scenes, but always coyly absolves himself of any guilt or connection. Nicholas continues, unabated, digging for clues and a "method" to this madness, and each of the murders is dismissed as "accidents."
Nicholas is adored by his bumbling partner, who is addicted to "buddy-cop" movies, and has never even fired his gun. He's always peppering him with questions like "Have you ever been shot?" and "What's it like to...?" He is also fooled by the invisible crimes around him, and it takes him a while to realize that something is amiss. Conversely, he equally slowly (in a perfectly-balanced way) helps Nicholas to "turn off" and relax, instead of always being on the "edge." They eventually form an inseparable bond, and transform the town forever.
This is an HD-DVD/SD-DVD "combo" disc, which will work on all DVD players, with even the standard-definition side being playable on Blu-Ray and Playstation 3s, which will up-convert them to "near" high-definition quality. The standard-definition side is in English & French, while the HD side adds Spanish, each with accompanying subtitles. The SD-DVD side, watched on a X-Box, looked good enough on a 19-inch TV, but the HD-DVD side, viewed on an LG 37LC7D HDTV, was fantastic, and a "must-have," due to, both, the picture quality, and the sound (Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 EX-SD & HD-DVD)--head-and-shoulders above the SD version.
The SD side has 8 HOURS of extras, such as deleted scenes, commentary, etc. A "Fuzz-O-Meter," which plays trivia, on-screen, as the movie plays; a plethora of storyboards, which almost encompass the entire film; "The Man Who Would be Fuzz," where the duo impersonate Michael Caine and Sean Connery, and other skits; various trailers and commercials; and a 28-minute documentary on the U.S. tour of the film's release, which is actually only on the SD side. There was WAY too much on here for me to view all of--but it should provide many hours of entertainment.
The HD side has TEN EXTRA HOURS of special features, only bested by "Ultimate Matrix (HD-DVD)." In addition to the regular DVD extra features, there are a host of features that are only available on a 2-disc special edition (U.K.), and a few more. There's an entire bonus film, shot by Edward Wright as a teenager ("Dead Right"), which has its own commentary, and "making of." There are also 3 additional audio commentaries, some featuring the villagers, as well as the police cronies. Add to that, a "Making Of" documentary, pertaining to "Hot Fuzz" itself, before it was actually finalized--showing discussions and plans leading to its formulation. There is a 6-minute feature which discusses some problems and shortcomings of the technical aspect of the film, a segment on the special effects, including some scenes without them, as well as a "Photography Gallery," with various ads and pictures associated with the film. A grand collection!
An "Easter Egg" has also been identified. Highlighting the "MyScenes" option, pressing left two times, and clicking on the "HF" logo at the bottom of the menu will yield a hilarious secret clip about how the "fence jump" scene was made.
This is a great film, either on SD or HD-DVD, with many extra features, and TONS of laughs. I could really relate to Nicholas's dedication to his job, and solid sense of morality, and really enjoyed how that destructively unfolded against the small-town smug image and false pride. The language is clean, but there are a few gory scenes. Highly recommended!
Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the finest police officer London has to offer, with an arrest record 400% higher than any other officer on the force. H...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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