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Jingle All The Way (1996) DVD Review
Jingle All The Way (1996) DVD Credits:
Jingle All The Way (1996) Directed by:
Brian Levant
Jingle All The Way (1996) Written by:
Randy Kornfield
Jingle All The Way (1996) Cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Robert Conrad, Martin Mull, Jake Lloyd, James Belushi, E De La Pena, Laraine Newman
Jingle All The Way (1996) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Jingle All The Way (1996) DVD Release Date:
15th October 2007
Our Rating: Extras Rating:

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Jingle All The Way (1996) Synopsis:

Turbo Man action dolls are the christmas craze- in the spirit of real life Tickle-Me-Almo. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad mug shamelessly through this holiday slapstick about two guilt-wracked fathers racing around Minneapolis on Christmas Eve trying to buy their sons a sold-out Turbo Man.

Jingle All The Way (1996) DVD Review:

What could be better than a re-release of the exercise in Christmas themed torture known as Jingle All the Way? Make it twenty minutes longer and dub it “The Family Fun Edition”. Jingle All The Way aims to capture the mania exhibited in last minute Christmas shopping by pitting two equally insane fathers, Howard(Schwarzenegger) and Myron(Sinbad), against each other in the battle for an ugly action figure. Eleven years have passed since the film’s release and Sinbad still isn’t funny.

The film is a hodge-podge of ridiculous sequences strung together with interludes of Howard’s wife Liz (Rita Wilson) looking pissed off and his son Jamie (Jake Lloyd) looking depressed. Jingle All the Way falls victim to roller coaster syndrome; dulling any emotional facet in order to highlight the numerous chase scenes. This is excusable in the sense that at its core it is indeed a film for kids, yet much of the humor aims to appeal to adults. While it is oddly satisfying to see the California governor threaten toy store owners, be accused of pedophilia, and punch a reindeer in the face only to then give it alcohol; it feels rather misplaced in a children’s film. While the film fails on many levels, one of the real life elements captured effectively is the superhero Turbo Man. Everything from the Power Rangers reminiscent show to the badly designed toy echoes the inexplicability of childhood obsession

Schwarzenegger plays his clichéd 90’s busy dad role with charm and gusto. It’s an odd experience watching the same man who’s played countless killing machines hug a child without breaking its neck. Sinbad essentially plays Sinbad in a postman’s outfit. Phil Hartman is great as the Cosby sweater wearing, Christmas cookie baking, divorced neighbor after Howard’s wife. Rita Wilson and Jake Lloyd play their stock annoyed family roles adequately.
As mentioned earlier, twenty minutes have been added to the film, resulting in the option to watch the theatrical cut or the extended cut. Either option results in the same numbing effect. The added footage adds little to the feature, other than a longer running time. The extras on the DVD consist mainly of Turbo Man related specials. These include a mildly entertaining explanation of the Turbo Man costume used in the film and a horrifying attempt of a mockumentary on the red and gold hero. Another feature focuses on random kids explaining their superhero fantasies. The threadbare connection of this special to the film is excusable as it’s so deliciously 90’s PBS (Dragon Kid is a personal favorite). There are also two “games” included on the DVD; neither of which are fun or make any kind of sense. A photo gallery with production stills and concept drawings and a cast commentary are also included.

If a midget in a Santa costume being punched across a warehouse sounds like a wonderful show of holiday spirit, then by all means buy this DVD.

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Jingle All The Way (1996) DVD review written by: Tyler Lumm

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