That infamous cat and his twisted life are back! Staying within the tradition set by the audacious and racy Fritz the Cat, director/co-writer Robert Taylor takes R. Crumb’s way-cool feline character from the boundary-pushing ’60s to the harsh realities of Vietnam, racial riots and Watergate of the ’70s in a sequel ripe with “pure silliness [and a] hip story-telling style” (Variety)! Fritz has got the post-college blues—he’s married to a mouthy wife who berates him constantly, and he’s out of work and on unemployment! To escape his sad, nagging reality, Fritz launches himself into a psychedelic haze with a mind-blowing catnip that takes him to his eight other lives. There, he lives out fantasies as an out-of-this-world astronaut, an aide to President Kissinger and worse—an orderly to Hitler! But as his star-crossed hallucinations put him on a collision course with reality, Fritz becomes a casualty just waiting to happen!
For thoughts on The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat, please see my previous conversation here.
Video Quality
Similarly to its predecessor, The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat makes its Blu-Ray debut with an overall solid 1080p transfer with some flaws. The source of the transfer appears to be an older master that has not had much work done to it, but it still represents a big jump in quality from the ancient DVD. The natural film grain has thankfully not been digitally scrubbed away and rarely devolves into digital noise. The transfer does reveal a pleasing amount of detail and clarity within the animation. The standout aspect of the disc is the vibrant colors that hold up well, but there is a pretty consistent undercurrent of nicks and scratches to the print. The black levels are not extremely deep, but crush does not serve as a significant issue. While a major restoration would have benefited this movie greatly, the transfer on the disc should prove very pleasing to most fans.
Audio Quality
The audio quality of the Blu-Ray disc is very solid with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio (mono) track that presents essentially no flaws or damage. The sound quality of the original vocal tracks are presented with as much stability as possible. While you may have previously seen this film on DVD with all manner of age-related wear and tear, this track provides clarity to the dialogue, sound effects and music throughout. This track will really impress even without the surround activity. This disc also includes optional English (SDH) subtitles.
Special Features
- Trailers: The two-and-a-half minute trailer for The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat is provided here. There are also trailers provided for Fritz The Cat, Blazing Magnum, A Small Town In Texas, and The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane.
Final Thoughts
The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat is a sequel that attempts to cash in on the notoriety of its predecessor by pushing the boundaries of good taste even further without much in the way of social commentary to back it up. There is the fleeting humorous moment which shows a spark of what came before, but mostly this film feels like a lazy retread without any of the original talent involved. Scorpion Releasing and Kino Classics have released a Blu-Ray with a solid enough A/V presentation and next to nothing in the way of special features. If you are a hardcore fan of the character, this is a pleasing release of the feature.
The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics and Scorpion Releasing have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
