Every time you think this movie is about to get good, it fails you. It has little in common with the originals (it barely tries to) and it just goes about never trying to be anything more than abysmal. This is a disgrace to the rather fine "Critters 2" and a disservice to fans of the series. (* out of *****)
Not surprisingly, the movie is presented on DVD like the rest in the series. Both the widescreen 1.85:1 transfer and pan & scan are contained on the same side. There are a ton of problems here, mostly caused by the dark interiors of the slum apartment building. Grain is just outrageously bad in a few places while a light layer remains over the entire movie. They did a fine job hiding the compression, even when the movie is lit by a bright red flare. Scenes shot in daylight look good too, but these are only a small part of the movie. (***)
The Dolby 5.1 mix here is weak, and that's being kind. Almost everything occurs in the center channel. You could watch this movie in mono and not know the difference. Your subwoofer won't even know you're watching a movie and the rear speakers will begin to wonder if they've been abandoned. Everything sounds clean with no real distortion, but it's hardly enough to excuse everything else wrong here. (**)
"Critters 3" goes all out to really provide an inside look at how this movie came together. Actually, wait, no it doesn't. All it gives you are trailers for each of the four movies in the series. Sorry about that. (*)
I can understand the budget restrictions here and compensate for them. I'm the type who religiously watches all of the Sci-Fi Channel's original movies each week so I know what can be done with a restriction like that. This should not be the result. If you need anymore proof, the next (and final) entry would go straight to video.
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