Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11855 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-11-25
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ghosts haunting spooky old factories? Hip kids being brainwashed? The Darkopalypse about to engulf the world? Scooby-Doo, where are you? But the gang have all fallen out and dissolved the Mystery Inc partnership for good. Jinkeys! Luckily a strange invitation to solve a mystery on Spooky Island has unwittingly reunited the now-flopped members of the team. Can ghoul-getting gang get along again?

The latest in a long line of live-actioned-up retro cartoon faves, Scooby-Doo features superb action set-pieces and seamlessly blended live actor/CGI interaction--our eponymous hero is rendered with particular panache. What's more, the special effects are backed by a scarily well-written script and some frighteningly good performances. The Buffy-tastic Sarah Michelle Gellar was born to be Daphne, and Matthew Lillard is show-stealing as the dream-to-play Shaggy. The characters themselves are darkly developed--Fred is now a vain egotist, Velma a last-picked-at-sport geek and Daphne a Clueless-style airhead. Happily, Shaggy and Scooby are still a pair of snack-happy gormless goofs for whom friendship outweighs all else.

Scooby-Doo manages to be great fun for the kids without neglecting the fans of the original (1969!) series. Alongside the fun, frights and frantic action are clever in-jokes and even a few hints at some rather adult goings on--Shaggy getting "toasted" in a smokey hippy-style camper van may explain why he's always so peckish. Throw in a surprise appearance from a love-to-hate familiar face, some Charlie's Angels-style wire work and a storming rap-rock soundtrack and this'll frighten the life out of the competition. If you're thinking of missing it--Scooby-Don't.

On the DVD: Scooby-Doo is beautifully realised in this anamorphic widescreen transfer--the picture is crisp, the colour dazzling and the sound crystal-clear. The menu screen is entertainingly presented with plenty of extras to explore. Highlights include the "Daphne Fight Scene", the Outcast music video and the "making-of" short "Unmasking the Mystery", which features a rare appearance from an ancient Joseph Barbera and reveals the cast and crew to be a personable, fun-loving bunch. The real stand-out here, though, is the "Alternative Scenes" section. The dropped scenes--which include a superb cartoon intro sequence--really add an extra level of understanding to the film, and one suspects that it's only because of today's attention-span challenged audiences that some of the best bits ended up on the cutting-room floor. --Paul Eisinger

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Film Maker audio commentary
Cast audio commentary
Featurette "Unmasking the Mystery Behind Scooby Doo"
Never before seen footage
Music video "Land of a Million Drums" by Outkast

Featurettes:
Scary Places - about movie set and design
The Mystery Van - showing inside of Van
Daphne Fight Scene - showing SMG rehearsing fight scene
Hidden feature "Rain on Set" - English subtitles only

DVD-ROM:
One Voice Technology (nagivate through the ROM and complete interactive challenges)
6 ROM "Groovy Fun" Challenges
Scooby Snack Match (classic concentration of matching pairs)
Belch In Tune! (place burps on the musical scale to match the melody)
Nobin' Nabber (Shaggy's carnie game where you position the arm and grab prizes)
DooTown (make it through the obstacle course, duck and jump, and avoid blades and other dangers)
Spooky Smorgasbord (help Scooby build a sandwich from ingredients that are sliding down the counter)
Spooky Groove-A-Doo (match the sequence of plasma dance steps so Fred and Velma aren't discovered)
Downloadables: screensavers, wallpaper, icons, system sounds
Printables: Make your own "Scooby Snacks" box, playing cards, 3-D Mystery Machine model
Web links
Screen Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1

Synopsis
In this live action rethink of the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, director Raja Gosnell puts Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), and Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) back into the Mystery Machine with a CGI version of the canine title character. After parting ways to protest Fred's self-centered treatment of the Mystery Inc. gang, they are brought back together by Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson) to help solve a ghoulish mystery at his teen resort and fun park, Spooky Island.
Although SCOOBY-DOO is primarily a live action movie, Gosnell keeps the characters and visuals cartoonish at all times. For fans of the series, all of the expected trappings are present (from Fred's ascot to the inevitable "meddling kids" line from the bad guy), but the film also pokes fun at these elements throughout, managing to balance kiddie fun with a more grown-up self-mocking. The CGI Scooby is both convincingly lifelike and clearly make-believe, with action that is more silly than scary so kids and adults can enjoy the film together.

Customer Reviews

Scooby-Doo, Where are You?
I have a confession to make. I didn't grow up watching cartoons. As a result, I've only seen a handful of episodes of this show in my entire life. Yet, I was curious about the live action version, so I finally sat down and watched it.

The Mystery Inc. Gang is in the middle of another exciting case. Yet when they've captured the ghost, something strange happens. A microphone is trust into Fred's face (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and suddenly the gang starts fighting. Velma (Linda Cardellini) is tired of Fred taking all the credit. And Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is absolutely sick of always being the damsel in distress. Only Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby-Doo are interested in staying together. And so the gang breaks up.

Some time later, they are brought back together by Mandavarious (Rowan Atkinson). He owns Spooky Island, a hip college resort. Unfortunately, his guests are arriving as normal college students and leaving as zombies. Will the Mystery Inc. Gang be able to reconcile to solve the case?

The problem with taking a half hour program and making it a full length movie is the added time. The writers tried to deal with that my adding the conflict within the group. However, so little time is spent on it that it feels like an after thought. Instead, the movie spends most of its time focusing on the story, which makes sense for the most part. There's a twist at the end that I thought was just plain weird, but maybe that's just me. Matthew Lillard is the standout member of the cast. His Shaggy perfectly brought the cartoon character to life. And the computer animated Scooby, while looking like a cartoon was believable.

There are some parts that might frighten small children, but most will be ok with it. It's a mixed bag, at least for this non-fan of the series.

The kids keep coming back for more
I'm sure most readers will have fond recollections of hours of cartoon Scooby Doo viewing and having been a Scooby fan myself since that age, I bought this for the kids really knowing that it was for me. Well the kids just loved it contained an excellent balance of old gags and new endeavours.

During the film there is lots similar to the original series like a never ending fascination with food for Scooby and Shaggy, a roll neck woolly jumper for Velma, long red hair and a stunning figure for Daphne (who is played in superb whimsical fashion by Sarah Michelle Gellar) and the king of the clan and brooding team leader, Fred who seems to gain the respect of the fan base and is seemingly responsible for team’s motivation. Matthew Lilliard who plays Shaggy is just a remarkable find; I wonder how long it took to imitate the original voice?

However, there are lots of new angles which add a verve and style to the film. Velma’s plunging neckline being the most notable together with the director’s taking every possible opportunity to engage the female cast in a competition for raunchiness, yet maintaining a borderline of decorum through-out. The ending with Daphne’s display of breath-taking martial arts is just so far fetched that it borders on hilariously tongue-in-cheek satire. All the usual gags are there, from Velma losing her glasses only to be confronted by an outrageously scary monster to Scooby attempting a Marcel Marceau impression of the ghost that really is just behind Shaggy.

My kids favourite part is Scooby’s interpretation of “sacrifice” which seems to come out more like “racririce”… hilarious innocent and entertaining humour, especially for the little ones.

The kids keep coming back for more, and I enjoy catching a bit too.

Scooby Doo - Live Action Movie
This film cam in for a rare old mauling from the critics when it was released and looking at some of the other reviews here, it would seem that it didn't go down that well with the cinema going public. I think that's a real shame as all in all the film isn't that bad and although it's not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, it's still entertaining and the kids will love it.

As with most of the bringing cartoons to life films, the plot is secondary to the actual fact of getting the previously 2 dimensional characters into real figures and certainly in this film the plot is a little suspect at times.

As for the actual characters themselves you have three outstanding performances in Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini as Shaggy and Velma respectively, who capture perfectly not only the actions of their characters but display two of the finest vocal impressions ever. The other outstanding performance is the CGI Scooby who is beautifully animated and fitted with the real life action. Sarah Michelle Gellar is limp and added for purely visual reasons, yes Daphne was the girly heroine of the gang, but she was never that wimpy! Worse of the bunch by a huge mile is Freddie Prinze Jnr who is simply awful as Fred. Not only has he recreated Fred's character into a posturing vain empty head, he doesn't even do it very well.

All in all this is a good fun film, and funnily enough all my children, who were never brought up on a Saturday morning TV diet of Scooby Doo as I was, love it immensely and return to it again and again.