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Blu-ray Review: HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK – 25th Anniversary Edition

Nov 05, 2017 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is the 1992 follow-up to the blockbuster Home Alone film, written by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The sequel is set one year later, and the McCallisters are once again planning a family trip for the holidays. This time the extended family is headed for Miami. However, a mishap at the airport once again finds 9-year-old Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) separated from the rest of the family. Kevin ends up in New York City, and is excited to be on a vacation of his own. He makes his way to The Plaza hotel, where he manages to set up a reservation in his father’s name. However, the concierge (Tim Curry) quickly grows suspicious and recruits the bellhop (Rob Schneider) to try to catch Kevin in his lie. But Kevin uses his gadgets and ingenuity to constantly outwit and keep one step ahead of them.

Unbeknownst to Kevin, Wet Bandits Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) have escaped from prison, and have also made their way to New York City where they are planning to rob some toy stores. But once Kevin discovers this, he realizes it’s once again up to him to take the robbers down. Meanwhile a distraught Kate McCallister (Catherine O’Hara) desperately tries to locate her missing son.

 

Home Alone 2 is a fun follow-up to the original. It follows pretty much the same formula as the first movie, and could have easily fallen into the trap of feeling too repetitive. However, the writers manage to make things different enough to keep the film interesting and entertaining, but also make callbacks and homages to the parts of the first film that everyone loved. There’s also a really fun fake-out at the start of the film when you think they’re going to forget Kevin again as they head to the airport. You couldn’t make films like this these days—everyone has cell phones and mistakes like this would be caught before it’s too late. However, the Home Alone films are highly re-watchable, and have become holiday films that can be watched year after year and still remain entertaining.

FOX’s new 25th Anniversary Edition release of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a repackaging of the previous Blu-ray and DVD releases along with a digital copy of the film and new labels/cover art. The video quality looks quite good overall, with sharp detail and bright colors. The only negative was there were a handful of scenes that experience some excessive film grain. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes nice use of the surround and stereo channels to bring the viewer into the action. This was evident when the McCallisters arrive in Miami and you can hear the pouring rain all around you. Unfortunately the discs contain no bonus material, other than trailers for the first three Home Alone films. It would have been great if they had gone back and added some new bonus features for this anniversary edition, instead of just repackaging the old discs. The discs come packed in an eco-friendly HD keepcase inside a cardboard sleeve, which also contains an insert with a code to redeem for a digital copy of the film.


What’s Included:

Film: (2:00:01)

    Blu-ray:

    • 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
    • Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Dolby Surround, Spanish Stereo, French Dolby Surround
    • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

    DVD:

    • 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
    • Audio: English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround, Spanish Dolby Surround
    • Subtitles: English SDJ

    Digital HD (Code may not be valid after 2019):

    • Digital copy redeemable via iTunes, Movies Anywhere, or Vudu
      (At this time we recommend redeeming via iTunes so that if this is ever released in 4K, you will receive a free upgrade in iTunes—the HD version will propagate to the other services automatically if you have them interconnected via Movies Anywhere.)

Extras:

  • Home Alone Theatrical Trailer (2:13)
  • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Theatrical Trailer (1:09)
  • Home Alone 3 Theatrical Trailer (1:38)

 


Final Thoughts:

My Rating
Film:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Recommended
(If Don’t already Own Film)

FOX’s new 25th Anniversary Edition release of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is just a repackaging of the previous 2009 Blu-ray and DVD releases (with new labels and cover art), along with a digital copy of the film. The discs contain no bonus material, other than trailers for the first three Home Alone films. So, for those who already own the previous Blu-ray release, there’s no need to upgrade, unless you really want a digital copy (though you may be able to do that for just $2 via Vudu’s Disc-to-Digital program). For those who don’t own a previous release of the film, this is a fun sequel that’s definitely worth adding to your collection—and if you don’t already own the original film, consider picking up the new double-pack that contains both films on Blu-ray + Digital (but no DVDs).