Exactly six years later, apparently it was time for the second
(and final) Stakeout flick. Who wouldn't have wanted to see more of
Detectives Chris and Bill? I know I was certainly looking forward to
the sequel, but as is the case with approximately 98% of all follow-
ups, they just couldn't seem to capture the same anything from
the first. Despite most of the main creative team returning, the spark
just wasn't there, Another Stakeout is mostly a miserable attempt at
recycling things that were funny the first time around, but now merely
sad and desperate.
The plot: The Las Vegas PD lose a key
witness in the hearing of a crime boss, due to Miguel Ferrer blowing
up the safe house. Of course we wouldn't have a movie if the stars of
the last flick didn't suffer through the exact same situation, an
extremely remote chance that the bad guys might end up at their
stakeout. Worse, the romance and happy ending to the Richard Dreyfuss-
Madeline Stowe relationship from the first movie is wrapped up real
uncomfortably, a la Die Hard 2. So, despite a magnificent
explosion in the first fifteen minutes and some fabulous Seattle
photography, this movie is a waste of time. Some of the jokes that pay
homage to the first movie are amusing; however, when the majority of
the rest are ones exact copies, it is very easy to be turned off. The
directing and writing team of John Badham and Jim Kouf (who also
produced) are back at it again, but this time out can't quite seem to
keep the pace going or sustain interest. There are some fine
performances by Dreyfuss, Dennis Farina (Snatch), Cathy Moriarty and
Marcia Strassman - although not Rosie O'Donnell who is at her most
annoying - but they can't save the poor writing and execution. Unless
you are a total devotee, you can skip this one.
Video: How
Does The Disc Look? 
Buena Vista has released Another
Stakeout in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and this transfer looks
pretty nice. Highlights are the vibrant colors, which are rendered
nearly perfectly with accurate fleshtones. Blacks are deep and pure,
and contrast solid across the entire grayscale except the darker end,
which tends to suffer from quick falloff to black. In general detail
is good, but in darker scenes shadow delineation and become mediocre,
with fine textures lost at the hands the harsh falloff in the
contrast. There is some edge enhancement noticeable, with haloing
mildly distracting. Not a fantastic transfer, but good for a largely
forgotten catalog release like this.
Audio: How Does The
Disc Sound?
Included is an English Dolby Digital 5.1
surround track encoded at 384 kbps. Stereo separation is fine as there
are some decent left to right pans, and a handful of rear effects, but
on the whole this isn't a very aggressive track. The bass, however,
does come alive now and again, truly shining in that most excellent
explosion in the beginning of the film. ADR loops tend to stick out
like a sore thumb and dialogue can sound a bit confined, though it is
centered well. Not the best of tracks, but certainly not the
worst.
There are also English captions encoded as subtitles and
English Closed Captions included. 
Supplements: What
Goodies Are There?
The only extra available is a full screen
DVD trailer for Spy Hard. No, it doesn't make any sense...
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in
your PC? Nothing much...just the Buena Vista pop-up interface
embedded with some weblinks.
Parting Thoughts
If you
dug the first movie and need some sort of closure, or just have to
collect 'em both, check out this rather needless sequel. Everyone else
should avoid. This disc itself isn't too bad, and $19.99 is sort of a
reasonable price for just the movie, but I can't honestly recommend a
purchase of this halfhearted release.
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