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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 48288
Released: August 5, 2008 |
| Our Price: $12.49 |
| Used Price: $8.34 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
CONTAINS ONE EACH OF........KINDERGARTEN COP - PROBLEM CHILD - KICKING & SCREAMING -MAJOR PAYNE
Description of Family Comedy Pack Quadruple Feature (Kindergarten Cop / Problem Child / Kicking and Screaming / Major Payne):
Kindergarten Cop
Arnold Schwarzenegger made a successful transition to comedy with this 1990 box-office hit directed by Ivan Reitman. Arnold plays an undercover cop whose attempt to locate a little boy and his mother leads him to a small-town kindergarten class, where he poses as a teacher while continuing his investigation. He's also trying to catch a vicious drug dealer (Richard Tyson), whose ex-wife and son are the pair that Arnold's trying to rescue from impending danger. The scenes featuring Arnold and a classroom full of kindergartners are a real hoot, and Pamela Reed offers enjoyable support as Schwarzenegger's police partner, while Penelope Ann Miller (as another teacher) provides a low-key romantic interest and Carroll Baker steals her scenes as the villain's domineering mother. These familiar elements combine to make this a surprisingly lively and entertaining comedy-thriller, but parents are advised to heed the PG-13 rating: there are a lot of funny kids in the movie, but it's still a police thriller, with a violent climax that's not suitable for young viewers. --Jeff Shannon
Kicking and Screaming
Will Ferrell is at his full, frenzied power as Phil Weston, a married, uncoordinated would-be sportsman with an uncoordinated would-be sportsman son--and an unresolved relationship with his coach father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who has very little tolerance for the uncoordinated. When Buck trades his own grandson to a real loser of a little league soccer team, Phil naturally takes over underdog coaching duties and the two men butt heads. You could easily, and perhaps rightfully, dismiss all of this as a dumb, demented Meatballs or Bad News Bears rip-off, but it's pleasantly dumb and sometimes hysterically demented: Encouraged by his neighbor, ex-Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka (yes, playing himself), Phil stops his vitamin regimen and becomes wildly addicted to regular doses of caffeine, which turns him into a monster of a team leader. In addition to Ferrell, Duvall does a doozy of a comic riff on his Great Santini role, and even Ditka is unexpectedly funny. It's a formula film with just enough far-out notions to keep you chuckling. --Steve Wiecking
Major Payne
Let's face facts here: You don't watch a movie like Major Payne for its artistic merit any more than you'd watch Schindler's List for its comedy. If you go in thinking otherwise, you're bucking for a disappointment. So it's a pleasant surprise to discover that Major Payne is more entertaining than a barrel full of bad reviews would lead you to believe. It's a totally formulaic comedy about a bunch of misfit kids who turn into a crack squad of skillfully disciplined ROTC cadets, but Damon Wayans is spot-on hilarious in the title role as the hardened military bulldog who whips the little slackers into shape. Wayans plays the role as if killing and warfare were the only joys in life, and when he finds himself cast adrift without a military commission, a scene that directly parodies Apocalypse Now lets you know that Wayans (who cowrote the script) is going to bring something new to this routine scenario. Major Payne's idea of a good bedtime story is to recall his worst battlefield horrors, and Wayans gives it just the right twist of comedy to put Payne's bullet-pierced heart in the right place--he's really just a good guy with an iron-clad exterior. The young recruits strut their stuff in the final round of their cadet competition (their marching rap is good for a solid laugh), and director Nick Castle keeps it all from becoming too stupid or over the top. It's arguably only for Wayans's most ardent fans, but as a send-up of all the great movie drill instructors, Major Payne is painlessly enjoyable. --Jeff Shannon
Family Comedy Pack Quadruple Feature (Kindergarten Cop / Problem Child / Kicking and Screaming / Major Payne) Reviews:
3 out of 4 ain't bad 
2009-11-16 - What is great about this collection is that it offers the only anamorphic widescreen versions of Kindergarten Cop and Problem Child (The individual releases are full-frame only).
As a pretty big Ahnold fan, I always found Kindergarten Cop to be one of his underrated flicks. Its certainly much better than some of his other attempts to do comedy (Jingle All the Way, Junior, etc.)
Major Payne may be a by-the-numbers predictable comedy, but Damon Wayans' character makes the movie.
Problem Child is an old childhood favorite, and while it may not hold up as a comedy classic, there are a lot of laughs to be had.
My only complaint is the inclusion of Kicking and Screaming. Not a horrible movie, but not one of Farrell's most memorable either. Plus, as a newer movie (2002), it doesn't really place well with the others (all from the early 90's). I wish they had included Problem Child 2 along with the original instead.
A good collection spoiled by Problem Child. 
2009-09-01 - I would have purchased this collection if Problem Child was NOT in it! This movie is SO bad I don't want any part of it. The child character is so awful you just want him to be run over by a bus. John Ritter is wasted here.
