Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot Blu Ray Review (Mill Creek Entertainment)
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot is a 1992 buddy cop action comedy film directed by Roger Spottiswoode (Terror Train, The Best of Times, The 6th Day, Ripley Under Ground, Tomorrow Never Dies, Turner & Hooch, and Air America). It was written by Blake Snyder (Blank Check and Kids Incorporated), William Osborne (Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, Twins, The Real McCoy, Ghost in the Machine, and The Scorpion King), and William Davies (Johnny English franchise, How to Train Your Dragon, Puss in Boots, and Student Exchange). It was produced by filmmaker Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters franchise, Shivers, Rabid, Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia, Stripes, Animal House, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Junior, Space Jam, Road Trip, Eurotrip, Hitchcock, and Baywatch). Arnold Schwarzenegger actually tricked Stallone into doing this project. It’s Sylvester Stallone biggest movie regret in his entire career. It won 3 awards at the 1993 Razzie Awards including Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actress, and Worst Screenplay. It grossed $70.6 million worldwide at the box office!!!!
Sergeant Joseph Andrew Bomowski (played by: Sylvester Stallone from the Rambo franchise, the Rocky franchise, Creed 1/2, Eye See You, the Expendables franchise, and the Escape Plan franchise) is a tough street cop. His overbearing mother Tutti (played by: Estelle Getty from The Golden Girls, Deadly Force, Mask, Mannequin, The Golden Palace, and Empty Nest) comes to stay with him and progressively interferes in his life after a surprise visit including his relationship with boss Lieutenant Gwen Harper (played by: JoBeth Williams from Poltergeist I/2, The Big Chill, Dutch, Wyatt Earp, and Dexter). She starts driving him crazy. After cleaning his gun with bleach and finding out she ruined it, Tutti buys him an illegal MAC-10 machine pistol from Mitchell (played by: Dennis Burkley from Beyond the Law, Tin Cup, Laserblast, Fletch Lives, and Suburban Commando) plus his shady friend and witnesses the murder of one of the men who sold her the gun. Tutti is taken to the police station to give a statement and starts poking around in Joe’s cases. She learns the gun she purchased was part of a collection taken from a burned building and the gun insurance money was received. Sergeant Joseph Andrew Bomowski now must protect his crazy and annoying mother from the criminals looking for her. He is already having so many other issues in his life, can he get his shit together for this????
Arnold Schwarzenegger acted like this one was going to be his next big project so Sylvester Stallone rushed in and took the role without any hesitation. Schwarzenegger never wanted to do Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. He was just setting up his rival, Stallone claims this was his worst film and that he wished he never did it because he turned down some quality material over this one. Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot swept the Razzies in 1993 and won every award it was nominated for. Honestly, it’s not as bad as you would think.
Critics were foaming out of mouth when this was released because it was an easy target to dismiss plus action superstar Stallone was on fire at the time. It’s more comedy than action but it does have enough in it to satisfy any action fanatic when it comes to cinema. Stallone is still his usual bad ass self but he’s just stuck in more funny and awkward situations here. His chemistry with Estelle Getty is a little odd at times but it actually makes it hilarious during moments so it works. Estelle Getty creates most of the comedy in this and it cracks me up when she tries to be tough in this. Most of the performances in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot are meant to be more over the top and silly. It does have a surprisingly strong supporting cast that includes JoBeth Williams, Dennis Burkley, Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Richard Schiff (Se7en), Vanessa Angel (Weird Science), Roger Rees (Robin Hood: Men in Tights), Martin Ferrero (Jurassic Park), Gailard Sartain (Ernest Goes to Camp), Nicholas Sadler (Mobsters), and Marjean Holden (Mortal Kombat: Annihilation). Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot is definitely not perfect but it’s a nice blend of comedy and action. Turn off your brain and just enjoy the entertainment.
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Mill Creek Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer appears be a old master from Universal. It’s a step above from the older DVD and VHS home video releases but it’s far from perfect. I guess it’s what you would expect for an older catalog title to be honest. The English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is solid and an upgrade compared to the past releases. It has a nice boost at times during the action. All of the dialogue is very clean and and the music is elevated here. It has English SDH subtitles. Unfortunately, it’s bare bones so don’t expect any extras. It does come with a very cool looking retro VHS style limited edition slipcover. This is the first time that it’s been released on blu ray in the states. You know you want to add this to your Sylvester Stallone collection. This Mill Creek version is at a great bargain and the price is pretty cheap. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
I remember watching this movie a long time ago. Loved learning about how Schwarzenegger tricked Stallone into doing this movie.